The Lawn

A History of an American Obsession

By: Virginia Jenkins

Write A Review

Paperback | 17 April 1994

At a Glance

Paperback
272 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
0.1 x 0.1 x 0.1

Paperback

$36.90

or 4 interest-free payments of $9.22 with

Aims to ship in 15 to 25 business days

Lawns now blanket thirty million acres of the United States, but until the late nineteenth century few Americans had any desire for a front lawn, much less access to seeds for growing one. In her comprehensive history of this uniquely American obsession, Virginia Scott Jenkins traces the origin of the front lawn aesthetic, the development of the lawn-care industry, its environmental impact, and modern as well as historic alternatives to lawn mania.

Industry Reviews

"Virginia Scott Jenkins shows that this uniquely American landscape form is not a native one: indigenous New World grasses were munched into extinction by the colonists' Old World livestock, and the very concept of the lawn was borrowed from the romantic English parks of Capability Brown and from the French tapis vert. The gradual suburbanization and the shaming tactics of appearance-minded neighbors led America to become completely besotted with grass--and lawn care."--New Yorker

"Jenkins makes a convincing argument that the military metaphors used by advertisers and lawn care experts alike were part of a male viewpoint that saw nature as something to be 'controlled and mastered.' This summer could be much more fun if readers ignore their own lawns and stick to Jenkins's."--Publishers Weekly

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Gardening Specialised Gardening Methods Landscape Gardening Gardening: Plants & Cultivation Guides Society & Culture Cultural Studies Nature & The Natural World Trees, Mushrooms, Wildflowers & Plants History Specific Events & Topics in History Social & Cultural History

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Americans Adopt the Front-Lawn Aesthetic
The Introduction of Lawns to America	p. 9
Garden Clubs, Golf, and the USDA	p. 35
Advertising the Front Lawn	p. 63
The Democratization of the Lawn
The Growth of the American Lawn-Care Industry	p. 91
Men, Women, and Front Lawns	p. 117
The War Between Man and Nature	p. 133
The Age of High-Tech Horticulture	p. 159
Conclusion	p. 183
Notes	p. 189
Index	p. 239
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

The Lawn

A History of an American Obsession

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Social & Cultural History

Ferryman

The Life and Deathwork of Ephraim Finch

Through the Rubble

From Earthquakes to War Zones. A Story of Survival and Service

Abandoned Women : Scottish Convicts Exiled Beyond the Seas

Dark Emu

Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture

Born in 1955? What Else Happened? 2024 Edition

What else happened?

Night

Penguin Modern Classics

The CIA Book Club

The Best-Kept Secret of the Cold War

Exterminate/Regenerate

The Story of Doctor Who

Inconvenient Women

Australian radical writers 1900-1970

The Men Who Killed the News

The inside story of how media moguls abused their power, manipulated the truth and distorted democracy

EVERY MAN

Why Violence Against Women is a Men's Issue, and How You Can Make a Difference

Australian Ghost Stories

New haunting true crime stories of the supernatural and paranormal from the bestselling author of AUSTRALIA'S MOST INFAMOUS JAIL and AUSTRALIAN HEIST

The Dawn of Everything

A New History of Humanity

Homo Deus

A Brief History of Tomorrow

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Penguin Modern Classics

The Master and His Emissary

The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

'Truly mind-expanding... Ultra-topical' Guardian

Deep History

Country and Sovereignty

Blackshirts and Reds

Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism

The Wife Drought

Why Women need Wives, and Men need Lives

Australia

A history by the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott with a foreword by Geoffrey Blainey; from ancient land to great democracy

Nation, Memory, Myth

Gallipoli and the Australian Imaginary

"I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer"

Letters on Love and Marriage from the World's First Personal Advice Column

John and Paul

A Love Story in Songs - 'The first new Beatles story in decades'

This product is categorised by