- Paperback: 768 pages
- Publisher: Taschen GmbH; illustrated edition edition (1 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 3822816205
- ISBN-13: 978-3822816202
- Product Dimensions: 26.2 x 20.3 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
322,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #81 in Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Design Studies
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Product Description
Product Description
At the dawn of the 1930s, modernism started to influence the American advertising industry as waves from the European avant-garde movement made their way across the Atlantic. The ads of the 1930s reveal nothing of the hard times, painting instead an optimistic picture of affluent family life.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a really huge book that will keep you interested for hours.
Not that you buy books by the kilogram, but it's nice to know you're getting good value.
The reproductions of the adverts are beautifully done, even though some are perhaps a little small to easily read when there's a lot of text.
The main thing for me is that this is real social history, from the source, not second hand. This is what people looked at every day. The startling thing is just how up to date much of this advertising is. Or perhaps it's that today's advertisers are copying the stunning work you see in this book, from a time when original artwork played a bigger role than photography. A lot of what's in here is fine art at its best.
There's a problem though: it's too nice. It's just too tempting to get the other books in the series!
Not that you buy books by the kilogram, but it's nice to know you're getting good value.
The reproductions of the adverts are beautifully done, even though some are perhaps a little small to easily read when there's a lot of text.
The main thing for me is that this is real social history, from the source, not second hand. This is what people looked at every day. The startling thing is just how up to date much of this advertising is. Or perhaps it's that today's advertisers are copying the stunning work you see in this book, from a time when original artwork played a bigger role than photography. A lot of what's in here is fine art at its best.
There's a problem though: it's too nice. It's just too tempting to get the other books in the series!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Taschen's fourth volume of the All-American Ads series provides a big look back to the day before yesterday. Steven Heller provides a short overview of the decade and explains that despite the Depression magazines, in which most of these ads appeared, had very high circulations. For a few cents readers could escape the reality of everyday life and be entertained by the features and the colourful advertisements. Naturally there is no real mention of the Depression though some of the ads sport the little NRA symbol and the words 'We do our part'
The format of this book is the same as the others, nine sections (Alcohol and tobacco, Automobiles, Consumer products, Entertainment, Fashion and beauty, Food and beverages, Industry, Interiors and finally Travel) provide whole, two or four ads to a page and fortunately none of them are angled or overlap. The digital reproduction of the 1500+ ads is excellent, it is always a problem to reproduce anything that is already printed because it can create screen clash but these are reproduced with clean colors and sharp lines (thanks to 175 dpi).
Most of these ads are copy and picture heavy, stylish use of white space and clever typography was years away, though three ads for Pierce Arrow autos on pages 176-177 stand out because they do seem very modern. Illustrations rather than photography were the main visual elements with headlines and copy used to fill any space that was left.
This as a super book if you are interested in social history or want to see how copywriters created product desire more than sixty years ago or you are just curious about things your grandparents reminisce about. Maybe they remember the 1932 ads for the Pitcairn autogiro, after all no home should be without one!
The format of this book is the same as the others, nine sections (Alcohol and tobacco, Automobiles, Consumer products, Entertainment, Fashion and beauty, Food and beverages, Industry, Interiors and finally Travel) provide whole, two or four ads to a page and fortunately none of them are angled or overlap. The digital reproduction of the 1500+ ads is excellent, it is always a problem to reproduce anything that is already printed because it can create screen clash but these are reproduced with clean colors and sharp lines (thanks to 175 dpi).
Most of these ads are copy and picture heavy, stylish use of white space and clever typography was years away, though three ads for Pierce Arrow autos on pages 176-177 stand out because they do seem very modern. Illustrations rather than photography were the main visual elements with headlines and copy used to fill any space that was left.
This as a super book if you are interested in social history or want to see how copywriters created product desire more than sixty years ago or you are just curious about things your grandparents reminisce about. Maybe they remember the 1932 ads for the Pitcairn autogiro, after all no home should be without one!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Hucksters in hard times.
18 May 2003
Format:Paperback
Taschen's fourth volume of the All-American Ads series provides a big look back to the day before yesterday. Steven Heller provides a short overview of the decade and explains that despite the Depression magazines, in which most of these ads appeared, had very high circulations. For a few cents readers could escape the reality of everyday life and be entertained by the features and the colourful advertisements. Naturally there is no real mention of the Depression though some of the ads sport the little NRA symbol and the words `We do our part'
The format of this book is the same as the others, nine sections (Alcohol and tobacco, Automobiles, Consumer products, Entertainment, Fashion and beauty, Food and beverages, Industry, Interiors and finally Travel) provide whole, two or four ads to a page and fortunately none of them are angled or overlap. The digital reproduction of the 1500+ ads is excellent, it is always a problem to reproduce anything that is already printed because it can create screen clash but these are reproduced with clean colors and sharp lines (thanks to 175 dpi).
Most of these ads are copy and picture heavy, stylish use of white space and clever typography was years away, though three ads for Pierce Arrow autos on pages 176-177 stand out because they do seem very modern. Illustrations rather than photography were the main visual elements with headlines and copy used to fill any space that was left.
This as a super book if you are interested in social history or want to see how copywriters created product desire more than sixty years ago or you are just curious about things your grandparents reminisce about. Maybe they remember the 1932 ads for the Pitcairn autogiro, after all no home should be without one!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
The "Other" Social History Book
29 Feb 2004
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
You expect a book like this to be fun, and it is! The hard sell approach, the inflated claims, and the infamous phrase, "It isn't brand X if it doesn't say Y!" (as if your brain is scrambled) ... it's all hilarious now. And even when these techniques get tedious, the drawings and paintings are colorful and well-designed by themselves.
The ads don't mention the Depression, but you can see it in the phrases "stretch your dollars" and "these days..." That's a technique auto makers adopted after Sept. 11th, as in "we're getting America moving again with 0% financing." In that sense, ad makers fashioned a social history that belongs alongside stories of travelling Okies and bread lines. These ads showed what people hoped for, what they wanted to become. And that's just as important as where they were. So while post-Sept. 11th ads wanted to get the family back to the dinner table, so Depression-era folks wanted to get their friends back for champagne and elegant dinner parties.
Still, there is enough variety here to reflect many points of view and design style. Some ads were clearly ahead of their time. Some were still mired in Victorian imagery. A few are really shocking, like the public service ad with a drawing of a sinking Lusitania with the headline, "The Lusitania Sank. So What of It?" (It was an ad for World Peaceways.)
I am no historian or designer or advertiser ... but I found this book mind-blowingly fun.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Simply the best
1 Sep 2005
Format:Paperback
Once again, Taschen has put forth a wonderfully illustrated and highly enjoyable publication. The ads are superb. The reader can truly immerse themselves in popular culture and daily life in the United States during the 1930s. What I most appreciate is the fact that Taschen presents the materials as is; they let the ads speak for themselves. I consider it one of the best resources of popular culture from the era.
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