Selected essays written over a period of fifteen years. Includes bibliographical references (p. 379-431) and index.
Contents:
Four stages of cultural growth : the American city -- All the world a melting pot? Japan at American fairs, 1876-1904 -- Museums, merchandising, and popular taste : the struggle for influence -- A historical perspective on museum advocacy -- Cultural institutions and American modernization -- Great American fairs and American cities : the role of Chicago's Columbian Exposition -- Museums : the hidden agenda -- Utopian fiction and its discontents -- The drama of consumer desire -- John Philip Sousa and the culture of reassurance -- Who owns our myths? Heroism and copyright in an age of mass culture -- Collective possession : J. Pierpont Morgan and the American imagination -- The changing landscape. Spaced out at the shopping center ; Living with lobbies ; Parking the garage -- Iconography and intellectual history : the halftone effect -- Color and media : some comparisons and speculations -- Pictorial perils : the rise of American illustration -- Designs on demand: art and the modern corporation.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.