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1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Rare Books
Designers now have at their fingertips an invaluable reference: an illustrated history of modern furnishings and interior design from period rooms of the early twentieth century. Ikea, eat your heart out: Macy's, Lord & Taylor and others designed exhibits in the 1920s with mock living rooms, bedrooms, and even kitchens to display and sell modern furnishings and decorative objects. Marilyn Friedman's text and accompanying period photographs describe in detail the exhibits held by Macys, Lord & Taylor, B. Altman, and Wanamaker's to popularize modern design. Macy's, in particular, worked closely with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to select designers and display works of modern design by Gio Ponti, William Lescaze, and Paul Frankel as part of the exhibits. More than 120 photographs illustrate period furnishings and decorative objects by European and American designers, providing a visual feast for interior designers, art lovers, and collectors.
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Visual Materials
One sample magazine entitled Design, Vol. 34, No. 1, edited by Felix Payant, published by Keramic Studio Publishing Co., Syracuse, New York, May 1932. This 12-page illustrated issue is a publisher's sample: it contains select pages from previous issues and is smaller than a standard issue. The subtitle reads: "A monthly magazine devoted to the decorative arts." The inside of the front cover contains a statement addressed to art teachers, and the inside of the back cover bears an advertisement for a portfolio of plates meant to be used for reference purposes. Laid into this sample issue are three publisher's advertisements (flyers) for the magazine: one promoting the sale of portfolios which feature international design; one advertising a decorative arts portfolio; and the third is a letter to Design readers with new subscription rates.
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Visual Materials
Image of James M. Shrewsbury (1854-1919), brother of Mary F. Beach (1850-1930), standing in a garden next to the Beach adobe in Spadra, present-day Pomona, California.
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Visual Materials
Image of an adobe building identified as being at "Ranchita." This is possibly a reference to Rancho El Ranchito (present-day Whittier, California), but this has not been verified.
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Visual Materials
View of an old stone wall on property identified as "Domec Ranch" - possibly a reference to Pierre Domec (see notes, below). Pierre Domec's homestead was in present-day Chatsworth, California.
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Manuscripts
One scrapbook with handwritten title on flyleaf: "Some Fac-Similes of Title-pages, Design, Ornaments, &." containing a variety of specimens including clipping, pages, bookplates, etc.
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