The first encyclopedia to look at the study of material culture
(objects, images, spaces technology, production, and consumption),
and what it reveals about historical and contemporary life in the
United States. Reaching back 400 years, Material Life in America:
An Encyclopedia is the first reference showing what the study of
material culture reveals about American society-revelations not
accessible through traditional sources and methods. In nearly 200
entries, the encyclopedia traces the history of artifacts, concepts
and ideas, industries, peoples and cultures, cultural productions,
historical forces, periods and styles, religious and secular
rituals and traditions, and much more. Everyone from researchers
and curators to students and general readers will find example
after example of how the objects and environments created or
altered by humans reveal as much about American life as diaries,
documents, and texts. Nearly 200 entries tracing the history,
production, consumption, and reception of various types of goods
and exploring the uses and meanings of artifacts within changing
social, cultural, economic, and political contexts A detailed
introductory essay unites each entry with a common thread
Contributions from over 50 scholars, curators, and teachers working
in the field of material culture studies today, representing
cutting-edge scholarship in museums and historical societies,
universities and colleges Illustrations include advertisements,
such as a 19th-century trade card and a Singer sewing machine ad,
plus photographs of a 1949 "Torpedo pedal car" and a life-size
modernist-style streamlined locomotive prototype by Raymond Loewy
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