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Events
Mar. 1 | 2012 Franklin Prize
Nominations for 2012 John Hope Franklin Publication Prize for the best-published book in American Studies due
Mar. 1 | 2012 Romero Prize
Nominations for 2012 Lora Romero Publication Prize for the best-published first book in American Studies due
Mar. 1 | Community Partnership Grants
Applications for the 2012 Community Partnership Grants Program to assist American Studies collaborative, interdisciplinary community projects due
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.
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