Many of Carson's books were positively reviewed for their detailed research.[3][4][5][6] 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."[4]
Carson authored a historical volume on
animal welfare, 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 and
George T. Angell.[7]
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".[8]
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)
^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 72 (1): 278–279.