The Cooper-Hewitt Library has a large collection of over 2,000 World’s fair catalogues and books. Some are children’s souvenirs and stories. A day at the New York World's Fair with Peter and Wendy brings back memories of certain things I remember. As a teenager, my mother had loved the 1939 World’s fair, so that when...
This Catalogue of the Monumental Bronze Co. is one of the many examples of trade literature that the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Library has in its collection; they are among the most valuable research resources for documenting the tastes and trends of culture, and the products being marketed and sold in a given time period. This...
Left: Paris, France, ca. 1925. Annual exhibition of the Primavera design department of Au Printemps department store. Right: Paris, France, ca. 1926. Copper-color painted figure with necklace of diamonds and sapphires by Dusausoy and dress by Callot-Soeurs. Born in upstate New York, Thérèse Bonney (1897-1978), was a photojournalist whose work reflected a wide variety of...
Isn’t it wonderful to sit outside under a shady tree in a comfortable chair? Wicker furniture, cold drinks and a porch swing…heaven. I used to have a wicker armchair in my living room, bought at a junk store and treasured until it began squeaking with the slightest movement and my cats started turning it a pile...
On a long ago walking tour of downtown New York, I was charmed and mystified to see people pulling refrigerator magnets or little alphabet letters out of their pockets and having them cling to the deceptively ordinary front of a building! They stuck! This is the test of a cast iron building. The Library has in its...
Title translation: A representation of Inland and Foreign Wood: As well Trees as [sic] Shrubs Which are Collected by the Lovers of Natural History in Their Cabinets of Natural Curiosities for Use and Pleasure. According to Their Inward Properties and Natural Colors … In a page headlined Advertisement, Sepp says this book is for “Kings,...
This extremely rare trade catalog from 1940, in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Library, represents the output of 10 state-owned ceramics factories from all over the Ukraine in small towns and villages after industry was nationalized in 1918. Katalog farforu faiansu i maĭoliky is a primary source document for studying the decorative arts, material culture, and political...
During the last quarter of the 19th century, feather decoration for hats, fans, and boas was at its peak; in 1886, 77% of women’s hats were decorated with feathers and a milliner’s window had a display of colorful ostrich tips and plumes. They were used not only on hats, but were also used in trimming...
