Fabulous Fifties: Designs for Modern Living (Schiffer Book for Collectors) [Hardcover]

Sheila Steinberg (Author), Kate E. Dooner (Author), Douglas Congdon-Martin (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2006 | Series: Schiffer Book for Collectors

Step back into the fabulous world of the 1950s! Popular culture was stimulated as products were mass produced and the middle class emerged. After World War II, America prospered and took the lead in popular culture as people rebuilt their lives by looking forward. Designs of whimsy and abstract patterns jump along the pages in bright and exhilarating colors. From furniture and textiles to Hawaiian shirts, poodle skirts, vinyl handbags, gabardine jackets, rayon dresses and more, nearly every aspect of modern living in the 1950s is shown in full color. Over 770 color photographs display this lively period in all its fantastic glory. Never before has such an expansive volume been published from the collector's point of view. Whether a dealer, collector, historian, or just someone interested in the 1950s, you will be delighted as these 224 pages unfold to tell the story of this popular and fun-filled decade.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Pub Ltd; 2 Revised edition (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764309021
• ISBN-13: 978-0764309021
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,475,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Fifities.. for Women, November 16, 2001

By 

Blue Frog "bluefrog" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fabulous Fifties: Designs for Modern Living (Hardcover)

First off, while this isn't a "bad" book, it is by no means worth the full price (...). I'm a 50s collector and have about all the 50s books out there, and this was somewhat disappointing (fortunately I bought a cheaper used version).

Here's what I don't like about this book: it's selfishly feminine. 2/3 of the book deals in textiles and women's clothing exclusively, with only a few token pages on men's gabardine jackets and shirts.

Only the first 1/3 of the book deals with collectible items from the 50s and they are put together haphazardly, as if the book was thrown together or not done in conjunction with a designer. Collage pages of living rooms come across as tacky.

The prices mentioned in this book are unrealestic. A quick look on Ebay will show nobody is paying $750.00 for gabardine jackets and nobody is paying $50 or more for an individual drinking glass with a cool design. They're so inflated that is just silly -- almost as if the author were trying to get people unrealistically excited about the value of the items.

If you're female and into textiles, clothing, and poodles you might love this book (nothing wrong with that!). But for males or other folks into more into collectible items, or people into the more stylistic side of mid-century design, you'll be somewhat disappointed.