ISBN:
9780520915008
,
0520915003
,
0585176531
,
9780585176536
Language:
English
Pages:
Online Ressource (xv, 424 pages)
,
illustrations
Edition:
Online-Ausg.
Parallel Title:
Print version America calling
DDC:
302.2350973
Keywords:
Telephone Social aspects
;
History
;
United States
;
United States
;
Telephone Social aspects
;
History
;
Telephone Social aspects
;
History
;
SOCIAL SCIENCE ; Media Studies
;
Telephone ; Social aspects ; United States ; History
;
Telephone ; Social aspects
;
Telefonie
;
Sociale aspecten
;
Sozialgeschichte
;
Telefon
;
Comunicacao de massa
;
Telefonia
;
Téléphone ; Aspect social ; États-Unis ; Histoire
;
Télécommunications ; Aspect social
;
History
;
United States
;
USA
;
USA
;
Electronic books
;
Electronic books History
Abstract:
The telephone looms large in our lives, as ever present in modern societies as cars and television. Claude Fischer presents the first social history of this vital but little-studied technology--how we encountered, tested, and ultimately embraced it with enthusiasm. Using telephone ads, oral histories, telephone industry correspondence, and statistical data, Fischer's work is a colorful exploration of how, when, and why Americans started communicating in this radically new manner. Studying three California communities, Fischer uncovers how the telephone became integrated into the private worlds and community activities of average Americans in the first decades of this century. Women were especially avid in their use, a phenomenon which the industry first vigorously discouraged and then later wholeheartedly promoted. Again and again Fischer finds that the telephone supported a wide-ranging network of social relations and played a crucial role in community life, especially for women, from organizing children's relationships and church activities to alleviating the loneliness and boredom of rural life. Deftly written and meticulously researched, America Calling adds an important new chapter to the social history of our nation and illuminates a fundamental aspect of cultural modernism that is integral to contemporary life. --Publisher
Description / Table of Contents:
Technology and modern lifeTelephone in America -- Educating the public -- Telephone spreads : national patterns -- Telephone spreads : local patterns -- Becoming commonplace -- Local attachment, 1890-1940 -- Personal calls, personal meanings.
Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index. - Description based on print version record
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