Friday, August 01, 2014

Booknote: All-American Ads of the 20s

Jim Heimann, All-American Ads of the 20s. Köln: Taschen: 2004. ISBN:  9783822825112

This is a big art book from the folks at Taschen, who are known for their art books. If you like vintage advertising, this is a good book for you. The book provides an introduction, then it is organized by topics such as: alcohol and tobacco, automobile,  and consumer products. With over 600 pages, the book strives to provide a very diverse sampling of advertising from the 1920s, the era of jazz and glamour. The glitz of the ads truly reflect the Roaring 20s.

This is definitely a nice, big book to browse. For me, the ads gave a glimpse into the decade, and the art is often quite fascinating. The publisher does have a series of books on ads for other decades, so I may look them up as well down the road. The edition I read did have parallel text in various languages. On a curious note, WorldCat has this title listed in at least two different ways. The way I have used above and as 20s: All-American Ads.

If you ask me, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

No comments: