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Discover Mid-America – November 2009
New Books for Collectors
Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday
by James W. Baker
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
Thanksgiving has increasingly become favored among collectors and others for its deep American origins. They also enjoy its memorabilia of the past from its vintage menus and postcards to table decorations.
Now comes a welcome and comprehensive book on the turkey-related holiday: Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday by James W. Baker.
The book does a commendable job joining the early Thanksgiving celebrations and myths, but more importantly it presents the holiday within the full context of American history.
Baker’s factual history includes the Puritan celebrations, the emergence of post-Revolutionary War traditions of Thanksgiving, and its relationship to 19th century life in the United States.
Additionally, there is further review of the Thanksgiving holiday into the 20th century. A personal favorite is a chapter titled, “Parades, Patriotism, and Consumption.”
Especially interesting in this chapter is the role Thanksgiving played in the lives of those in military service during World War II.
The author notes: “The Department of War, the Marine Corps, and the Navy Department had long observed Thanksgiving with particular care. There was a perceived need to strengthen moral at a time when the call of family was especially poignant. The military could not provide homecomings for all, but they could try to serve up acceptable substitute dinners.”
The author duly notes that some menus were elaborated printed with the names of company officers, while others could be “crude mimeographed examples from the theater of war itself.”
Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday by James W. Baker, softcover, illustrated, index, 273 pages, is $26.95 plus shipping from University of New Hampshire Press. It is being distributed by University Press of New England.
Antique & Vintage Fashions, 1745 to 1979
by Barbara Johnson
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
What women were wearing a few decades ago, or even a few centuries ago, is revealed extensively in Antique & Vintage Fashions by Barbara Johnson.
There are many books out there on grand clothing of the past but this latest issue is one of the best. The author arranges the entire book in a timely chronological fashion. It then allows the reader to journey from the chenille-embroidered aprons of the 1750s to the pink polyester draped formal gown of the 1970s.
Included are more than 800 color photographs of historic fashions from aprons and bathing suits to lace vests and wedding gowns. Besides the illustrations, there is some well-developed history text within the book’s pages.
“I have grouped all garments and accessories by year in a timeline fashion. I have provided a conservative date range if certain trends appeared to be fashionable for one of more years,” explains the author.
“Fashionable trends could begin in a particular year but continue to be worn by individuals years afterwards,” adds Johnson. “Use of the term circa is applied to mean around that date. Fashions depicted in the work range from the everyday to the best clothing worn by average and not so average individuals.”
There are current values for nearly every item in his very comprehensive book.
The book also includes an interesting glossary of fashion terms and an absolutely daunting bibliography of publications and catalogs dating from the mid-1700s to the latter 1900s.
Antique & Vintage Fashions, 1745 to 1979 by Barbara Johnson, hardcover, 304 pages, 800 illustrations, is $29.95 plus shipping from Collector Books, 1-800-6236-5420.
©2000-09 Discovery Publications, Inc.