Antiques have a unique place in American society even today. Going even further, they arguably have a different meaning today than they did in the past. Briann G. Greenfield offers an effective evolution of antiques from the early 1900’s onward. She charts the advances in collecting, selling, acquiring and even displaying of antiques. Greenfield even offers several case studies of collectors and dealers within the five chapters of Out of the Attic: Inventing Antiques in the Twentieth-Century New England. Greenfield effectively articulates antiques as a means to define cultural values and build collective identities. In effect, Out of the Attic is celebrating material culture as it connects to larger historical contexts. The first chapter
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When the Smithsonian opened the Hall of Everyday Life in the American Past, antiques became iconography of a distinct American culture. Greenfield further discusses the term authenticity. He could have expanded his discussion of this term and whether the authenticity is real or perceived. Greenfield’s epilogue grapples with a significant question, “have antiques lost their relevance as symbols of a distinctly American culture?” She suggests that a new area of
“antiques” may be opening up in the collection of toys and games. The various studies regarding antiques conclude that the value of these objects is constructed. Whether the value is by association or aesthetic, it is a social construct.
She successfully articulates the fact that antique collecting came from efforts of people from a variety of classes and nationalities. She does a good job choosing participants of the movement that might have otherwise been overlooked. Though this book was intended to be a survey of the evolution of antiques, I believe that it may have been more successful to choose one case study and build the evolution around that individual. Further, it might have been more effective if she talked about the issue more nationally than choosing a region since
When the Smithsonian opened the Hall of Everyday Life in the American Past, antiques became iconography of a distinct American culture. Greenfield further discusses the term authenticity. He could have expanded his discussion of this term and whether the authenticity is real or perceived. Greenfield’s epilogue grapples with a significant question, “have antiques lost their relevance as symbols of a distinctly American culture?” She suggests that a new area of
“antiques” may be opening up in the collection of toys and games. The various studies regarding antiques conclude that the value of these objects is constructed. Whether the value is by association or aesthetic, it is a social construct.
She successfully articulates the fact that antique collecting came from efforts of people from a variety of classes and nationalities. She does a good job choosing participants of the movement that might have otherwise been overlooked. Though this book was intended to be a survey of the evolution of antiques, I believe that it may have been more successful to choose one case study and build the evolution around that individual. Further, it might have been more effective if she talked about the issue more nationally than choosing a region since