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It's a Wonderful Christmas: The Best of the Holidays 1940-1965
Even now that we're all grown up, we can't help but look back on our childhood holidays and hope to recapture that elusive spirit of joyful anticipation. Celebrating Christmas is so often about nostalgia. With a nod and a wink to the days of Christmas past, It's a Wonderful Christmas presents classic images of the Yuletide icons of mid-20th-century America.Bubbler lights a...more
Hardcover, 104 pages
Published
October 1st 2004
by Stewart, Tabori & Chang
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A history of the commercialization of Christmas. (I did not read this entire book, just sort of skimmed it.)
Some of the trivia I found most interesting:
Macy’s department store in NY observed its first open-until-midnight Christmas Eve in 1867.
During her eight years as First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower not only personally shopped for gifts for the White House staff but wrapped each one herself to save money. (Wow)
Little Golden Books were introduced in 1942....more
Some of the trivia I found most interesting:
Macy’s department store in NY observed its first open-until-midnight Christmas Eve in 1867.
During her eight years as First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower not only personally shopped for gifts for the White House staff but wrapped each one herself to save money. (Wow)
Little Golden Books were introduced in 1942....more
For sheer fun and enjoyment, I'd rate this five stars. It's just thorough enough to give you some fun and interesting tidbits, but brief enough that you can read through it fairy quickly and not feel like you have to read a dissertation during the busy holidays. That said, I do wish there had been a bit more back matter, some sources given or suggestions for further reading. Still, this definitely fulfilled my wishes for some vintage holiday charm :-) The pictures are great, some sections (su...more
Quite a bit of fun! What Christmas songs were special on a year to year basis? On page 46, we get an answer. 1942, "White Christmas"; 1944, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"; 1949, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"; 1950, "Sleigh Ride." And so on. One section focuses on gifts for grown ups. 1940s? Folding card tables cost $4; Sunbeam electric razor cost $24.50; a 45 RPM record ran $.45. 1950s? Women's gloves were $2; Portable record player was $47.8...more
I want to give this book 5 stars for the illustrations and 2 stars for the text, which I guess averages out to 3 stars. I'm disappointed that there are no credits given for these vintage illustrations from the 1940s to 1960s, many of which are from catalogs and cookbooks. The text needed major editing. So many misspellings. Laura "Ingles"?? Wilder?? And there was some repetition from one section to another. So, don't read this for the words--read it for the glorious pictures!!
I adore this book.Purchased it because I wanted to create a Christmas Party one year that reminded me of growing up during this time.Great ideas and choked full of ideas,history,etc.
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