We're in a midcentury moment; the present is anything but certain, the future is almost certainly bleak with a double dip recession looming on the horizon and a bruising election year ahead. So it is really no surprise that the past has acquired a nostalgic luster.
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We're in a mid-century moment; the present is anything but certain, the future is almost certainly bleak with a double dip recession looming on the horizon and a bruising election year ahead. So it is really no surprise that the past has acquired a nostalgic luster.

From TV shows like Mad Men and newcomer PanAm to designers like Jonathan Adler (Happy Chic!) and Todd Oldman to retailers like Design Within Reach, we all seem to be taking a collective look back.

Today we share some vintage eye candy culled from our upcoming exhibition, Crafting Modernism, which opens on October 12 in New York.

Our exhibit focuses on the relationship between art, craft and design in the postwar years. Featuring the work of Charles Eames, Wendell Castle, Shelia Hicks and Peter Voulkos, Crafting Modernism shows --through furniture, textiles, tableware, ceramics, glass, jewelry, sculpture and painting -- the growth and transformation of American life in the period between 1945 and 1969. Below are seven of our favorite pieces from the show.

Jeannine Falino and Jennifer Scanlan are co-curators of Crafting Modernism, Museum of Arts and Design.

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