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Sto caricando le informazioni... Diners, Bowling Alleys, and Trailer Parks: Chasing the American Dream in the Postwar Consumer Culturedi Andrew Hurley
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. This is a fascinating history of three" low-class" cultural phenomenon that went mainstream in the post-WWII era through a combination of improved technology and marketing. Eating at diners and bowling succeeded in becoming iconic American activities among the white middle class, while trailer parks are unable to shed their unsavory image. Hurley's description of the how and why of these cultural changes makes for a fascinating read. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
The years immediately following the Second World War witnessed a dramatic transformation of America's working-class suburbs, driven by an unprecedented post-war prosperity and a burgeoning consumer culture. Chrome and neon were the new currency in this newly vital consumer culture, and no post-war consumer products trafficked more heavily in this currency than diners, bowling alleys, and trailer parks. Through these three distinctively American institutions, Andrew Hurley examines the struggle of Americans with modest means to attain the good life after two long decades of depression and war. He tells the story of the humble origins, explosive growth, and gradual, sad decline of the diner, bowling alley, and trailer park in expert fashion. This is cultural and social history that knows how to entertain. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)306.3Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Culture and Institutions Economic institutionsClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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The section on diners first outlines the definition of the classic diner — a portable (like an old Air Stream trailer), prefab building designed for providing an easy to set up restaurant in otherwise hard to reach areas (say just outside of a factory, or off a major highway). It then outlines their history and rise and fall in popularity.
The most interesting part of the diner section, though, was the discussion on diners being an east of the Mississippi thing (with a few making it to the Rockies). West of the Rockies were instead influenced by Los Angeles's contribution — the drive-in and drive-thru, with the drive-thru ultimately winning out (for the most part).
The trailer park section I mostly skimmed. The idea behind the trailer park was basically an extension of the diner idea — making ownership of a building more plausible by keeping the cost down through the use of prefab and by separating the ownership of the land from the building. Much of the manufacturing lessons learned from pre-fabbing the diners were applied to the trailer homes. While diners are pretty much a thing of the past, trailer homes have found a solid niche through out the nation.
The section, though, that I chose the book for was the on bowling alleys. In 2011 my family and I took up bowling. There's a local alley from the 1950s heyday of bowling, a rare survivor of the massive closures that happened in the 1990s when the companies that run most of these bowling alleys tried to introduce bowling into Asia.
The book, though, includes history from the days when bowling was a ninepin game (instead of ten) and how the tenth pin was added to get around anti-gambling laws. There's information on the inclusion of women, and later children in the game and how automation was part of the push to "clean up" the game and make it more family friendly. ( )