Tag: Commerce/consumerism

Looking back: Breast cancer activist Barbara Brenner on cancer wristbands

May 19, 2016

Barbara Brenner, a key figure in North American breast cancer history, wrote the following piece in 2005 as a Perspective for the San Francisco public radio station KQED. Brenner died in 2013. So Much to Be Done, an anthology of her political and personal writings, has been published by University of Minnesota Press. ——-Anyone who … More Looking back: Breast cancer activist Barbara Brenner on cancer wristbands

From corsets to commerce: A two-part look at European and American fashion in the nineteenth century.

June 11, 2014

The extraordinary color and variety of textiles in this afternoondress, ca. 1872, attest of the refinement of the French textileindustry. Creator: Charles Frederick Worth. This image is postedunder terms of ARTstor. Fashion, clothes, and culture BY CRISTINA GIORCELLIProfessor of American Literature at the University of Rome Three <!– Habits of Being I dealt with the … More From corsets to commerce: A two-part look at European and American fashion in the nineteenth century.

9 unforgettable moments in the history of Northwest Airlines

December 11, 2013

Download the infographic timeline. BY JACK EL-HAI My book Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines covers NWA’s history from its first flights as an airmail carrier in 1926 to its final sad days before its acquisition by Delta Airlines in 2010. Along the way, the book tells countless stories — important and incidental, famous … More 9 unforgettable moments in the history of Northwest Airlines

How the suburban U.S. shopping mall reimagined the city and undergirded architectural modernization

July 18, 2013

Victor Gruen’s Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, was the first fully indoor shopping mall in the world. Photo credit: Bobak Ha’Eri via Creative Commons. BY DAVID SMILEYGraduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University In 1958, the Architectural League of New York held a photographic exhibit of new street furniture. Today, such an … More How the suburban U.S. shopping mall reimagined the city and undergirded architectural modernization

Why do we have such faith in creativity?

April 16, 2013

William W. Caudill, “The Busted Box,” New Schools for New Education, 1959, page 21. Despite its abstract nature, the term “creativity” is something of a hot commodity in contemporary educational rhetoric—a reminder of the discourse that flooded the U.S. after World War II. BY AMY F. OGATAAssociate professor at the Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, … More Why do we have such faith in creativity?

On clothes: Rescued, re-worn, donated, exchanged, and ever on their own journeys around the world.

July 25, 2012

Like money, garments circulate and are exchanged: among people and around the world. One way to make them circulate is by resuscitating them, rescuing them from wardrobes and chests of drawers and giving them a new life by re-wearing them. What motivates this tendency that, breaking with the linear concept of modern time, reintroduces the … More On clothes: Rescued, re-worn, donated, exchanged, and ever on their own journeys around the world.

From Character Toys to Designer Toys (Or, How I Became a Toy Collector)

May 18, 2012

Dunny from artist Tara McPherson, a concert poster designer andformer production assistant on Matt Groening’s Futurama. This is the fourth in a series of posts about author and anime scholar Marc Steinberg’s personal collection of collectibles. See all posts here. BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at Concordia University In criticisms of the shift … More From Character Toys to Designer Toys (Or, How I Became a Toy Collector)

Marc Steinberg: Print Culture and Tin Toys

May 4, 2012

This is the third in a series of posts about author and anime scholar Marc Steinberg’s personal collection of collectibles. See all posts here. BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at Concordia University Scholarship meets serendipity in the practice of collecting.What is there to collect?What is there to find? All this depends on a … More Marc Steinberg: Print Culture and Tin Toys

Marc Steinberg: From "the" sticker craze to my sticker craze

April 27, 2012

This sticker of Atomu, which the author owns, dates back to 1963 or 1964. This is Part 2 of a multi-part series in which Marc Steinberg, author of Anime’s Media Mix, lets us into his own world of collectibles. Curious? Read the first part here. ——-BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at Concordia University … More Marc Steinberg: From "the" sticker craze to my sticker craze

Mulling things over: Anime collectibles from Marc Steinberg’s closet

April 18, 2012

Dear reader: This is the first in a series of blog posts in which author Marc Steinberg invites us into his own world of anime collectibles, explaining what makes each object interesting and how it has contributed to the history and transformation of Japanese media culture. —– BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at … More Mulling things over: Anime collectibles from Marc Steinberg’s closet