The Business of Holidays [Hardcover]

Maud Lavin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2004

Holiday celebrations in the United States are a major force driving the nation's approximately $3 trillion retail economy. The commercial culture of holidays extends from the traditional -- decorations, costumes, and cards -- to the immaterial and ephemeral -- phone calls, airline tickets, and department store bills. Simultaneously colorful presentation and careful analysis, The Business of Holidays interprets holiday commerce and design, corporate culture, and tradition (invented and inherited). This volume consists of more than thirty-five essays arranged according to the calendar year, from New Year's Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, and explores longstanding holiday images, such as Santa Claus and shamrocks, as well as quirkier aspects of visual culture. The rites that surround these special days have been adopted, or even invented by, the pervasive marketing that surrounds them to such an extent that the celebration of holidays and the business of holidays have become inseparable.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Maud Lavin is associate professor of visual and critical studies and art history, theory, and criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of Clean New World: Culture, Politics, and Graphic Design and Cut with the Kitchen Knife: The Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Höch.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: The Monacelli Press (October 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580931502
• ISBN-13: 978-1580931502
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,049,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Maud Lavin is a nonfiction writer. Her books include Push Comes to Shove: New Images of Aggressive Women (MIT, 2010); Clean New World: Culture, Politics and Graphic Design (MIT, 2001); and Cut with the Kitchen Knife: The Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Hoech (Yale, 1993). As editor and coauthor, she has also published The Oldest We've Ever Been (Arizona, 2008) and The Business of Holidays (Monacelli/Random House, 2004). Push Comes to Shove was completed with the help of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and Clean New World with the aid of an NEA grant. She is a professor of Visual and Critical Studies and Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She's into Pilates, reading mysteries, great conversation, traveling to Asia, and goofing off. She is currently doing research for her new book, Lipstick Dreams, on images of femininity in contemporary China, South Korea, and the U.S.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect gift for the holidays, November 11, 2004

By 

Harriet Nethery "Reads everything" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Business of Holidays (Hardcover)

This book is a marvel for the eye and mind. A charming yet wise critique of the culture of holidays in America, the volume is lavishly illustrated in color and serves up platter upon platter of wonderfully written commentary about holiday custom, lore, and consumption. Maud Lavin draws upon the many quirky and fascinating details of material culture that constitute Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. From traditional mashed potatoes to scary costumes, Santa to the Easter Bunny, Lavin and her collaborators show us how we consumers depend on the holidays and how the holidays depend on us. A very entertaining and handsome book. Highly recommended.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Holiday Smorgasbord of Images and Ideas, December 16, 2004

By 

Kim Larsen (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Business of Holidays (Hardcover)

Sometimes I have to restrain myself from punching in the nose those who bemoan the excessive commercialism of "the holidays" (as if said holidays forcibly removed them from their otherwise impeccably ascetic lives). Now, instead of suppressing the punch, I can point the whiners to this wonderful new book. Maud Lavin and her collaborators show us how consumerism, crass or otherwise, is no longer the enemy (if indeed it ever was) of spiritual engagement. As Lavin herself points out in her introduction: "Holidays can remind people of what they feel they are entitled to but are lacking. And sometimes celebrants go about trying to find it -- spirituality or connectedness or presents or just plain sex. Consumerism, in standard and less conventional forms, is one avenue for the search."
Arranged chronologically from New Years Day to New Years Eve, and covering 34 holidays in between, the book adds up to a moving portrait of how invested (in all sense of the word) we are are in our celebrations. The writing is incisive, merry and provocative, and the graphic feast served up on every page a celebration in itself. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Give this book a peep!, February 14, 2005

By 

hbt "hbt" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Business of Holidays (Hardcover)

The holidays have never looked so horrifying. But the rubbernecker in me will not put down this wonderful examination of corporate manipulations of our holiday revelry. Beautfully designed, smartly written, funny, sincere and cynical. Also nice to see a publisher actually sew their books, ensuring they last for generations to come.