Nostalgic collections |
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Authors: | Gary Cross |
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Institution: | Department of History, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA |
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Abstract: | Nostalgia has been transformed by the consumer market. With the emergence of ephemeral novelty goods – popular music, TV serials, kitsch, automobiles, and especially playthings – nostalgia has become less about identification with past communities, ideologies, or regimes than associated with fast-changing consumer goods, especially those encountered in childhood and youth. Reappropriating those goods later in life in nostalgic collecting has become a big business, producing narrow cohorts of consumers sharing common consumer memories. I explore this phenomenon through the history of collecting toys, dolls, and Disney collectibles in the USA. |
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Keywords: | Childhood collecting consumption dolls nostalgia toys marketplace icon |
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