Register
Register here to join an ASA community. Only current ASA members may contribute to the community blogs. Registration is not required to submit display or text ads or news and events or to view many pages. We will refuse posts that are not of professional interest to ASA members.
Register here at the JHU Press web site for online access to American Quarterly and the Encyclopedia of American Studies Online. Click here for membership FAQ's
Register here for the 2010 annual meeting
Events
Apr. 7 | MAASA Joint Conference—April, 2011
Joint conference on material culture, April 7-11, 2011, UW-Madison
Resources: Abstracts of American Studies Dissertations
By University | By Year
Moskowitz, Marina. "Standard Bearers: Material Culture and Middle-Class Communities at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," American Studies, Yale University, March 1999.
This dissertation explores the relationship between the middle class and the material culture of the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, particularly as mediated by the marketing of goods and design services. In four case studies based on business archives, sociological studies, and literary works, I consider how objects were both physically transported and culturally represented across the nation. The four topics are silverplate flatware, bathroom fixtures, mass-produced foursquare dwellings, and early zoning plans. With the broad distribution of goods and design ideals arose a movement to quantify the quality of life known as the “standard of living.” The cultural processes of establishing a standard of living paralleled the commercial processes of marketing and distribution.
Quick Links
American Quarterly [official journal site]
American Quarterly [editorial site]