Total Package

In this wise survey, Philadelphia Inquirer design critic Hine (Populuxe) describes and decodes the history and effects of packages, ``an inescapable part of modern life.'' He reflects on packages in nature (the orange, the egg) and tracks the growth of modern packaging from 17th-century London (elixirs, etc.) through the first practical folding box (Brooklyn, 1879) and other advances in technology and transportation. Urbanization produced the Uneeda biscuit and Campbell's soup, as well as the supermarket. Hine broadens his lens to cover the ``contemporary packaged landscape'' of drive-ins and malls and intriguingly tracks the psychology--and international cultural differences--behind package research. A final chapter considers ``empties'': the question of garbage and its future. We all know what's in a box of Tide, but read on to find out why the box is orange and its lettering is blue. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Apr.)