The author (an academic, but his affiliation is not stated) examines the history and social context of two categories of hobbies collecting and crafts. Because collecting has changed little in
150 years, he addresses the subject topically, with discussion of the collectible object, collectors, and the construction and deconstruction of a collector's market. He writes about crafts
chronologically, from the Victorian to the postwar eras, examining issues of industrialization, capitalism, gender roles, and leisure in American society. The study stops at the end of the
1950s before the counterculture arts and crafts movement of the 1960s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
