From Booklist
This oversize book is a striking collection of print advertisements promoting American cars from the 1920s to the 1960s, which, according to collector Swan, was the "heyday of American print advertising." Swan introduces his wonderful album by pointing to the fact that the automobile became ubiquitous to American culture in large part owing to advertising, and so the point of his book is not simply to revisit past makes and models but also to follow the "marketing messages" that ads evoked in their "bright, imaginative, and compelling presentations." Of course, in ads we see cars at their exaggerated best in terms of unique styling and suggestive movement. But car buffs won't complain; after all, shouldn't the 1940 Lincoln-Zephyr V-12 and the 1959 Cadillac De Ville convertible be remembered as the dynamic pieces of engineering they were?
Brad HooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
A century ago the motorcar was a cantankerous, frail device that was difficult for all but a few visionaries to perceive as practical. By 1920, that picture had changed dramatically, and the automobile was well on its way to becoming the dominant transportation device in this country. However, the evolution of practical automobiles is only part of the story. In order to take advantage of mass production there had to be mass markets, and that meant advertising. RETRO RIDE traces the evolution of the automobile and the simultaneous marketing messages that helped it flower across five decades—the Roaring Twenties through the Go-Go Sixties. Beautifully illustrated with original advertisements, Retro Ride celebrates not only the beauty and diversity of the American automobile but also the heyday of American print advertising. It’s a ride well worth the taking.
