Vance Packard: Encyclopedia - Vance Packard

Vance Packard

Vance Packard (May 22, 1914 - December 12, 1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and author. His million-selling book The Hidden Persuaders, about media manipulation of the populace in the 1950s was a forerunner of pop sociology: science-based thinking without the weight of detail or eloquence, geared for sale to the mass market.

Packard's work, though it sold well, was criticized as poorly thought out, light on facts, high on supposition, and frivolous for his serious topics. In truth, much of the emerging work of the time was frivolous by 21st century standards, as publishers produced works by sociologists and others of less than the highest level. The differences between such books and current publications are indicative of the development of thought at the time. These books did, however, deal thoughtfully with some important issues, such as class divisions. Packard's discussion of advertising in politics showed especial foresight; he predicted the way image and personality would rapidly come to overshadow real issues in the age of televised elections. His writings on "planned obsolescence" by the producers of consumer goods are still relevant.

One thing the critics could not argue with, however, was the success of "pop science" books, and their value in bridging a gap between the highly educated classes and the less educated ones.

Vance Packard - Life events

• 1914 Born in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania to parents Philip J. Packard and Mabel Case Packard
• 1920-32 Attends local public schools in State College, Pennsylvania where his father managed a farm owned by Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
• 1932 Enters Penn State majoring in English
• 1936 Graduates, works briefly for the local Center Daily Times newspaper
• 1936-7 Earns master's degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
• 1937 Boston Daily Record staff reporter
• 1938 Marries Virginia Matthews
• 1940? Reporter for Associated Press
• 1942 Joins the staff of American magazine as a section editor, later becoming a staff writer.
• 1956 American magazine closes (July)
• 1956 Writer for Collier's
• 1956 Collier's closes (December)
• 1957 The Hidden Persuaders receives national attention and launches Packard’s career as a social critic and full-time lecturer and book author
• 1961 Named a Distinguished Alumnus of Penn State
• 1996 Dies at his summer home on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts

Vance Packard - Books

• 1946 How to Pick a Mate a guide co-authored with the head of the Penn State marriage counseling service
• 1950 Animal IQ a popular paperback on animal intelligence
• 1957 The Hidden Persuaders on the advertising industry - the first of a popular series of books on sociology topics
• 1959 The Status Seekers describing American social stratification and behavior
• 1960 The Waste Makers criticizes planned obsolescence describing the impact of American productivity, especially on the national character
• 1962 The Pyramid Climbers Describes the changing impact of American enterprise on managers, the structured lives of corporate executives and the conformity they need to advance in the hierarchy
• 1964 The Naked Society on the threats to privacy posed by new technologies such as computerized filing, modern surveillance techniques and methods for influencing human behavior
• 1968 The Sexual Wilderness on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and changes in male-female relationships
• 1972 A Nation of Strangers about the attrition of communal structure through frequent geographical transfers of corporate executives
• 1977 The People Shapers on the use of psychological & biological testing and experimentation to manipulate human behavior
• 1983 Our Endangered Children discusses growing up in a changing world, warning that American preoccupation with money, power, status, and sex, ignored the needs of future generations
• 1989 Ultra Rich: How Much Is Too Much? examined the lives of thirty American multimillionaires and their extravagances.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Vance Packard", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki