Gerald Hewes Carson (July 6, 1899 – December 4, 1989) was an American advertising executive,

social historian Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

and writer.

Biography

Carson was born in

Carrollton, Illinois Carrollton is a city in and the county seat of Greene County, Illinois, Greene County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,484 as of the 2010 census. Geography Carrollton is located in south-central Greene County at (39.296662, -90.40 ...

.Flint, Peter B. (1989)
"Gerald Carson, 90, A Social Historian Of Accessible Style"
''The New York Times''. Retrieved 30 September 2019. He obtained his

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. He started advertising in 1923. He was vice president at

William Esty William Cole Esty (March 6, 1895 – January 1954) was an American advertising executive and founder of William Esty Co.Staff report (January 22, 1954). "William Cole Esty, an Ad Executive". ''The New York Times''. After working at J. Walter T ...

& Company, at

Benton & Bowles Benton & Bowles (B&B) was a New York-based advertising agency founded by William Benton and Chester Bowles in 1929. One of the oldest agencies in the United States, and frequently one of the 10 largest, it merged with D'Arcy-MacManus Masius in ...

and at

Kenyon & Eckhardt Kenyon & Eckhardt was an independent advertising agency that was acquired by Lorimar in 1983, which acquired Bozell Jacobs in 1985 and merged them. ''Lorimars merged ad agency property was initially named ''Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhart'' ...

. He became a full time writer in 1951 and was on the advisory board of the ''

American Heritage American Heritage may refer to: * ''American Heritage'' (magazine) * ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' * American Heritage Rivers * American Heritage School (disambiguation) See also *National Register of Historic Place ...

'' magazine during 1964–1976 and in 1989. Many of Carson's books were positively reviewed for their detailed research.Hamilton, Milton W. (1954)
''Reviewed Work: The Old Country Store by Gerald Carson''
''New York History'' 35 (3): 322–324. Historian Milton W. Hamilton wrote that Carson's ''The Old Country Store'' "is highly entertaining and belongs in the library of all who enjoy Americana and folklore. It is well written and is based on much devoted research." Carson died in

Langhorne, Pennsylvania Langhorne Borough is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,622 at the time of the 2010 census. The mailing address "Langhorne" is used for Langhorne Borough, but it is also used broadly to describe the majority of surrou ...

Animal welfare

Carson authored a historical volume on

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

, ''Men, Beasts, and Gods: A History of Cruelty and Kindness to Animals'' in 1972. It contains information about historical figures from the animal welfare movement such as

Henry Bergh Henry Bergh (August 29, 1813 – March 12, 1888) founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in April, 1866, three days after the first effective legislation against animal cruelty in the United States was passed ...

and George T. Angell. Unlike Carson's other works it was negatively reviewed in academic journals. For example, historian Miriam Z. Langsam commented that it is "frequently difficult to distinguish this book from a polemic put out by the

ASPCA The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...

Selected publications

*''The Old Country Store'' (1954) *''Cornflake Crusade'' (1957) *''The Roguish World of Doctor Brinkley'' (1960) *''One for a Man, Two for a Horse: A Pictorial History, Grave and Comic, of Patent Medicines'' (1961) *''The Social History of Bourbon'' (1963) *''Rum and Reform in Old New England'' (1966) *''The Polite Americans'' (1966)Baker, Paul R. (1966). ''The Polite Americans: A Wide-Angle View of Our More or Less Good Manners Over 300 Years By Gerald Carson''. ''

The American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal and the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets readers interested in all periods and facets of history and has often been described as the ...

'' 72 (1): 278–279. *''Men, Beasts, and Gods: A History of Cruelty and Kindness to Animals'' (1972) *''The Golden Egg'' (1977) *''Dentist and the Empress: Adventures of Dr. Tom Evans in Gas-lit Paris'' (1984)

References

External links

Gerald Carson
- American Heritage
Gerald Carson papers ca. 1920-1984
- New York Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Gerald 1899 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers American advertising executives American animal welfare scholars American social historians University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Writers from Illinois People from Carrollton, Illinois