Out of the Attic ─ Inventing Antiques in Twentieth-Century New England

Through a series of case studies, Greenfield (history, Central Connecticut State U.) presents an academic assessment of how antiques were transformed from family keepsakes to valuable artistic objects in the first half of the 20th century. The text considers the role of collectors, dealers, and museum makers, with chapters devoted to the role of Jewish dealers in promoting American antiques; Jessie Barker Gardner, a smalltime collector and would-be museum-maker from Providence, Rhode Island; Henry Flynt of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the institutionalization of antiques; and C. Malcum Watkins, one of the Smithsonian's first professional curators to study social history themes through material culture, who promoted the collection of objects celebrating the contributions of ordinary Americans and traditional craft processes. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Briann G. Greenfield is associate professor of history and coordinator of the public history program at Central Connecticut State University.