Menu
Idea

consumer culture

319
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 121–150 of 319 results. Go to first page
Sonora Smart Dodd; her father, William Jackson Smart.

The Forgotten History of Father's Day

Find out how one woman asked to recognize the fathers in her town and inspired others.
by Aurelia C. Scott via Old Farmer's Almanac on April 28, 2022
A 1921 card reading: For Safety's Sake, cross this way, not here, not this way. Quit Jay Walking

The Invention of “Jaywalking”

In the 1920s, the public hated cars. So the auto industry fought back — with language.
by Clive Thompson via Medium on March 29, 2022
1950s American family watching TV.

How American Culture Ate the World

A new book explains why Americans know so little about other countries.
by Dexter Fergie via The New Republic on March 24, 2022
Glowing icon of an app among cobwebs. Designed by Alex Castro.

Inside The Fight to Save Video Game History

Video game history is lost faster than we can preserve it.
by Ash Parrish via The Verge on March 21, 2022
Neil Young, on left, and UFC announcer and podcaster Joe Rogan.
partner

What The Neil Young-Joe Rogan Dust-Up Tells Us About The Music Industry

The music industry is thriving — but it’s not always trickling down to artists.
by Sam Backer via Made By History on February 6, 2022
Decorative glass ash tray.

Mementos Mori

What else is lost when an object disappears?
by Sophie Haigney via The Baffler on January 27, 2022
Green labels read "100% Natural Product" and "Natural Bio Product"

Guilt-Free: Naturopathy and the Moralization of Food

How the rise of alternative, "natural," medicines led Americans to equate food with moral character.
by Zach Setton via Nursing Clio on January 27, 2022
Scene from from 'The Gilded Age' in which a wealthy white woman and an African American woman walk in the street, with a stagecoach behind them.

The True History Behind HBO's 'The Gilded Age'

Julian Fellowes' new series dramatizes the late 19th-century clash between New York City's old and new monied elite.
by Kimberly A. Hamlin via Smithsonian Magazine on January 20, 2022
At left; a late 19th century French women's ensemble made of blue velvet, satin, and fur. On the right is a photograph of a wealthy, upper-class woman wearing the same outfit (without the coat) in 1920.

Lessons in Reuse From...French Couture?

What can we learn from the 19th-century commitment to reusability and upcycling, quality over quantity?
by Elizabeth L. Block via The MIT Press Reader on January 17, 2022
Cover of an early Superman comic book.

The Vigilante World of Comic Books

A sweeping new history traces the rise of characters caught in a Manichaean struggle between good and evil.
by Scott Bradfield via The New Republic on December 16, 2021
Man dressed as a clown with face paint, bald on top with big tufts of hair on the sides, and a bulbous nose.
partner

The Strangely Enduring Appeal of Bozo the Clown

How a clown won over several generations of children.
by Jeffrey Allen Smith via Made By History on December 9, 2021
People sitting on a hill overlooking a harbor

How We Became Weekly

The week is the most artificial and recent of our time counts yet it’s impossible to imagine our shared lives without it.
by David Hinkin via Aeon on November 30, 2021
Woman sitting on her living room sofa, 1920s; the room also includes a coffee table, a chair, lamps, paintings, and a houseplant.

Vintage Photos Show What Living Rooms Looked Like Before TV

Photos reveal how people structured their living rooms before the television became widespread.
via Vintage Everyday on November 23, 2021
Black man and Black woman riding bikes on a suburban street.
partner

American Cycling Has a Racism Problem

How racism has shaped the history — and present — of bicycle use.
by Nathan Cardon via Made By History on November 16, 2021
A witch's hat and crooked stick, with the words "rags to witches"

Has Witch City Lost Its Way?

They’re hip, business-savvy, and know how to cast a spell: How a new generation of witches and warlocks selling $300 wands conquered Salem.
by Kathryn Miles via Boston Magazine on October 22, 2021
A 1920s undergarment shop, in black and white.

Bringing Down the Bra

Since the 19th century, women have abandoned restrictive undergarments while pursuing social and political freedom.
by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox via Zócalo Public Square on October 14, 2021
Black and white photo of the 1940 Chevrolet half-ton.

The Rugged History of the Pickup Truck

At first, it was all about hauling things we needed. Then the vehicle itself became the thing we wanted.
by Jeff MacGregor via Smithsonian Magazine on August 17, 2021
Woman's glowing face

“A Revolutionary Beauty Secret!”

On the rise and fall of radium in the beauty industry.
by Lucy Jane Santos via Literary Hub on July 8, 2021
A collage featuring pictures from the 1918 Flu Pandemic and the 1920s, including people wearing masks and nurses on one side and flappers on the other.

What Caused the Roaring Twenties? Not the End of a Pandemic (Probably)

As the U.S. anticipates a vaccinated summer, historians say measuring the impact of the 1918 influenza on the uproarious decade that followed is tricky.
by Lila Thulin via Smithsonian Magazine on May 3, 2021
A pile of trash at a landfill behind a member of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The History of New York, Told Through Its Trash

In 1948, the landfill at Fresh Kills was marketed to Staten Island as a stopgap measure. No one guessed that it would remain open for more than half a century.
by Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein via The New Yorker on April 24, 2021

Paper Products. Powder Rooms. What Past Pandemics Left Behind Forever.

Disease reshapes our lives in surprising ways.
by Rebecca Onion via Slate on March 23, 2021
Mark McGwire baseball card

Neoliberalism with a Stick of Gum: The Meaning of the 1980s Baseball Card Boom

Before beanie babies and Pogs, small rectangles of cardboard were the errant investments of a stratifying American society.
by Jason Tebbe via Tropics of Meta on March 12, 2021
Potato Head family
partner

Toys Are Ditching Genders for the Same Reason They First Took Them On

Why the Potato Heads are the latest toys becoming more inclusive.
by Paul Ringel via Made By History on March 2, 2021
Man with hamburger

Diners, Dudes, and Diets

How gender and power collide in food media and culture.
by Emily J. H. Contois via Nursing Clio on November 17, 2020
A screenshot from the movie "You've Got Mail."

The Romance of American Clintonism

The politically complacent ’90s produced a surprisingly large number of mainstream American rom-coms about fighting the Man.
by Meagan Day via Jacobin on October 21, 2020

From Home to Market: A History of White Women’s Power in the US

The heart-tug tactics of 1950s ads steered white American women away from activism into domesticity. They’re still there.
by Ellen Wayland-Smith via Aeon on September 17, 2020
Two people clinking their bottles of beer together.

Let Us Drink in Public

Open container laws criminalize working-class people and make public life less fun. We need to legalize public drinking.
by Miles Kampf-Lassin via Jacobin on August 4, 2020
A printed advertisement for "The Bookman" depicting a fish reacting to "The Bookman" on a hook.

The Power of Flawed Lists

How "The Bookman" invented the best seller.
by Elizabeth Della Zazzera via Lapham’s Quarterly on July 27, 2020

When Did Cheap Meat Become an “Essential” American Value?

Keeping meat production moving during the pandemic is dangerous. But history shows that there’s little Americans won’t sacrifice for a cheap steak.
by Rebecca Onion, Joshua Specht via Slate on May 14, 2020
A white man in a white suit sipping coffee while dark-skinned workers pick coffee beans in the heat.

The War on Coffee

The history of caffeine and capitalism can get surprisingly heated.
by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on April 20, 2020
View More
30 of
319

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History