On our first day at Special Collections, I randomly sat at a table that happened to have all of the etiquette books on it. These were the first and only items I really looked at in Special Collections and I thought they were all interesting. When I first thought about etiquette as a whole, my … Continue reading Special Collections and Manners – Abby Keith →

Wandering through Special Collections in Hillman, my eyes were drawn to the bright yellow cover of I’m Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl! Published in 1970 by Whitney Darrow Jr. The appearance of the book is very distinct. It is square shaped with a hard cover. There are sketches of a young … Continue reading Special Collections- “Im Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl!” →

            After browsing through the selections on the tables laid out for us in Special Collections I chose to focus on Good Form For Men by Charles Harcourt, which is an etiquette book written in the beginning of the 20thcentury. It was published and produced in Philadelphia in 1905. I believe this location is important because Philadelphia … Continue reading Men Don’t Know How to Act →

Our visit to special collections was an interesting way to get a look into teenage life during the time period of the early-mid 1900s through the lens of what kinds of material was marketed to this relatively new, or recently recognized, group. Looking at this material, especially the differences of what was marketed to girls … Continue reading Etiquette Books: The Cycle of “Helpful” Oppression →

In 1970, DC Comics, as popularized with comics such as Batman, Superman, etc., saw the rise in popularity of their superhero comics with young boys and decided to create a comic book to be marketed towards young girls. They took this idea and started Falling in Love, a romance comic book featuring short stories aimed … Continue reading Girls in Fandom →

Upon perusing the items during our classes in Special Collections, I could not help but find myself genuinely bothered by most of what I saw. Almost all of the other items on the table that I could not tear myself away from were magazines that were incredibly strong reinforcers of social constructs of gender. Conventionally … Continue reading Wimmen’s Comix! (by Kiara Alvarez) →

Corinne Migliazza  Dr. Paine  Representing Adolescence 28 February 2020  “Teen Talk”  Charles E. Ford produced Teen Talk in 1946 and distributed the book in, what seems like, massive quantities. The seventy-four year old book has not aged well, any quick movement would rip it in half. It sits open, looking and smelling musty, with pages … Continue reading Teen Talk →

During the special collections visit I took an interest in Collier’s Magazine, specifically the adverts inside. All the ads were drawn, which is not seen very often in current advertising. These days it’s mostly models holding the product they are trying to sell. The use of specific product placement within the magazine helps break the … Continue reading America in Advertising →

After browsing through special collections and visiting the different tables, I noticed one particular print that stood out to me the most was The Lowell Offering. One of the main reasons I was drawn to this reading was because we read The Lowell Offering in class and I thought it would be a cool idea … Continue reading Special Collections: The Lowell Offering →

Alyssa Kline The etiquette guide Stand Up, Shake Hands Say “How Do You Do” is a unique handbook about the proper way for men to act. This book stood out to me when I was looking around special collections because most etiquette books deal with how women should act, not men.  At first, I thought … Continue reading Stand Up, Shake Hands Say “How Do You Do” →