Past Joys
Book Reviews
| Author/s | Ken Botto |
| Type of Media | Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 96 |
| No. of Illustrations | approx. 110 |
| Publishing Date | 1978 |
| Publisher | Prism Editions Chronicle Books USA |
| Language/s | English |
| ISBN-10 | 0-87701-115-X |
Picture book of American vintage toys (cars, figures)
The author/photographer has taken vintage toys out of their cabinets, recreating scenes they might have been in when they were still toys and not collectors objects. Some images have captions with witty comments. Original price $11.95.
Member reviews
Average member rating from: 1 member(s)
Toys are there to be played with
| Overall rating: | 4.6 | |
| Completeness: | 4.0 | |
| Informative: | 4.0 | |
| Good Images: | 5.0 | |
| Presentation: | 5.0 | |
| Value for Money: | 5.0 |
Form the back of the cover:
"In Past Joys Ken Botto has done more than give us back the old toys from the scrap heap. Practically putting our own lost toys into our hands, he's taken them out of the dustless cases of the collector. He's played with them again and put them back to the world they came from - America between the two huge wars. He's had fun with the toys: surrounding them with sunlight and shade, color and texture; doing tricks with mirrors and scale; telling us jokes.
In Past Joys it's still possible to tell the good guys from the bad, to swap for the 1934 Silver Arrow, to fight a just battle, and to win the heart of the girl of your dreams.
Ken Botto says that these toys came from the Golden Age of toymaking when playing was still supposed to be fun and didn't have to be 'educational'. We say that this book itself is a toy and that still there is to be learned from: it takes a serious satirical look at the way our new world has become; it's telling us about a world that once was, during a time of bright light and hope and deepening shadows. These toys came out of the heart of our country: They are America's past, America's joys."
Well, I'm not an American, my 'past' begins many years after the era of these toys (cars, motorcycles, human and animal figures in tinplate, (cast) iron and plastic), but this book puts a smile on my face whenever I go through it.
As for the ratings, due to the character of the book it doesn't make sense to rate it for completeness and being informative. Rating for these criteria however is obligatory, so the both '4s' replace a blank.
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