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Fountain Society

The humble drinking fountain can tell us much about a society’s attitudes towards health, hygiene, equity, virtue, public goods and civic responsibilities.
by Shannon Mattern via Places Journal on February 14, 2023
Fall/Winter 1957 Sears catalog page spread of men's work clothes.

Before Folding 30 Years Ago, the Sears Catalog Sold Some Surprising Products

The retail giant’s mail-order business reigned supreme for more than a century, offering everything from quack cures to ready-to-build homes.
by Leo DeLuca via Smithsonian on January 26, 2023
Cover of The Silver Palate Cookbook

‘The Silver Palate Cookbook’ Changed Home Cooking (and Pesto Consumption) As We Know It

Published in 1982, 'The Silver Palate Cookbook' taught a generation of American cooks to trust in bold flavors, fresh herbs, and the joys of improvisation.
by Aimee Levitt via Eater on December 7, 2022
Cartoon of several Chinese-Americans holding a sign that says, "Chinatown is Not For Sale"

Dynasty Center: Exclusion and Displacement in Los Angeles’s Chinatown

The original Los Angeles Chinatown, now known as “Old Chinatown,” developed in the 1860s.
by Jean Young via Folklife on October 24, 2022
Shoppers in the indoor mall at the 1000 block of North Nogales Avenue

What Asian Immigrants, Seeking the American Dream, Found in Southern California Suburbs

How new arrivals remade the east San Gabriel Valley — and assimilated in it.
by James Zarsadiaz via Los Angeles Times on October 17, 2022
Mark Wallinger's "Self-Portrait," a painting showing black dripping paint in the silhouette of an unfurled scroll on a grey background

The Illusion of the First Person

The personal essay is the purest expression of the lie that individual subjectivity exists prior to the social formations that gave rise to it.
by Merve Emre via New York Review of Books on October 11, 2022
1928 painting of a girl getting baptized in a pool, surrounded by a crowd on a farm.

Trouble in River City

Two recent books examine the idea of the Midwest as a haven for white supremacy and patriarchy.
by Caroline Fraser via New York Review of Books on September 29, 2022
Illustration of a 1950s woman surrounded by orange flames, pink background

Reading Betty Friedan After the Fall of Roe

The problem no longer has no name, and yet we refuse to solve it.
by Tis Lyz via Men Yell At Me on September 21, 2022
Picture of a calculator and a shopping basket of fresh produce.

What Online Inflation Calculators Can—and Can't—Tell Us About the Past

Most of these tools are based on the Consumer Price Index, a measure of changing prices in the U.S. over time
by Sarah Kuta via Smithsonian on August 15, 2022
A collection of flags, games, and printed matter from the Civil War
partner

Patriotism and Consumerism in the Civil War

For a burgeoning consumer society, store-bought flags and bonnets offered proof that commercialism could go hand in hand with heartfelt emotion.
by Livia Gershon, Joanna Cohen via JSTOR Daily on July 3, 2022
Palm Oil Farm from above

The Irreplaceable: Palm Oil Dependency

Cheap palm oil is part of an interlocking late capitalist system.
by Bee Wilson via London Review of Books on June 23, 2022
A family tree relating Aaron Sachs' book "Up From the Depths" with Lewis Mumford and Herman Melville.

Why Reading History for Its “Lessons” Misses the Point

On Lewis Mumford, Herman Melville, and the gentle art of looking back in time.
by Daniel Immerwahr via Slate on June 6, 2022
A packed Betty Crocker test kitchen in 1935, image of women crowded around a counter.

The Unsung Women of the Betty Crocker Test Kitchens

For many Crockettes, the job was glamorous, fulfilling, and "almost subversive."
by Anne Ewbank via Atlas Obscura on March 21, 2022
WWII Advertisement that highlights price controls.

Price Controls, Black Markets, And Skimpflation: The WWII Battle Against Inflation

To control inflation during WWII, the U.S. government resorted to wide-ranging price controls. Unintended consequences may be the reason they aren't used today.
by Greg Rosalsky via NPR on February 8, 2022

Why So Many Guns on Christmas Cards? Because Jesus was ‘Manly and Virile.’

