

An edition of Small wonder (1994)
Small Wonders (American Scene (Washington, D.C.), 4,)
By David Levinthal
Publish Date
November 2, 1994
Publisher
D.A.P./National Museum of Amercian Art
Language
eng
Pages
136
Description:
In Small Wonder: Worlds in a Box, David Levinthal takes as his subject a remarkable series of 1950s playsets manufactured by master toymakers Louis Marx and T. Cohn. As a reflection of the obsessive play of the 1950s and the current nostalgia for such items, Levinthal's tabletop photography allows the reader a bird's-eye view of imaginary tableaux - Legionnaire Captain Gallant in the desert, Fort Apache and the Wild West, boy scouts camping in the woods, and travelers making a stop at a roadside Howard Johnson's. Playset vignettes are like stills from a movie of American popular culture's collective unconscious. In the book's introduction, David Corey explores the history of playsets and their effect on American children in the 1950s.
subjects: Artistic Photography, Toys, Toys in art, History, New York Times reviewed, Miniature objects, Photography, Table-top, Pictorial works
People: David Levinthal
Places: United States
Times: 20th century