The power of Christmas derives from the appeal of its repeated rituals, the presumed antiquity of its traditions, and its ability to adapt to changing cultural conditions. Christmas cards seemed inevitable and ubiquitous, but in recent years the genre has been visibly in decline. It is now evident that the Christmas card was a culturally specific artifact, a distinctive way in which a fundamental human gesture could be expressed within a commercial, materialistic, and rapidly changing society.
This stylish book explores the imagery, graphic forms, subject matter, and significance of Christmas cards in their chronological timeframe to reveal an important area of American material culture. There is much to surprise and delight.
Distributed for the Bard Graduate Center
Exhibition Schedule:Bard Graduate Center
(09/28/11-12/30/11)
- ISBN10 0300176872
- ISBN13 9780300176872
- Publish Date 14 October 2011
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 19 October 2023
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Yale University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 320
- Language English
- URL http://wiley.com/remtitle.cgi?isbn=9780300176872