Shop America : midcentury storefront design, 1938-1950 /
In postwar America, everything pointed to a bright, shiny future. Sheer optimism and opulence informed everything from automobile design to architecture, infusing design with larger-than-life planes and curves. Storefront design of the era is particularly indicative of this phenomenon, incarnated he...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English French German |
| Published: |
Köln ; London :
Taschen,
2007.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | In postwar America, everything pointed to a bright, shiny future. Sheer optimism and opulence informed everything from automobile design to architecture, infusing design with larger-than-life planes and curves. Storefront design of the era is particularly indicative of this phenomenon, incarnated here in an extensive collection of hand-illustrated shop window designs from 1938 to 1950. These spectacular, often grandiose plans for grocery stores, shoe shops, beauty salons, bakeries, and more are reminders of a time when stores were sacred shrines for the congregation of American shoppers - impressive and even slightly intimidating, just like the future itself. Collected for this unique book, the designs viewed in retrospect reveal the mindset of a unique period in history. In addition to an extensive selection of drawings are historical black and white photographs of actual shops built in a similar style. "Shop America" offers a rare look at mid-century commercial America as it pictured itself. |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | 242 p. : ill. (chiefly col.), plans ; 35 cm. |
| ISBN: | 9783822842690 (hbk.) 3822842699 (hbk.) |