Customer Reviews

The Machine Age in America: 1918-1941

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I'm surprised that this important book hasn't had a customer review before now. Published in 1986 to coincide with an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and if you look in the bibliography of any book about
Moderne/Streamline design in America you'll find it mentioned. I would consider it the definitive book about the subject. Jeffrey Meikle's Twentieth Century Limited: Industrial Design in America, 1925-1939; Second Edition, with a New Preface and Enhanced Photographs (American Civilization) and Donald Bush's The Streamlined Decade are both excellent books about the thirties design but I think the strength of `The Machine Age' is the breadth of coverage.

Architecture, vehicles and speed lines on household products were the visual manifestations of streamline for most people at the time but the authors go further to consider the style in an artistic, social and aesthetic context. Dickran Tashjian's chapter `Engineering a New Art' sums it up beautifully.

Another reason I've always enjoyed the book is because it looks so good. With more than four hundred illustrations printed (in 175dpi) on good paper in a design that nicely reflects the subject. From cover to cover Streamline lives on.

To complement The Machine Age have a look at these two wonderful books: American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New Age and American Streamlined Design: The World of Tomorrow. Both are essentially visual books that concentrate on products using stunning photography.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.