3 minute read
Off the Shelf
WHAT ARE WE READING + WATCHING?
Bernie Brooks, collections specialist at The Henry Ford, suggests a read of And the Category Is … Inside New York’s Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community by Ricky Tucker to introduce yourself to the fascinating world of ballroom culture.
Though ballroom culture has long been an underground staple of America’s Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ community, the mainstream has been flirting with its colorful drag queens and competing houses on and off for decades. Madonna’s smash song Vogue co-opted ballroom’s most well-known category, voguing, in 1990. RuPaul was the first drag queen to score a hit single on the Hot 100 in 1993, and his RuPaul’s Drag Race has been drawing viewers since 2009. Lately, though, it seems that ballroom and its radical, liberatory modes of self-expression have reached something of a pop-cultural tipping point with FX’s drama Pose and HBO’s voguing competition Legendary.
Those seeking a deeper understanding of ballroom needn’t look any further than Ricky Tucker’s And the Category Is … Inside New York’s Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community. Tucker alternates between interviews and an almost novelistic approach to historical narrative to explore the movement’s language, fashion, music, houses and key characters. Highly readable and hugely entertaining, Tucker goes deep. Anyone even remotely interested in the spheres of contemporary art and culture that have drawn on ballroom — and that’s basically all of them — will be glad they sought out Tucker’s research.
DID YOU KNOW? /
In 1990, documentarian Jennie Livingston released Paris Is Burning, which chronicles the ballroom culture of New York City and the African American, Latinx, gay and transgender communities involved in it.
Kathleen Ochmanski
Assistant Collections Manager The Henry Ford
Instagram: @Danielkanter Manhattan-nest.com (Danielkanter.com)
Based in Kingston, New York, Daniel Kanter shares preservation and interior design work on Instagram. Follow along as he expertly repurposes materials and provides detailed progress notes for his hands-on work transforming historic homes. You may soon discover a new fondness for the color beige and start seeing the possibilities in a pile of scrap wood.
Kevin McGorey
Collections Specialist The Henry Ford
Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour Archived at themetimeradio.com
Originally aired in the early aughts on Sirius satellite radio and now available via Internet archives, each episode of Theme Time Radio Hour uses a different topic — cars, coffee and cats, to name a few — as a framework for exploring obscure music spanning a variety of genres and decades. Interspersed with lighthearted and often informative anecdotes from host Bob Dylan, it’s an antidote to algorithmgenerated playlists and a delightful way to spend an hour.
Cayla Osgood
Assistant Collections Manager The Henry Ford
For All Mankind Apple TV+
What if the U.S. lost the space race? This is the premise and the very beginning of For All Mankind, a hidden gem of a television show.
For me, perhaps the most interesting part of the show is the diverging time lines for technological innovations and social changes that this single moment sparks. It’s a highly entertaining and continually surprising watch.
Weave in a good read or a look-see at the many resources the Benson Ford Research Center at The Henry Ford offers on the topics of fashion and the textiles industry past and present. For help with access, write to research.center@ thehenryford.org.
BOOKS
Worn on This Day: The Clothes That Made History by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell Bonnie Cashin: Chic Is Where You Find It by Stephanie Lake How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 20th Century by Lydia Edwards Wardrobe Crisis: How We Went from Sunday Best to Fast Fashion by Clare Press The Dangers of Fashion: Towards Ethical and Sustainable Solutions edited by Sara B. Marcketti and Elena E. Karpova Encyclopedia of Textiles by Judith Jerde 5000 Years of Textiles by Jennifer Harris Understanding Fabrics: From Fiber to Finished Cloth by Debbie Ann Gioello
ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS Accession 89.492 - Firestone Family Papers
The Elizabeth Parke Firestone Couture series includes publicity photographs and correspondence related to clothing and accessories purchased by Firestone from designer houses such as Balenciaga and Dior.
Vogue (1936 - )
Founded in 1892, Vogue remains the leading fashion publication, influencing modern fashion trends around the world.
Trade Card Collection – Singer Manufacturing Co.
The Singer Sewing Machine Co. had a series of 36 trade cards that offered images of Singer machine users from around the world in their national dress.
