Hi-Fi's and Hi-Balls: The Golden Age of the American Bachelor [Hardcover]

Steven Guarnaccia (Author), Bob Sloan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

His old man liked a stiff drink and a close shave, but he drives a convertible and has a tiki bar in his closet. He wears a shiny pegged-leg suit and takes chicks back to his pad. He's cool, he's urbane, he's glib, he's copacetic. He's a cross between James Bond and James T. Kirk, all wrapped up into one smooth-talking, cocktail-mixing package. The swinging space-age bachelor is back!and more prepared than ever with this classic guide. Illustrated with original artifacts and commercial relics from the Beat era and beyond, this very classy little volume offers a hilarious glimpse into the evolution of the modern man-about-town.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Packed with reproductions of album covers, advertisements, book covers, and fashion shots from the swinging side of the early '60s, this book is a visual delight. Every effort has been made to give this volume the feel of the era it fetishizes. Even the background colors are chosen from the Technicolor palette of the bachelor dream pad. Perhaps most impressive is the collection of novelties and knickknacks, including "gag" cocktail napkins, old bowling trophies, a light-up bow tie, and the requisite bongo drums. It's a crazy trip to weirdsville, Daddy-o ... or something.

Review

By Debra Phillips

"Young people are looking for something they've never encountered before--something that seems exotic," explains Steven Guarnaccia, co-author with Bob Sloan of Hi-Fis & Hi-Balls: The Golden Age of the American Bachelor. "For those of us who remember the era firsthand, it's kind of cheesy."

And yet, it's kind of a gas, too. As Guarnaccia points out, the 1950s boast at least the appearance of a simpler, less angst-ridden time--with the possible exceptions, of course, of the days of the bongo-playing, stream-of-consciousness, swaying Beatniks. Even these cats, however, knew how to play it cool.

Speaking of cool, movies such as "Swingers," lounge-music collections, and clubs featuring the tunes of Percy Faith, Julie London and Bobby Darin continue to be what's shakin' in the cocktail nation. But when space-age bachelor mania stops cookin' with gas, Guarnaccia speculates there will still be interest left in at least one group from that era. "I think we've yet to really see the full flowering of the Beat and hipster angle of it," he surmises. "That may be yet to come."

Fine with us. We're ready to go on the road again.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Edition edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081181663X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811816632
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,822,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This books shows us just how LAME the modern male is!, January 28, 2000

By 

Jason Gilmour (Brantford, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hi-Fi's and Hi-Balls: The Golden Age of the American Bachelor (Hardcover)

This super cool little book is full of the coolest vintage "guy stuff"! Man, I wish life was still that GONE! This book will have any normal,red-blooded hipster lookin' for a time machine so he can get his but back to the crazy days of cocktails and girl chasin'! Oh lord how the 2000's seem like they are gonna be LAME compared to those wild days. Please get me out of here and back to the NORMAL, techno music free past...PLEASE!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only the shape of the book is square, man., May 11, 1998

By 

Andy Jones ([e-mail]) (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hi-Fi's and Hi-Balls: The Golden Age of the American Bachelor (Hardcover)

One can go through the entire book first only absorbing the pictures, and then once again to get the stories behind the culture. I am a post-modern graphic design major, and found this book invaluable in studying this by-gone, but needs-to-be-ressurected era.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pseudo-hip observations, an uneven collage of trivia, November 16, 2003

By 

jon sieruga (Redlands, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hi-Fi's and Hi-Balls: The Golden Age of the American Bachelor (Hardcover)

Extremely thin in both observation and inspiration, this celebration of the '60's bachelor male is like an extended booklet for one of the CD's in the Ultra-Lounge catalogue. Colorful, yes, and initially fun, but leaving no lasting impressions. I liked the paperback book covers, the hip records, the naughty napkins, but the book falls short on exploring drinks and music--which should've been the focus of the piece. Instead, we get a tiki section (with grass skirt ads!) and a chapter on the Beatnik movement. Bachelors in the 1960's were self-appointed suburban kings, not pot-smoking guys in berets who listened to Lenny Bruce (those were KIDS, not bachelor men). Therefore, the bongos and the hippies are just wasted space in what should've been a much more precise and engaging look at a specific genre.