Going, Going, Gone: Vanishing Americana [Paperback]

Susan Jonas (Author), Marilyn Nissenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

Now with a fresh look and updated introduction, this witty volume is ready for the dawn of the new millennium. Chronicling the demise of things we thought would always be a part of life -- from the smell of burning leaves to wedding-night virgins -- this compendium of pop culture and history has been praised for its lively text full of intriguing trivia and retro photographs of each subject in its heyday. Whether you're old enough to remember polio scares or too young to have used a typewriter, this provocative and amusing look at the way things were offers end-of- the-century proof that the only constant in life is change.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jonas and Nissenson ( The Ubiquitous Pig ) slyly present nostalgia with a subtext--many of their examples of phenomena which are disappearing, or already have disappeared, are gender-related. Each entry has a short descriptive essay and black-and-white photographs. For example, the treatise on blue laws--which kept businesses closed on Sundays--outlines their Puritan roots and points out that with women in the work force, Sunday shopping became a necessity. Quotes from popular literature also enhance these often ironic presentations, such as the segment from a 1939 Harper's Bazaar article included in the section on girdles. On a more serious note, sexual assault is shown to have caused the demise of hitchhiking; the end of men's clubs like Yale University's Skull and Bones is chronicled by its members; and comments on the decrease in the number of nuns include anecdotal evidence such as film director Martin Scorsese's belief that "most of the nuns who taught him were hopelessly ignorant and politically conservative" and an unnamed artist's comment that nuns made parochial school students believe that Protestant friends would "put a microscopic sliver of bacon in a cupcake and give it to us on Friday."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

The fun here is not only in marveling at how innocent and clunky life seemed only a short while back...but in pinpointing the sociological and technological forces that wiped out certain American staples. People

Part of the book's delight is that you can't anticipate what the next page will bring: American elms, the Automat, balsa-wood airplane models... The New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; 2nd edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811819191
• ISBN-13: 978-0811819190
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,211,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Going, Going Great!, December 8, 1999

By 

Bethany Theilman (Jackson, Mississippi) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going, Going, Gone: Vanishing Americana (Paperback)

My husband got Going, Going Gone out of the library and read it, I read it, my Dad read it, we all liked it. This book catalogs many of those things our moms, dads and grandparents used or did in daily life that are vanishing through changes in society or technology: carbon paper, rotary phone, garter belts, or mending socks for example. The book describes the things that lead to the phasing out of the old products and methods. The photocopier killed carbon paper for example. The only down side I can see is that the book is too short. My Dad thought it was written from a slightly feminist point of view, but I didn't really notice it. I am writing this review before buying 2 copies for Christmas presents.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 50 short essays on obsolete elements of American life, April 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Going Going Gone: Vanishing Americana (Paperback)

The authors provide two to three page essays with a touch of nostalgiaon fifty specific elements of American life in years gone by. Subjects range from the highly tangible (drive-in movies, manual typewriters) to activities (hitchhiking, bridge parties) to abstract social norms (formal dating, parietal rules on college campuses). The strength of the book may well lie in its myriad of photographs that complement each essay extraordinarily well. The topics covered reinforce the fact that the authors are female (feminine hygiene products, white gloves, and mending, to name a few), and the reader will no doubt frequently ask himself or herself "why didn't they include this idea?"

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as described, January 18, 2011

By 

K. Simmer (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Going Going Gone: Vanishing Americana (Paperback)

The book was not in the condition described. It was badlly bent and smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. I had planned to give it as a gift to a friend, who doesn't mind used books, but the condition was too poor.