UNCERTAINTY OF EVERYDAY LIFE: 1915-1945 [Paperback]

HARVEY GREEN (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1557285985 | ISBN-13: 978-1557285980 | Publication Date: February 1, 2000

A chronicle of American life between the two world wars examines the impact of change on daily life, covering such topics as factory, farm, and house work; recreation; sports; movies; radio; carnivals; medicine; health; food supplies; and more. 10,000 first printing.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this splendid account of our society in this century, Green ( Light of the Home ) traces the minute changes that, as they accumulated, shook the underpinnings of the "American Way" of life. He examines the subtle effects of the confusing choices available in the contemporary marketplace (the Model A Ford, by contrast, was available in just one shape and color), and the gradual changes in the labor movement, the work ethic, education, concepts of sex and marriage, the practice of medicine, reading habits, scientific and technological advances, sports and pleasure. Pressed by the plethora of uncertainties these transformations produced, a "sanitized vision" of American history "became a mooring for many Americans," yet their idea of the nation as a chosen people in a promised land "precluded their ability to comprehend that their culture and the world were changing at the very moment they wished--and assumed--history would stop." Green's voice is calm and detached, his material is rich and colorful; his approach is original; the impact is powerful. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The author, chief historian at the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, finds that technological innovation transformed the nation in the 1915-45 period, leading to a growing personal uncertainty in Americans' lives. New methods of production increased consumption; under-consumption and selective prosperity, he argues, led to the Depression. Advertisers worked to persuade consumers that newly created social ills could be cured, but only by using a certain product. Advances in electrical appliances promised the housewife more freedom, but scientific studies questioned the foods she served her family. Green has filled his exceptionally readable work with the minutiae of everyday life, from frozen foods to Superman comics, using these material things to illuminate broader aspects of American culture. This fifth volume in the series will be useful to social and cultural historians.
- Deborah Hammer, Queens Borough P.L., New York
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557285985
• ISBN-13: 978-1557285980
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #757,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly written, insightful, informative history., July 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: UNCERTAINTY OF EVERYDAY LIFE: 1915-1945 (Paperback)

Between the ending of the First World War and the beginning of World War II, the United States rapidly became an increasingly urban culture as people left their farms to seek work in the cities. The economic enticements of industrialization during the 1920s, the devastated Midwest farming and economic restrictions during the years of "The Great Depression", the migration of blacks out of the South and into the industrial belt of the North to escape poverty and racial discrimination, all contributed to this changing demographic. Even though the standard of living improved for many American families during this period, by 1941 only half the population enjoyed the modern conveniences that are nowadays taken for granted. For many Americans, daily life was hallmarked with economic uncertainty, unpredictable jobs and wages, labor unrest, and stock market mishaps. In The Uncertainty Of Everyday Life 1915-1945, history professor Harvey Green (Northeastern University) recounts an era of unprecedented changes in American culture and the impact of those uncertain times on employment, home life, gender roles, education, religion, recreation. The Uncertainty Of Everyday Life 1915-1945 is a superb work of insightful, informative history that is exceptionally well written and highly recommended to students of American history and popular culture.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You won't be tested on this, January 14, 2001

By 

Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: UNCERTAINTY OF EVERYDAY LIFE: 1915-1945 (Paperback)

This book is essentially a text for an undergraduate survey course. As such it suffers from some of the usual maladies of history textbooks. It seems to have been compiled by committee. One wonders to whom - other than undergraduates with required reading - it is addressed.

Big, mind-numbing (because not particularly thought-provoking) statements abound. Often, they stand alone, to be followed by more big statements. For example, "Popular music gradually surpassed, but did not completely supplant, classical music on urban radio stations. In 1938 the Federal Communications Committee conducted a survey of the content of 62,000 radio hours, and found that one-third of the air time was devoted to commercials." This statement is offered, not to make a point about the growth of advertising culture but, rather, as an irrelevant topic sentence for an assortment of subsequent statements about radio content. The book is dominated by this hodge-podge effect, and the mind wanders because of it.

Precious little - whether social movements, political realities, or cultural phenomena - is given more than a few sentences. Urban culture, the labor movement, sexual mores, Christmas, fashion, funerals, comic books - all seem equally weighted. The authorial tendency toward generalization, although an accepted "register" for textbook writing, is unfortunate for what is omitted. The consequence is that students are uninspired, and aren't taught how to do history. An opportunity is lost.

The introduction would seem to promise the inclusion of at least snippets of oral history and remembrance and some primary sources, but none is included, other that what has been predigested by the author. The effect is that the reader is distanced from the material and, unfortunately, from the very interesting history it purports to introduce.

In the plus column, there are wonderful photographs and good notes, and an index. Frustrating reading.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointing Read, February 9, 2001

By 

Joseph L Burke - See all my reviews

This review is from: UNCERTAINTY OF EVERYDAY LIFE: 1915-1945 (Paperback)

If you want this kind of information buy "The Good Old Days - They Were Terrible" by Otto L. Bettmann (a much better book about the same period). I found Green's book chock full of information that is poorly organized and thus, difficult to read and remember. Authors of this genre must find ways to make the facts relevant and interesting or the facts become (as in this book) just a dull regurgitation of horrendous human suffering. Reading the facts about "the old days" makes one appreciate the difficulties our parents and grandparents had just to live from day to day. But there are other, better books that do this job than this one by Harvey Green.