1905 Building

In conjunction with The Tumultuous Fifties: A View from the New York Times Photo Archive, The Material Fifties was a special installation devoted to 1950s mass culture. Objects featured include original recordings of the era; a rare cherry-red 1952 Harley; a Coke machine; posters advertising cigarettes and fast cars; highway signs; first editions of Beat fiction and poetry; Wonder Woman, Mad, and Atomic War comic books; US government Cold War pamphlets; and pulp fiction. This installation provides a tangible complement to the black-and-white world represented in the photographs from the New York Times Photo Archives.

This exhibition was organized and presented by Bruce Jackson, Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Professor of American Culture, SUNY Buffalo and the University Libraries, SUNY Buffalo.