Little white houses : how the postwar home constructed race in America / Dianne Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, Dianne Suzette, author.

Contributor:

Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

Series:

Architecture, landscape, and American culture series

Architecture, landscape and American culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sperry and Hutchinson Company.

Architecture and race--United States.

Architecture and race.

Mass media and architecture--United States.

Mass media and architecture.

Architecture, Domestic--United States--History--20th century.

Architecture, Domestic.

White people--Race identity--United States--History--20th century.

White people.

Storage in the home.

Interior decoration--History--20th century.

Interior decoration.

History.

Interior decoration on television.

White people--Race identity.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 365 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm x 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2013]

Summary:

"A rare exploration of the racial and class politics of architecture, Little White Houses examines how postwar media representations associated the ordinary single-family house with middle-class whites to the exclusion of others, creating a powerful and invidious cultural iconography that continues to resonate today. Drawing from popular and trade magazines, floor plans and architectural drawings, television programs, advertisements, and beyond, Dianne Harris shows how the depiction of houses and their interiors, furnishings, and landscapes shaped and reinforced the ways in which Americans perceived white, middle-class identities and helped support a housing market already defined by racial segregation and deep economic inequalities.After describing the ordinary postwar house and its orderly, prescribed layout, Harris analyzes how cultural iconography associated these houses with middle-class whites and an ideal of white domesticity. She traces how homeowners were urged to buy specific kinds of furniture and other domestic objects and how the appropriate storage and display of these possessions was linked to race and class by designers, tastemakers, and publishers. Harris also investigates lawns, fences, indoor-outdoor spaces, and other aspects of the postwar home and analyzes their contribution to the assumption that the rightful owners of ordinary houses were white.Richly detailed, Little White Houses adds a new dimension to our understanding of race in America and the inequalities that persist in the U.S. housing market. "-- Provided by publisher.

"A rare exploration of the racial and class politics of architecture, Little White Houses examines how postwar media representations associated the ordinary single-family house with middle-class whites to the exclusion of others, creating a powerful and invidious cultural iconography that continues to resonate today. Drawing from popular and trade magazines, floor plans and architectural drawings, television programs, advertisements, and beyond, Dianne Harris shows how the depiction of houses and their interiors, furnishings, and landscapes shaped and reinforced the ways in which Americans perceived white, middle-class identities and helped support a housing market already defined by racial segregation and deep economic inequalities.After describing the ordinary postwar house and its orderly, prescribed layout, Harris analyzes how cultural iconography associated these houses with middle-class whites and an ideal of white domesticity. She traces how homeowners were urged to buy specific kinds of furniture and other domestic objects and how the appropriate storage and display of these possessions was linked to race and class by designers, tastemakers, and publishers. Harris also investigates lawns, fences, indoor-outdoor spaces, and other aspects of the postwar home and analyzes their contribution to the assumption that the rightful owners of ordinary houses were white. Richly detailed, Little White Houses adds a new dimension to our understanding of race in America and the inequalities that persist in the U.S. housing market. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The ordinary postwar house

Magazine lessons : Publishing the Lexicon of White Domesticity

Rendered whiteness : architectural drawings and graphics

Private worlds : the spatial contours of exclusion and privilege

Household goods : purchasing and consuming identity

Built-ins and closets : status, storage, and display

The Home Show : televising the postwar house

Designing the yard : gardens, property, and landscape.

The Ordinary Postwar House

Magazine Lessons: Publishing the Lexicon of White Domesticity

Rendered Whiteness: Architectural Drawings and Graphics

Private Worlds: The Spatial Contours of Exclusion and Privilege

Household Goods: Purchasing and Consuming Identity

Built-ins and Closets: Status, Storage, and Display

The Home Show: Televising the Postwar House

Designing the Yard: Gardens, Property, and Landscape.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

Athenaeum copy: Includes a section on S&H Green Stamps.

Athenaeum copy: Albert M. Greenfield Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9780816653324

0816653321

9780816654567

0816654565

OCLC:

809845154