The Cute and the Cool: Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children's Culture

268 Pages·2004·4.54 MB·English

by  Gary Cross

The Cute and The Cool:
Wondrous Innocence
and Modern American
Children’s Culture
GARY CROSS
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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T H E U T E A N D T H E O O L
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T H E U T E
A N D
G A R Y C R O S S

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T H E O O L
Wondrous Innocence
and Modern American
Children’s Culture
1

2004
1

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Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cross, Gary S.

The cute and the cool : wondrous innocence and modern American children’s culture /

Gary Cross.

p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-19-515666-8

1. Children—United States—History. 2. Children in popular culture.

3. Toys—Social aspects—United States. 4. Parenting—United States—History.

5. Children—United States—Caricatures and cartoons.

6. Innocence (Psychology) I. Title.

HQ783.C74 2004

305.231—dc21 2003053089

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For my mother, Shirley A. Cross,

whose life was a passionate embrace of beauty

and a quiet tribute to human dignity.
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Contents

Chapter 1 The Irony of Innocence 3

Chapter 2 The Two Faces of Innocence 19

Chapter 3 The Cute Kid: Images of a Wondrous Childhood 43

Chapter 4 Holidays and New Rituals of Innocence 83

Chapter 5 Gremlin Child: How the Cute Became the Cool 121

Chapter 6 Setting the Boundaries of Innocence 163

Chapter 7 Rethinking Innocence 191

Notes 209

Index 245
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