Populuxe [Paperback]

Thomas Hine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 1987

"Populuxe" - populism, popularity and luxury is the word coined by the author to express the atmosphere of American society during the decade 1954-1964. The book examines the new luxury products created at this time and the lifestyle they represent, so giving a tour of this era when the United States had a booming economy and was virtually unchallenged as a world power. It discusses the new world of mass suburbia where there was always a hope of being able to move up the ladder to something better and looks at the many new things there were to buy such as electric lawn mowers, washing machines, a charcoal grill and televisions. This was the push-button age when the flick of a finger promised the end of domestic drudgery and was also described as the Jet Age when cars sprout ed tail-fins.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

[Hine's] sympathetic grasp of...the affinity between the potato chip's 'free-form' shape and the doubly-curving furniture of Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen showed what a mysteriously alert sensibility could make of vulgar forms usually kept outside the pale of serious consideration. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A marvelously illustrated, readable knockout about the look and life of America in the '50's and '60's - from tail fins and TV dinners to Ken and Barbie dolls and fallout shelters. Hine describes the decade from 1954 to 1964 as a gigantic shopping spree for Americans in a consumer paradise. With the rise of suburbia, people spread out but kept in touch via advertisements for more pastel and plastic consumer goods. A housing boom was on, especially with WW II veterans needing no money down; when a vet said he'd invested his last dime in building, he meant his $100 or $200 closing fee. Appliance manufacturers brought new looks and new features to familiar machines: the streamlined form introduced earlier became flatter and boxier, had new colors and often sported decorative appliques. Fashions in kitchens brought quicker obsolescence, more rapid turnover. A family might love its old furniture and have its feelings invested in it, but when it moved it left the big old appliances behind, went for novelty and two TV sets - a second for the kids or the bedroom. Suburbanization in "Disurbia" happened in a scattered, seemingly haphazard way, in widely separated patches that were only later filled in. Even though a man's new house "might be a manufactured object just like his neighbors', he did have the sense of having moved to the country. Most people who moved to suburbia really did get to experience an environment that, for a time at least, retained some rural characteristics." Rival architectural styles featured either the stripped-down steel-and-glass minimalism of van der Rohe or the great glitzy Miami Beach hotels of Morris Lapidus, "buildings that did everything they possibly could to knock their visitors' eyes out." Many new consumer items failed, among them two-toned refrigerators and push-button transmissions. Vice-President Nixon, taking Khrushchev on a tour of a model suburban home, waved a new American washing machine in the face of the angry Russian, asking him, "Isn't this the kind of competition you want?" Automotive tail fin design began to mock the swept-wing jet fighter. But by the World's Fair of 1964 the boom was dying, American enthusiasm declining. The deep-freeze died with buyers trying to pry chunks of food from glacial depths "in those cold coffins." A cultural extravaganza steeped in nostalgia. Not to be missed. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Knopf (October 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394740149
• ISBN-13: 978-0394740140
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,484,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic treatise on post-WW II American pop culture, July 5, 1999

By 

Thomas Lundin (Lakeville, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Populuxe (Hardcover)

I thought I was fortunate when I was able to find and check out this book from my local library; now being able to own it outright is a wish fulfilled.

Hine presents what many consider to be the definitive treatment of American popular culture in _Populuxe_. From its roots in post-WW II mass consumerism to its demise in the pre-Vietnam global technocracy, Hine provides a comprehensive analysis of the commercial design sensibilities that defined the era. I'll bet those Nickelodeon TV Land folks have a copy of this book locked in a protected vault. If you're into Retro, or are a serious or casual student of Pop Art or American pop culture, you've probably seen this book often referenced as an authoritative work. Once you've read it for yourself, you'll know why.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun look at American History, April 1, 2003

By 

Dave L "Dave" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Populuxe: The Look and Life of America in the '50s and '60s, from Tailfins and TV Dinners to Barbie Dolls and Fallout Shelters (Paperback)

I found this book in college, used as a text for the Industrial Design dept. I was a Criminal Justice major myself, but found this a great look at American culture.

This book could be a blueprint for the whimsical looks at the 50's seen on History Channel documentaries.

Hines book is a fun, unpretentious look at the times that led to the designs. It is refreshing that the author didn't take the easy route and simply churn out a tome laundry listing trends simply to make fun of them. The book shows a great understanding and admiration of the industrial art of the era without any pretense or hubris

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With Us Today, September 3, 2007

By 

Randall L. Wilson "Randy Wilson" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Populuxe (Paperback)

Populuxe describes the postwar era from 1955-1964 when American consumerism reached its fullest expression. Since that time we have just recycled and re-invented that period's concepts and trends. Mr. Hines points to the product launch of the 1955 Chevy as marking the beginning, as it was the first mid-price car with tailfins, terminating with the staleness of the "future" presented at the 1964 World's Fair that came in the months after the crushing blow of JFK's assassination.

Thomas Hine describes the era as one that simultaneously looked back to the old west and to a space age future. The old west was a useful paradigm because it brought to mind the pioneer spirit; the sense of self-invention involved and the space age came with the atom bomb, sputnik and the astronauts. Fueled by sudden prosperity, shaped by sophisticated advertising and product marketing, embraced by an American middle class rich with dollars and plenty of leisure, it was the time of ever-growing tail fins on cars, the latest kitchen gadget and exuberant roadside architecture.

While the book would be highly enjoyable just for the descriptions of the products and trends of those times as well as the treasure trove of classic photos, Mr. Hines does more than that. He shows how the tenets of consumerism were laid out in this time; from feeding people a readymade identity through the products they purchased to creating new markets by fulfilling consumers desires rather than their needs. A toaster was no longer a machine that grilled bread. It was a space aged accessory that told its purchaser that he or she was pioneer in the land of tomorrow.