Citation

Witkowski TH. J. Macromark. 2020; 40(3): 396-414.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0276146720918656

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Giving guns as Christmas presents has been one of the ways in which boys and young men have traditionally been recruited into American gun culture. This paper explores how advertising in Boys' Life magazine, among other data sources, has represented this special Christmas giving in terms of suitable types and brands of guns, appropriate shooting activities, family gifting tableaux and rituals, fantasy consumption, and masculinity theory. Over the period studied, from the turn of the twentieth century until the early twenty-first, this socialization through gift-giving has been remarkably consistent and provides insight into the durability of American gun culture.

Language: en

Keywords

air rifles; Boy Scouts Of America; Boys’ Life Magazine; Christmas gifts; firearms; guns