Review by C.J. Bunce
Last year here at borg we took a trip back in time to the middle of the 20th century, the heyday of the aluminum Christmas tree, which ultimately would go out of favor under the banner of “commercialism” thanks to Linus’s on-point message in A Charlie Brown Christmas. But aluminum trees were an important component of American culture and the Midcentury Modern art aesthetic. Aluminum trees, greeting cards, Santa Claus, gift-giving, and more are explored in detail via archive advertisements and photographs of historical holiday ephemera in Sarah Archer’s Midcentury Modern: Holiday Fads, Fancies, and Fun from 1945-1970, available in hardcover here at Amazon from Countryman Press.
Filled with color illustrations, Midcentury Christmas is for fans of the art movement and holiday fads. The author begins during the rise of how we now celebrate Christmas in the U.S. from its roots in the Victorian age. When soldiers came back from World War II they were introduced to the Space Age and everything that came with it. New technologies, like aluminum, invaded every space and rockets were the toy of choice for kids.
The book takes a trip through the home, touching on the look and vibe of furniture, to the prevalence of Tupperware, all part of an exploration of celebrating Christmas in new ways. Many of these cultural landmarks stuck, like greeting cards, bright twinkling ornaments for the trees, and flashy wrapping paper for what was put under them.
Toys we’ve discussed before as recurring holiday gifts first made waves in Sears & Roebuck’s catalog, like Etch-a-Sketch, Slinky, and Easy Bake Ovens.
Paper crafts, electric lights, tinsel strewn across a Christmas tree–all get highlighted in vintage advertisements. What does it mean to decorate for Christmas, and how did that change throughout the 20th century? The author tracks Santa Claus himself, how he began, and how he rose to become tracked by NORAD every year on Christmas Eve.
But the best part of the book is the focus on those aluminum sparkly trees and the Shiny Brite ornaments that adorned them. Even Bob Newhart had one on his original TV series. The design and presentation of the book sticks with the theme, creating a fun journey that will take you back in time.
For holiday fun and a tie-in to the futuristic outlook of the atomic era, you won’t want to pass up Midcentury Christmas: Holiday Fads, Fancies, and Fun from 1945-1970. Order one for your favorite fan of any of these elements now here at Amazon. For more fun from the era, check out our previous discussions of Star Trek: Designing the Final Frontier, Disneyland’s House of the Future, and Toybox Time Machine.
