Main Street (American Retro) [Hardcover]

Sourcebooks (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Retro | Publication Date: October 2000

The 1950s and '60s were the halcyon days of the American Dream. Life was easier, safer and altogether more innocent. Nowhere was this more apparent than the freeway, that symbol of the growth of American prosperity. American Retro is a wonderfully evocative collection of gift books celebrating the motels, diners, cars and Main Streets that were the landmarks of these great highways. Together with a selection of witty and nostalgic quotes, these charming books will be a perfect gift for those who remember.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570715947
• ISBN-13: 978-1570715945
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,645,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missed Main Street, drove up a dead-end instead., December 8, 2002

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Main Street (American Retro) (Hardcover)

A disappointing half-hearted attempt at capturing the essence of Main Street USA. The book's intro suggests this is nostalgia for Fifties America, Norman Rockwell land, a railroad station, Woolworth's, gas stations, soda fountains, barber shop, movie theatre, Post office, volunteer fire department and more. Plenty of scope for visual material but what is presented (in rather flat color) looks like it came out of a stock photo catalogue, there are even three photos of ghost towns from the old west.

There are a few interesting photos though, pages 44-45 show the Woodstock, Vermont, Town Crier, actually a notice board with the latest goings-on written in chalk, page 26 shows some guys passing the time of day outside a store in Redwoods, California. There should have been a lot more of these sort of photos and some showing the insides of the stores on any Main Street. Throughout the book there are rather dull quotes that are given too much space. The photo and quote credits are given four pages at the back when they should have been on the relevant pages throughout the book.

I have a couple of other books that handle the theme so much better, 'Remembering Main Street' by Pat Ross, which covers ten towns across the Nation and their Main Streets and 'Home Towns' by photographer George Tice, wonderful black and white images of Fairmont, Indiana, Dixon, Illinois and Hannibal, Missouri.