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      Look and see: Optical technology and disciplinary mechanisms in Topps Trading Cards, 1948-1952

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          Abstract

          In this article I examine trading cards produced by Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. in the United States in the decade following World War II. I focus on how these cards functioned as mechanisms of discipline, through the practices associated with collecting, as well as through their content and use. Cards reflected contemporary trends in education and behavioural science. In addition, they utilised what I term optical technology to entice children to buy. This came in the form of rudimentary optical tricks that emulated scientific and technological developments associated with wartime. I argue that in doing so, these cards brought children into the nascent military-technological complex, and provided a way to view the world in hierarchical terms through optical science.

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          Most cited references49

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          A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America

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            Brainpower for the Cold War: The Sputnik Crisis and National Defense Education Act of 1958

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              The Ambiguity of Play

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                it
                Image & Text
                IT
                Department of Visual Arts at the University of Pretoria (Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa )
                1021-1497
                2617-3255
                2020
                : 34
                : 1-26
                Affiliations
                [01] Evanston orgnameNorthwestern University orgdiv1School of Communication United States of America harriettekevilldavies2014@ 123456u.northwestern.edu
                Article
                S1021-14972020000100021 S1021-1497(20)00003400021
                10.17159/2617-3255/2020/n34a21
                bbd42274-7ea5-4aca-a1a7-4889339b5483

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 50, Pages: 26
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                SciELO South Africa

                Categories
                Original research

                Trading cards,anthropology,technology,science,children,Cold War
                Trading cards, anthropology, technology, science, children, Cold War

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