{"title":"Richard Handler","description":"\u003cp\u003eRichard Handler’s works delve into the rich tapestry of \u003cem\u003eArts \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/em\u003e, offering insightful explorations that blend narrative depth with scholarly observation. His writing invites readers to engage with cultural history through compelling storytelling and meticulous research.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom detailed examinations like \u003cem\u003eThe American Stamp\u003c\/em\u003e to broader cultural reflections, Handler’s books illuminate the intersections of society, identity, and artistic expression, providing a thoughtful experience for those curious about cultural narratives.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-american-stamp-by-laura-goldblatt-9780231208246","title":"The American Stamp","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than three thousand different images appeared on United States postage stamps from the middle of the nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth. Limited at first to the depiction of a small cast of characters and patriotic images, postal iconography gradually expanded as the Postal Service sought to depict the country and its history in all its diversity. This vast breadth has helped make stamp collecting a widespread hobby and led many people to see stamps as consumer goods in their own right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExamining the canon of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American stamps, Laura Goldblatt and Richard Handler show how postal iconography and material culture offer a window into the contested meanings and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. They argue that postage stamps, which are both devices to pay for a government service and purchasable items themselves, embody a crucial tension: is democracy defined by political agency or the freedom to buy? The changing images and uses of stamps reveal how governmental authorities have attempted to navigate between public service and businesslike efficiency, belonging and exclusion, citizenship and consumerism. Stamps are vehicles for state messaging, and what they depict is tied up with broader questions of what it means to be American.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGoldblatt and Handler combine historical, sociological, and iconographic analysis of a vast quantity of stamps with anthropological exploration of how postal customers and stamp collectors behave. At the crossroads of several disciplines, \u003cem\u003eThe American Stamp\u003c\/em\u003e casts the symbolic and material meanings of stamps in a wholly new light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47432802337004,"sku":"9780231208246","price":66.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780231208246.jpg?v=1774766441"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/richard-handler.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}