Under the Tree: The Toys and Treats That Made Christmas Special, 1930-1965 |
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Susan Waggoner
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Pages: 112 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1584796413
Pub: Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Pub date: 2007-09-21
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 353836
Reader Reviews:
A rather small bag of Santa's goodies (3/3 people found this helpful)
'Under the Tree' is Susan Waggoner's second dip into the American festive market. I thought her previous book: 'It's a Wonderful Christmas' was much better because it covered the overall Christmas experience rather than just toys. The text in this latest book is a rather generalized historical view of toys and the magic of seeing them all under the tree on the twenty-fifth. What gives the copy a lift are the frequent Santa's Shopping List panels throughout the book. These list toys with a brief description and the prices and just wait until you see some of those prices (in today's money). For £10 you could get a pretty good train set in 1954 or a Radio Flyer wagon for £3.50 in 1950 or how about, in 1947, a Betsy Wetsy sixteen inches tall doll for your sister for about £4.
Nostalgic as all this might be I thought the real disappointment was the picture content and the design. Most of images are bits of pages from mail order catalogues showing generic toys and many of them have been reproduced too small and badly cropped making them look rather like something just to fill some page space. Overall I thought the picture content very poor. There are a couple of whole page ads included, Schwinn bikes and Brach's sweets, and they really stand out from the other pictures. It would have made the book much more interesting if there were lots more festive toy ads from the past. None of this is helped by the bland page design which is the same as Waggoner's 'It's a Wonderful Christmas' book but at least that one had a much wider range of vintage illustrations and photos.
Considering the subject matter of 'Under the Tree' it should have really sparkled visually to capture everyone's nostalgic Christmas imagination.
Branded American toys like Barbie, Lionel trains or Revell model kits get a mention but I think I much better toy book is Tim Walsh's 'Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them' a beautifully designed three hundred page historical survey covering toys from 1900 to 2000. A second choice might be 'The Story of American Toys: From the Puritans to the Present'. Though neither of these are hung round a Christmas theme like 'Under the Tree' they are both wonderful celebrations of the goodies that filled Santa's sack.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
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Books -> Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectables -> Antiques & Collectables by Subject -> Popular Culture
Books -> Subjects -> Home & Garden -> General AAS
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Books -> Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Worship & Devotion -> Festivals
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Books -> Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Religious Studies -> Holidays -> Christmas
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