Muscular Christianity — with scriptural interpretations that can favor “stand your ground” over “turn the other cheek” — has a long tradition in the U.S.
by Peter Manseau via Washington Post on December 14, 2021
Middle finger that says "Millenial" and Fist that says "Gen Z"

It’s Time to Stop Talking About “Generations”

From boomers to zoomers, the concept gets social history all wrong.
by Louis Menand via The New Yorker on October 7, 2021
Auto workers on strike outside a General Motors plant in Detroit, September 1970.

When Americans Took to the Streets Over Inflation

In the 60s and 70s, spiraling prices for staples like meat and gasoline wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy, thanks to political and policy mistakes.
by Jon Hilsenrath via The Wall Street Journal on June 11, 2021
Model posing with the original Motorola cellphone

The First Cellphone: Discover Motorola’s DynaTAC 8000X, a 2-Pound Brick Priced at $3,995

We get the culture our technology permits, and in the 21st century no technological development has changed culture like that of the smartphone.
by Colin Marshall via Open Culture on May 20, 2021
Coffee table with books

A Brief History of Coffee Table Books: Origin, Precursors, and Popularity

Ever look at the tome on a coffee table and wonder why coffee table books are a thing? Consider this brief history of coffee table books.
by Addison Rizer via Book Riot on April 13, 2021
Illustration of a smoker with coins instead of puffs of smoke coming from his cigarette

Pinhookers and Pets: Inventing the Non-Smoker

Who needs a public health system when sickness is a personal failure?
by Jackson Lears via London Review of Books on February 18, 2021
Carvings on two whaleteeth (scrimshaw)

The Pleasure Crafts

Everyday people's creation of porn and erotic objects over the centuries.
by Cintra Wilson via New York Review of Books on December 17, 2020
Donald Trump and Joe Biden behind podiums during the first presidential debate of 2020
partner

President Trump Gets the Suburbs All Wrong

His conception of what appeals to suburban voters is frozen in the past.
by Michelle M. Nickerson via Made By History on October 1, 2020

The Wages of Whiteness

One idea inherited from 1960s radicalism is that of “white privilege,” a protean concept invoked to explain wealth, political power, and even cognition.
by Hari Kunzru via New York Review of Books on September 3, 2020
A grilled cheese sandwich.
partner

A Brief History of Comfort Food

Our newest culinary trend is also our oldest.
by Stacy Wood, April White via JSTOR Daily on May 30, 2020
Portrait-style painting of woman in brown dress, with a modern COVID-19 protective mask digitally imposed on her face

Early American Women Unmasked

The masks owned by early American women and even children were no less symbolic than modern masks in terms of practical use, commodification, or controversy.
by Philippe Halbert via The Junto on May 5, 2020
partner

Meatpacking Work Has Become Less Safe. Now it Threatens Our Meat Supply

Protecting the food supply chain means protecting workers.
by Christopher Deutsch via Made By History on May 1, 2020

Remnants of the New Deal Order

We can only understand the left’s present dilemmas by seeing them in light of the conflicted legacy of the New Deal.
by Kim Phillips-Fein via Dissent on April 13, 2020
Stan and Mardi Timm show off Johnson Smith novelties they’ve collected. Stan wears X-Ray Spex and holds a Tark Electric Razor. Mardi wears a sailor’s hat that says “Kiss Me Honey I Won’t Bite” and holds a Little Gem Lung Tester and Bust Developer.

Fun Delivered: World’s Foremost Experts on Whoopee Cushions and Silly Putty Tell All

The Timms provide the history behind their collection of 20th century mail-order novelty items.
by Lisa Hix via Collectors Weekly on March 17, 2020
Four African-Americans in front of a McDonalds restaurant

The Intertwined History of McDonald’s and Black America

In good ways and bad, the Golden Arches have always loomed large in the African American experience.
by Marcia Chatelain via Gen on January 6, 2020

America's Decades-Old Obsession With Nuking Hurricanes (and More)

If you think dropping a nuclear bomb into the eye of a hurricane is a bad idea, wait'll you see what they had in mind for the polar ice caps.
by Garrett M. Graff via Wired on August 26, 2019
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