Little Girl Who Fought The Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America

Name: Little Girl Who Fought The Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America
Price: 15.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: John F. Kasson
ISBN: 9780393350616

Her image appeared in periodicals and advertisements roughly twenty times daily; she rivaled FDR and Edward VIII as the most photographed person in the world. Her portrait brightened the homes of countless admirers; for four consecutive years Shirley Temple was the world's box-office champion, a record never equaled. By early 1935 her mail was reported as four thousand letters a week, and hers was the second-most popular girl's name in the country.

What distinguished Shirley Temple from every other Hollywood star of the period — and everyone since — was how brilliantly she shone. Amid the deprivation and despair of the Great Depression, Shirley Temple radiated optimism and plucky good cheer that lifted the spirits of millions and shaped their collective character for generations to come. Distinguished cultural historian John F. Kasson shows how the most famous, adored, imitated, and commodified child in the world astonished movie goers, created a new international culture of celebrity, and revolutionized the role of children as consumers.