Library Catalog

How Old Are You? : Age Consciousness in American Culture /

Chudacoff, Howard P.

How Old Are You? : Age Consciousness in American Culture / Howard P. Chudacoff. - 1 online resource (242 p.)

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER 1. BLURRED AGE DISTINCTIONS: AMERICAN SOCIETY BEFORE 1850 -- CHAPTER 2. ORIGINS OF AGE GRADING: EDUCATION AND MEDICINE -- CHAPTER 3. AGE NORMS AND SCHEDULING: THE 1890S -- CHAPTER 4. INTENSIFICATION OF AGE NORMS: 1900-1920 -- CHAPTER 5. EMERGENCE OF A PEER SOCIETY -- CHAPTER 6. ACT YOUR AGE: THE CULTURE OF AGE, 1900-1935 -- CHAPTER 7. AGE CONSCIOUSNESS IN AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC -- CHAPTER 8. CONTINUITIES AND CHANGES IN THE RECENT PAST -- CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- INDEX

restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Most Americans take it for granted that a thirteen-year-old in the fifth grade is "behind schedule," that "teenagers who marry "too early" are in for trouble, and that a seventy-five-year-old will be pleased at being told, "You look young for your age." Did an awareness of age always dominate American life? Howard Chudacoff reveals that our intense age consciousness has developed only gradually since the late nineteenth century. In so doing, he explores a wide range of topics, including demographic change, the development of pediatrics and psychological testing, and popular music from the early 1800s until now. "Throughout our lifetimes American society has been age-conscious. But this has not always been the case. Until the mid-nineteenth century, Americans showed little concern with age. The one-room schoolhouse was filled with students of varied ages, and children worked alongside adults. [This is] a lively picture of the development of age consciousness in urban middle-class culture." --Robert H. Binstock, The New York Times Book Review "A fresh perspective on a century of social and cultural development."--Michael R. Dahlin, American Historical Review


Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.


In English.

9780691221267

10.1515/9780691221267 doi


HISTORY / United States / General.

Calahan, Daniel. Danzinger, Sheldon. Eddy, Daniel. Eliot, Charles W. Forty Plus clubs. Freud, Sigmund. Gerontological Society. Hart, William Bruce. Kett, Joseph. Lee, Agnes. Lionberger, Isaac. Medicare. Morris, Desmond. National Council of Senior Citizens. Newcomb, Harvey. Older Americans Act of 1965. Puritans. Quetelet, Adolphe. Shakespeare, William. Sunday schools. Titcomb, Timothy. Tucker, Sophie. Vietnam War. Willard, Frances. Znaniecki, Florian. advice literature. ageism. autograph books. baby boom. birthrates. bureaucratization. child development. colleges and universities. commercialized leisure. discrimination, age. games and play. infant schools. jukeboxes. juvenile courts. middle age. pediatrics. peer groups. religion. retirement communities. rural communities. social security. television. vaudeville. voting age. work and workplace.