The 1910s (American Popular Culture Through History) [Hardcover]

David Blanke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0313312516 | ISBN-13: 978-0313312519

The decade of the 1910s saw the United States rise above strictly European cultural influences as the mixing of race, ethnicity, class, and gender yielded colorful fusions within American society. Historian David Blanke delves into the cornucopia of activities, trends, and events that shaped and enriched the day-to-day lives of Americans in this decade. Twelve scrupulously researched chapters bring to life all of the important aspects of popular culture in 1910s America: from Birth of a Nation to the "Black Sox" scandal, the Teddy Bear to Tarzan, breakfast cereal to the first brassiere. This lead title in Greenwood's forthcoming "American Popular Culture Through History" series shows the many facets of American society merging to form the beginnings of the United States' eclectic 20th century culture. This debut volume launches a series designed to be advanced yet accessible, informative yet fun. Students researching the history of American art, film, literature, music, and sports will be taken beyond the names and dates in their textbooks and learn about the interests, styles, and tastes of past Americans. Series volumes will also include a timeline of significant cultural events as well as a cost comparison list of commonly used items. This valuable reference resource will introduce students to things, activities, and people that enriched and defined the lives of Americans in the seminal years of 1910 to 1919. These collages of culture will enrich the research of high school or college students and help them see how Americans' lives, aspirations, dreams, even the idea of what it is to be American, have evolved in the past--and will continue to change in the future.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This title helps inaugurate a new series, American Popular Culture through History, that will examine "the specific details of popular culture that reflect and inform the general undercurrents of the time." The 1910s reflects the decade-by-decade approach that the series will apply to the twentieth century.

The volume begins with a time line of popular culture events during the period. The time line is followed by chapters arranged in two parts. Part 1 offers an overview of everyday life in general and the "world of youth" in particular. Part 2 examines 12 broad topics, among them "Advertising," "Food," "Travel," and "Visual Arts." Chapters in this section average 20 pages in length. A brief list of typical costs for products is followed by extensive chapter notes and further reading.

This series joins several others that take a chronological approach to the study of American culture. Titles in Gale's American Eras and American Decades series cover many of the same topics but have a more accessible format and more visual appeal. However, the Gale titles cover politics, economics, religion, and more; and their greater range means that some aspects of popular culture are discussed in less detail than in Greenwood's volumes. For readers who are intrigued by the "Cost of Products" section in The 1910s, in particular, Grey House's Working Americans, 1880-1999 provides much more detail on personal finance, compiling decade-by-decade economic data to create profiles of representative but fictional families.

Greenwood's Daily Life through History series has become a staple resource in many high-school, public, and academic libraries. American Popular Culture through History is recommended for the same libraries and should be equally well received. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“Anyone interested in early-20th-century social or cultural history or popular culture will find this book a proverbial page-turner....Recommended for all general and academic levels/collections.”–Choice

“Many works deal with the flavor of the times through pictorial studies. Not this volume. It concentrates on an analysis of various topics and provides advanced essays for the serious researcher.”–Gale-Reference for Students

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (April 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313312516
• ISBN-13: 978-0313312519
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,853,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of interesting information, July 31, 2005

By 

Schmerguls "schmerguls" (Sioux City, Ia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The 1910s (American Popular Culture Through History) (Hardcover)

The author examines the years 1910 to 1919 in advertising, architecture, fashion, food, leisure activites, literature, music, performing arts, travel and visual arts. The chapters will be more interesting to the extent you are interested in the topic, but I thought the food chapter was exceptional, as it told us things like what Diamond Jim Brady ate for breakfast. If this book is the first in a series on "American Culture Through Popular History" as i understand it is, it is an auspicious inauguration of what should be a good series.