The Lawn : A History of an American Obsession - Virginia Jenkins

Instant online reading.
Don't wait for delivery!
Go digital and save!

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

RRP $39.99

$35.75

11%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $8.94 with

Ships in 25 to 30 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 $89.00 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

Said the Dead

The new book from the award-winning author of A GHOST IN THE THROAT

Lunch on a Beam

The Making of an American Photograph

The Voynich Manuscript

Born in 1956? What else happened? 2024 edition

What else happened?

Dark Emu

Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture

Born in 1946? What else happened?

What else happened?

Abandoned Women : Scottish Convicts Exiled Beyond the Seas

Fairies

A History

Luna Park

The extraordinary story of the showmen, shysters and schemers who built Sydney's famous fun park

Women, Race & Class

Penguin Modern Classics

The Children of Ash and Elm

A History of the Vikings

The Dawn of Everything

A New History of Humanity

Australia: A History: by the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott with a foreword by Geoffrey Blainey

From convict colony to great democracy

Nexus

A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Goliath's Curse

The History and Future of Societal Collapse

Entitled

The Rise and Fall of the House of York

The Cats of Australia: From shipmates to soulmates - a complicated history of moggies Down Under, by Australia's only cat historian

From shipmates to soulmates and eco-villains - the complicated story of moggies Down Under

A World Appears

A Journey Into Consciousness

Divide & Rule

Royal Women and their Battles

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Penguin Modern Classics

Women & Power

A Manifesto

The Master and His Emissary

The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Goliath's Curse

The History and Future of Societal Collapse

Raven Mother

War, family and inheritance: a memoir

This product is categorised by