From Chronicle Books, known for its wonderful documentations of American things and ways, comes Going Going Gone: Vanishing Americana, a book of epitaphs for such cultural icons as the automat, bridge parties, the nuclear family, garters, girdles, and two-newspaper towns. The authors remind us how, quietly and without notice, so many things left the American scene – like chop suey, hotel keys, rotary phones, fire escapes, and balsa-wood model airplanes. And they locate each in its proper cultural place through a rich sampling of image and anecdote.
Take the section on the enclosed telephone booth, that softly glowing, lonely beacon on the prairie. These roadside booths were scientifically designed for easy use and proper posture – some versions offered a metal shelf tilted at an angle to deter urination. Authors Susan Jonas and Marilyn Nissenson pull together a wonderful set of references – the late '50s student fad for phone booth stuffing and the difficulties Christopher Reeve (as Superman) faced when seeking a booth for changing.
Reading this book made me begin to involuntarily compile a surprising – and encouraging – mental list of the things that we thought were gone that have come back. The convertible, for instance, was prematurely pronounced dead in the late '70s. Some things come back in oddly transmuted form. Vinyl records have turned into collectibles; music buffs store them in sealed vaults and play them only rarely and on special US$4,000 turntables. The Motion Picture Production Code, which gave us the X rating, may be gone, but now we have a rating system for video games. And not long ago, New York Telephone authorities announced they were bringing back rotary phones in some neighborhoods – to deter high-tech drug dealers armed with beepers. What goes around comes around – sometimes.
Going Going Gone: Vanishing Americana, by Susan Jonas and Marilyn Nissenson, US$18.95. Chronicle Books: (800) 722 6657, +1 (415) 777 7240.
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