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Populuxe Hardcover – January 1, 1986

by Thomas Hine (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 68 ratings
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The decade from 1954 to 1964 was one of America's great shopping sprees. Never before were there so many people able to acquire so many things, and never before was there such a choice. Thomas Hine calls it Populuxe--populism and popularity and luxury, plus a totally unnecessary "e" to give it a little class; the word itself is as synthetic as the world it denotes. With the help of more than 250 amazing and amusing pictures in black and white and color (and what colors!), Thomas Hine explores, recaptures and explains this glorious, vanished world of hopes and dreams and cock-eyed optimism. His book is both a celebration of a singular (and slightly bizarre) aesthetic and a revelation of America's not-so-distant past.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    184 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Fine Communications
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1986
  5. Dimensions
    8.5 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1567313167
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1567313161
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

[Hine's] sympathetic grasp of...the affinity between the potato chip's 'free-form' shape and the doubly-curving furniture of Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen showed what a mysteriously alert sensibility could make of vulgar forms usually kept outside the pale of serious consideration.

Review

Hine's illustrated book is a fascinating trip down memory lane. But Populuxe is also an important social history...a study of adolescent America with boundless dreams, a nation of consumers coming of age. -- Don O'Briant, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thomas Hine sets forth in clear, entertaining prose his textbook of consumerism in the Push Button Age. This is more than just a coffeetable book...It is a historical/psychological analusis that documents the American Dream through the things we bought. -- Alan J. Adler, Los Angeles Times

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fine Communications (January 1, 1986)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1567313167
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1567313161
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 68 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Thomas Hine

    Thomas Hine

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    Thomas Hine writes about American culture, history and design. His six books have dealt with such phenomena as product packaging, teenagers, fashion, interior design, and shopping. He has also contributed chapters to more than a dozen other books and exhibition catalogs, and served as multimedia editor of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. He was architecture and design critic of the Philadelphia Inquirer for 23 years ending in 1995. In 2014, he returned to the Inquirer, as its art critic. He has also served as a guest curator or consultant to museum exhibitions in Miami, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and elsewhere.

    He got the inspiration for his first book "Populuxe: the Look and Life of Midcentury American" in 1978 when he visited Saudi Arabia as a Ford Foundation fellow. There he noticed that the Saudis" new houses incorporated many features of the exuberant, celebratory style of the America of his childhood. John Updike praised "Populuxe" as evidence of "a mischievously alert sensibility." His most recent book, "The Great Funk" (2007) is a sequel to "Populuxe," which chronicles the upsetting, and often liberating, collapse of America's post-World War II mentality.

    Hine was born in Boston, grew up in Connecticut, and graduated from Yale. He has lived in Philadelphia since 1970.

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  2. Thomas Hine

    Thomas Hine

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
68 global ratings
Nostalgic vibes- love this book
5 Stars
Nostalgic vibes- love this book
Cute coffee table book. Colorful with lots of history. Love the “throw back” and nostalgic vibe this book has.
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Top reviews from the United States

Chris
5.0 out of 5 stars In-depth, complex, comprehensive.
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
If you want to understand the cultural, social, and economic developments of consumer habits between the 1940s and the mid-1960s, this is your book. It covers everything. House types, architecture, interior decorating, marketing, product design, product materials, purchasing habits, changes in taste, automobiles, corporate mentality, and more.

The included graphics are very helpful. Tough to wrap your head around some ideas without them.

Populuxe and the era it dominated are both fundamentally contradictory. Luckily, this book is here to serve as your trail guide to navigating these weird, at times outright nonsensical periods.
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Randall L. Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars With Us Today
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2007
Verified Purchase
Populuxe describes the postwar era from 1955-1964 when American consumerism reached its fullest expression. Since that time we have just recycled and re-invented that period's concepts and trends. Mr. Hines points to the product launch of the 1955 Chevy as marking the beginning, as it was the first mid-price car with tailfins, terminating with the staleness of the "future" presented at the 1964 World's Fair that came in the months after the crushing blow of JFK's assassination.

Thomas Hine describes the era as one that simultaneously looked back to the old west and to a space age future. The old west was a useful paradigm because it brought to mind the pioneer spirit; the sense of self-invention involved and the space age came with the atom bomb, sputnik and the astronauts. Fueled by sudden prosperity, shaped by sophisticated advertising and product marketing, embraced by an American middle class rich with dollars and plenty of leisure, it was the time of ever-growing tail fins on cars, the latest kitchen gadget and exuberant roadside architecture.

