Midcentury Christmas: Holiday Fads, Fancies, and Fun from 1945 to 1970

At Christmas time, post-war America's dreams and desires were on full display, from shopping centre Santas to shiny aluminium Christmas trees, from the Grinch to Charlie Brown's beloved spindly Christmas tree. Now design maven Sarah Archer tells the story of how Christmas time in America rocketed from the Victorian period into Space Age thanks to the new technologies and unprecedented prosperity that shaped the era. This book features icons of that time: a visual feast of Christmas eats and recipes, from magazines and food and appliance makers; Christmas cards from artists and designers of the era; and vintage how-to templates and instructions for Chirstmas decorations from Good Housekeeping and the 1960's craft craze.

"Full of beautiful, nostalgic adverts and illustrations and managing to make even such bygone horrors as aluminium Christmas trees stylish, Midcentury Christmas is one for hipsters and old timers alike." -- Red Magazine

Sarah Archer is a writer and curator who specializes in design and material culture. The author of Midcentury Christmas and The Midcentury Kitchen, she contributes to Slate, The Atlantic, Architectural Digest, and newyorker.com. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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