A creative explosion in design made the 1950s one of the most exciting periods of the twentieth century. New materials and manufacturing methods meant that form, color, and function were all reconsidered, innovations that shook the traditional ways of thinking and awoke the imagination of the public. Here is a look at the fabulous 50s designs, from furniture and lighting to glass and pottery. The work of major designers, both international and American, are represented, including Franco Albini, Charles Eames, Paul Frankl, Alexander Girard, Arne Jacobsen, Carlo Mollino, George Nelson, GiA(3) Ponti, Jean ProuvA (c), Eero Saarinen, and Ettore Sottsass. The historical information along will informative captions and rich color photographs make this a valuable resource for those who appreciate 50s design.

From its founding in 1929, Railway Express Agency dominated the transportation industry until the 1960s. In return for a monopoly on passenger train service, the express company was obligated to accept any and all shipments within the United States. REA handled carloads of cattle, race horses, and fruits and vegetables. Radioactive material was moved on regular schedules for the Atomic Energy Commission. When companies or individuals wanted to ship something (even ten turtles) to any place in the world (even Tucumcari, New Mexico), they called REA. The history of REA coincides with the career of Klink Garrett, who began as a temporary employee in Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1934 and stayed with REA until 1973, by which time he was a senior executive and member of the company's board of directors.

Garrett spent the first half of his tenure working in small offices, usually one-man operations, in the West. In 1956 he was promoted to a national sales position with offices in both New York City and Washington, D.C. His main job was to coordinate the transportation needs of the Defense Department and the emerging nuclear industry via REA. His entrepreneurial ethic--a combination of extraordinary customer service and good old-fashioned ingenuity--gave him lots of good stories to tell, many of which are related here. His last fifteen years at REA were the years of the company's decline and the decline of the nation's railroads; by 1976 the company was bankrupt and out of business.

In 1912 boxing was as popular a spectator sport in the United States as baseball, if not more so. It was also rife with corruption and surrounded by gambling, drinking, and prostitution, so much so that many cities and states passed laws to control it. But not in New Mexico. It was the perfect venue for one of the biggest, loudest, most rambunctious heavyweight championship bouts ever seen. In Crazy Fourth Toby Smith tells the story of how the African American boxer Jack Johnson-the bombastic and larger-than-life reigning world heavyweight champion-met Jim Flynn on the fourth of July in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The civic boosters, bursting with pride in their town, raised a hundred thousand dollars for the fight, pushing events like the sinking of the Titanic to the back pages of every newspaper. In the end, once the dust finally settled on the whole unseemly spectacle, Las Vegas would spend the next generation making good on its losses.

In this groundbreaking study, Toby Smith analyses the role that social myths such as green marketing play in public understanding of the environmental crisis.

This book introduces the concept of hegemony into environmental politics, using the concept to elucidate the political, economic, and social alliance that sustains our belief in industrial expansionism. The ecological crisis of the late twentieth century presents a challenge to the very foundations of this alliance. The hegemonic system reacts to a threat to its structure by producing social myths that provide a common sense understanding of the threat. Smith examines one such social myth, the contemporary phenomenon known as green marketing, and how it came to reinforce, rather than challenge, the ethics of productivism. By analysing green marketing as it relates primarily to the early 1990s corporate campaigns of companies such as McDonald's, Shell Chemicals, and Mobil Chemical Co., Smith demonstrates how these voices weave together an understanding of green consumerism using familiar language from economic and liberal democratic discourses.

The Myth of Green Marketing is an original and important contribution to the field of environmental studies. As the first book on green marketing, it is sure to raise controversy with its unique discussion of the cultural and social aspects of environmental issues.