While the book would be highly enjoyable just for the descriptions of the products and trends of those times as well as the treasure trove of classic photos, Mr. Hines does more than that. He shows how the tenets of consumerism were laid out in this time; from feeding people a readymade identity through the products they purchased to creating new markets by fulfilling consumers desires rather than their needs. A toaster was no longer a machine that grilled bread. It was a space aged accessory that told its purchaser that he or she was pioneer in the land of tomorrow.
21 people found this helpful
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TheVintageVegan
5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of great info and pictures
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2019
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So far I've just enjoyed the pictures, but I can see this is a great text on the subject and look forward to reading it in depth when I have the time. I think I'll learn a lot about the era.
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marlon crowell
4.0 out of 5 stars This book gives you a very good look into the 50's and what life was like ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2014
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This book gives you a very good look into the 50's and what life was like during time period in the United States.
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Patrick Barr
5.0 out of 5 stars History as Entertainment
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2003
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While the colorful plastic and steel designs of the '50's and '60's lacked the beauty of the bronze and silk Art Deco styles of the '20' s and '30's, they are still full of a spirit of fun and excitement.
Before Thomas Hine invented the term "Populuxe," the hopeful designs found in '50's and '60's fashion, furniture, architecture and automobiles were linked with the Space Age, the mighty atom, Rock 'n' Roll, and a nation in love with its wheels. Looking toward a bright future helped the Western world bear the reality of the shadow of Communism. As a guy with dim memories of this era I can say that this book is great fun to read with plenty of vintage pictures and insight into how the Space Age came to be and what it all meant.
11 people found this helpful
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MA
5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic vibes- love this book
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
Cute coffee table book. Colorful with lots of history. Love the “throw back” and nostalgic vibe this book has.
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MA
5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic vibes- love this book
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
Cute coffee table book. Colorful with lots of history. Love the “throw back” and nostalgic vibe this book has.
Images in this review
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John Edwards
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2021
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This is a wonderful book about a crazy optomistic time.
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Thomas L.
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic treatise on post-WW II American pop culture
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 1999
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I thought I was fortunate when I was able to find and check out this book from my local library; now being able to own it outright is a wish fulfilled.
Hine presents what many consider to be the definitive treatment of American popular culture in _Populuxe_. From its roots in post-WW II mass consumerism to its demise in the pre-Vietnam global technocracy, Hine provides a comprehensive analysis of the commercial design sensibilities that defined the era. I'll bet those Nickelodeon TV Land folks have a copy of this book locked in a protected vault. If you're into Retro, or are a serious or casual student of Pop Art or American pop culture, you've probably seen this book often referenced as an authoritative work. Once you've read it for yourself, you'll know why.
28 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Vashti
5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful pictures
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2023
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This book has wonderful pictures of 1950s decor and the commentary is very smart and informative. Witty too. It arrived fast in excellent condition.
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Mr. M. Sanders
5.0 out of 5 stars Populuxe - The American Consumer Dream Decade
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2011
Verified Purchase
From 1953 to 1965 - there was a golden age of consumerism in America. Populuxe makes sense of that 12 year era.

This was the era post Korean War and pre-Vietnam War - this was the time when American Consumerism was king, when the American Dream was not only a marketing man's strapline or promotional film, but it was the reality of how you could live in the most civilised society on the planet with its white picket fences, green lawns and drive a car with enormous tailfins.

America as a nation was enjoying fantastic growth in industry, knowledge, personal wealth and scientific advances. The race into Space was driving this process and Populuxe shows within its pages how the Space race influenced designs and decor of the house, how America started to modernise its housing, furnishings, cars, lifestyle - Thomas Hine captures the details from Tupperware parties to Tailfins - this little encylopaedia of the era gives you an insight into what the post war American Dream was - and how it was lived.

Wonderful pictures and text do more than I can in this review! Highly recommended!
2 people found this helpful
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Scarlett Vixen
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on 1950's aesthetics around
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
This has given me countless references and inspiration for design and styling. Absolutely recommended for any Mid-Century fanatic, or anyone writing about this era in detail.
One person found this helpful
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