xv, 400 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 27 cm.
Series
Early American studies
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. [335]-377) and index.
Contents
Painters and patrons -- The village enlightenment -- Cosmopolitan communities -- Itinerants and inventors -- A tale of two chairmaking towns -- Provincial portraits -- Daguerreotypes : the industrial image.
Summary
In the middle of the nineteenth century, middle-class Americans embraced a new culture of domestic consumption, one that centered on chairs and clocks as well as family portraits and books. How did that new world of goods, represented by Victorian parlors filled with overstuffed furniture and daguerreotype portraits, come into being? This work highlights the significant role of provincial artisans in four crafts in the northeastern United States, chairmaking, clockmaking, portrait painting, and book publishing, to explain the shift from preindustrial society to an entirely new configuration of work, commodities, and culture. As a whole, the book proposes an innovative analysis of early nineteenth century industrialization and the development of a middle class consumer culture. It relies on many of the objects beloved by decorative arts scholars and collectors to evoke the vitality of village craft production and culture in the decades after the War of Independence. It grounds its broad narrative of cultural change in case studies of artisans, consumers, and specific artifacts. Each chapter opens with an "object lesson" and weaves an object-based analysis together with the richness of individual lives. The path that such craftspeople and consumers took was not inevitable; on the contrary, as the author, a historian demonstrates, it was strewn with alternative outcomes, such as decentralized production with specialized makers. The book offers a collective biography of the post-Revolutionary generation, gathering together the case studies of producers and consumers who embraced these changes, those who opposed them, or, most significantly, those who fashioned the myriad small changes that coalesced into a new Victorian cultural order that none of them had envisioned or entirely appreciated.
"A beautiful volume containing over 600 full color illustrations of local advertising from around the Cocalico Valley. Included in the book is the history of the various newspapers that were published in the Cocalico Valley, a selection of 19th and early 20th century public auction broadsides, and an outstanding sampling of advertising ephemera of area businesses. Accompanying each advertising item is a detailed history of the business which it prompted. Businessesinclude: general merchandise and dry goods stores, drug stores, clothing and shoe stores, grocery stores, hardware stores and lumber yards, hotels, etc." [from the Journal of the Historical Society Of The Cocalico Valley]
v. 1. From a native American wilderness to 1744 -- v. 2. 1744-1748, the peaceful years -- v. 3 1748-1750, settlement expansion -- v. 4 survey and land claims before 1757 --v. 5 a path to destruction -- v. 6 The French and Indian War and frontier devastation 1755-1761.
"Presents information on the people and areas of Lebanon affected by the Bridge over Norfolk Southern project. It provides a glimpse of the history of some families who lived in the bridge area; it also provides information on some businesses that were located on the sites where the new bridges will be constructed."--Page ii.
Ninth in a series of books based on the collections of photographs held by the Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley.
Limitedv edition No. 354 of 700 copies.
Summary
"Fascinating book containing over 175 previously unpublished photographs from around the Cocalico Valley. The photographs are arranged by municipality, span the years 1870 through the 1960's, and represent local events, buildings, and even a few personalities from bygone days. Each photograph is accompanied by text that records the history of the image." [from the Journal of the Historical Society Of The Cocalico Valley]
"The history of early Cocalico roads, compiled using early road papers and dockets of Lancaster County dating from 1735 to 1802. The documents provide insight into the residents living along the roadways as well as clues to everyday life and the growth of the area's economy." [from the publisher]
