Title Little big world : collecting Louis Marx and the American fifties / Jeffrey Hammond

Published Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, ©2010

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 118 pages) Series Sightline books : the Iowa series in literary nonfiction Sightline books. Contents The prospero of Fifth Avenue -- Animal husbandry -- No time like the present -- Little big world -- Left-handed Jesus -- Getting and spending -- Collecting myself Summary "Collections are more about who one is than about what is collected. In Little Big World, Jeffrey Hammond's resonant 1950Æs inner child speaks through the reflective sixty-something man about the culture and magic of a spectrum of action figure playsets through a lifetime."ùMarilynn Gelfman Karp, author, In Flagrante Collecto "To be reunited with one's boyhood toys is the secret dream of every grown man, no matter how receding the hairline or large the gut. Jeffrey Hammond delightfully takes us back to the heyday of the 195os, when toys were small and bombs were big, and single-handedly rescues a nation of tiny plastic people from the savagery of time."ùJeff Porter, author, Oppenheimer Is Watching Me "Every collection contains a world, and in that world the collector sees the world at large; such is the Emersonian lens effect. It is rare, though, to find in any recollected world such a special guide and circumnavigator as Jeffrey Hammond. He takes us to the scene of recreation, where objects and imagination interweave to make the world and its wonders new."ùWilliam Davies King, author, Collections of Nothing "In this age of whiz-bang digital gizmology and orgiastic videogame excess, some of us of a certain age (as they say) fondly recall the cheap plastic glories of the world of Louis Marx. Those tiny cowboys, soldiers, knights, and such may have lacked the flash of modern toy s, but they did something better, spurring the imagination of folks like Jeff Hammond, who pays loving homage via this immensely enjoyable 'biography of a collection and autobiography of a collector.-Jim DeRogatis, host of Sound Opinions and author of Sheperd Paine: The Life and Work of a Master Modeler and Military Historian Jeffrey Hammond's Little Big World: Collecting Louis Marx and the American Fifties is the story of a middle-aged man's sudden compulsion to collect the toys of his childhood: specifically, themed playsets produced by the Louis Marx Toy Company. Hammond never made a conscious decision to become a collector of any kind, so he was surprised when his occasional visits to web sites turned into hours spent gazing at, and then impulsively purchasing, the tiny plastic people and animals in the Civil War set, the Fort Apache set, Roy Rogers Ranch, and Happi-Time Farmùjust a few of the dozens of playsets the Marx Company produced Hammond interweaves childhood memories with reflections on what they reveal about the culture and values of cold war America, offering an extended meditation on toys as powerful catalysts for the imagination of both children and adults. Never sentimentalizing his childhood in an effort to get his old toys back, Hammond exposes the dangers of nostalgia by casting an unsettling light on the culture of the fifties and the era's lasting impact on those who grew up in it "All flesh is grass," Hammond says, "but rubberized vinyl is forever." Writing in a lovably quirky voice, he not only attempts to understand his personal connection to the Marx toys but also examines the psychology of his fellow eBay denizens. In this warm, funny, and contemplative work, the reader encounters an online community of serious adult collectors who, as the author suspects, are driven to obsession by middle-aged nostalgia. When Hammond questions this preoccupation with the past, comes to realize that his own collecting has prevented him from moving forward. With this insight, he offers an insider's take on the culture and psychology of collecting. --Book Jacket Notes Print version record Subject Hammond, Jeffrey, 1950- -- Childhood and youth SUBJECT Hammond, Jeffrey, 1950- fast Subject Louis Marx & Co. -- History SUBJECT Louis Marx & Co. fast Subject Toys -- United States -- Anecdotes Toys -- Collectors and collecting -- United States ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES -- Toy Animals. ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES -- Toys. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- General. Childhood and youth of a person Manners and customs Toys Toys -- Collectors and collecting SUBJECT Middle West -- Social life and customs -- 20th century Subject Middle West United States Genre/Form Anecdotes History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781587299438 1587299437

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