Fifties Style: Then and Now

by Richard Horn

Two hundred color and black-and-white photographs provide a visual catalog of the full range of design and decoration during the 1950s, ranging from jetlines to album jackets, from automobiles to advertising images, from buildings to bangles

Genres: History

175 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Richard Horn wrote several notable books on design, including Fifties Style, Then And Now and Memphis, which introduced the Memphis design movement to the United States. With William Bergman, he wrote Recombinant Do-Re-Mi: Frontiers of the Rock Era, a book on contemporary music, and he contributed articles on New Wave design and contemporary culture to national publications.

He also wrote plays, including Attached, written in collaboration with Phil Kline and performed at P.S. 1. He was an associate editor of Victoria, a magazine devoted to the romantic spirit of the Victorian era.

An accomplished writer and design critic, Horn died when he was 34 years old at New York University Hospital from complications from tuberculosis. He had been living in Manhattan.

Reviews

[Bert van der Vaart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable look at the fashion, architecture and product design of the 1950s USA--written in the mid 1980s. Well illustrated with photos, designs, advertisements and movie scenes, Richard Horn seeks--perhaps a little too much fitting the line to the datapoints he presents--to explain the 1950s. Horn maintains that the 1950s were the most conservative/conformist years in the USA's history, while at the same time reflecting an optimism and materialist exuberance out of the post WWII and Korean War years which is enviable if a little naive. Especially for those growing up in the 1960s, this book is very helpful in explaining the world and the style-context in which we grew up.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retro refresh and delightful! Formica, boomerangs, Eames and Miller from furniture to clothing, advertising and homes. Extensive text and many photographs on the original design and designer, with some more contemporary echoes of the 50s popular culture artifacts.

--Ashland Mystery

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, exploring the history of fifties design.