Holidays on Display curator talk and book signing! · Nov 27, 10:14 AM
Holidays on Display curator talk and book signing
Saturday, December 1, 2007 / 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
National Air and Space Museum in the “Treasures of American History” exhibit.
The museum is located Independence Avenue at 6th Street, SW, Washington, DC. Admission is free. Seating is first-come, first-served. For more information click here.
For generations of Americans, a treasured holiday treat was to visit the downtown department stores to view the animated window displays. Author and Museum curator William L. Bird, Jr., examines the origins, process, and fabricators of this tradition, from the shop windows to building exteriors and out into the street in the form of parade floats. (And, it could be argued, by extension to the silver screen. L. Frank Baum was the editor of Show Window magazine and a prolific designer of store window displays and parade floats, although he is best remembered as the author of “The Wizard of Oz,” the basis for the 1938 film.) A book signing follows the talk.
The 153-page book Holidays on Display is packed with never-before-seen photographs, historic drawings, and insights into the evolution of the outdoor lighting, animated windows, and parade floats that fill American towns with holiday spirit. Published by Princeton Architectural Press, it is available at the sales kiosk near “Treasures” at NASM, at your favorite local or online bookseller, and directly from the publisher.
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