Shelf space

The War is over, the economy's booming, and the supermarket shelves are groaning under the weight of thousands of items. New products and packaging--aerosol sprays, TV dinners, canned beer, and molded plastics--abound, and the package designer's task has never been more challenging, or more fun. Designers and pop culture buffs alike will revel in this outstanding portfolio of package design from the mid-1940s to mid-1960s, a veritable social history of postwar consumer culture. In more than 150 color photos, author Jerry Jankowski presents favorite pieces of the period -- a surrealist perfume bottle by Salvador Dali, a Bing Crosby ice cream carton, "Astronaut: The New Game of Outer Space" (for boys), "Let's Do Dishes" (for girls) -- chosen for their strong graphics, classic motifs, social commentary, or quirky humor. Readers will recognize familiar classics like the boldly designed package for Brillo soap pads and an early incarnation of the Frisbee. All are cultural time capsules from a rich era of design, reflecting an image of a nation caught somewhere between the Old West and the Space Age.