Americana (culture)

As nostalgia

From the mid to late 20th century, Americana was largely conceptualized as a nostalgia for an idealized life in small towns and cities in the United States around the turn of the century, roughly in the period between 1880 and the First World War. It was believed that much of the structure of 20th-century American life and culture had been cemented in that time and place. American author Henry Seidel Canby wrote:

Many kinds of cultural artifacts fall within the definition of Americana: the things involved need not be old, but are usually associated with some quintessential element of the American experience. Each period of United States history is reflected by the advertising and marketing of the time, and the various types of antiques, collectibles, memorabilia and vintage items from these time periods are typical of what is popularly considered Americana. The Atlantic described the term as "slang for the comforting, middle-class ephemera at your average antique store—things like needle-pointed pillows, Civil War daguerreotypes, and engraved silverware sets".

The nostalgia for this period was based on a remembrance of confidence in American life that had emerged during the period due to such factors as a sense that the frontier had finally been "conquered", with the U.S. Census Bureau's declaration that it was "closed" in 1890, as well as the recent victory in the Spanish–American War. By 1912, the contiguous United States was at last fully politically incorporated, and the idea of the nation as a single, solid unity could begin to take hold.

As Canby put it,

On growing up Italian-American, novelist Don DeLillo stated:

The zeitgeist of this idealized period is captured in Disneyland and Magic Kingdom's Main Street, U.S.A. section (which was inspired by both Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri and Harper Goff's childhood home of Fort Collins, Colorado), as well as the musical and movie The Music Man and Thornton Wilder's stage play Our Town. Especially revered in nostalgic Americana are small-town institutions like the barber shop, drug store, soda fountain and ice cream parlor; some of these were eventually resurrected by mid-twentieth century nostalgia for the time period in businesses like the Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour chain, with its 1890s theme.

Examples

Cultural symbols

• American football
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Bruce Wayne and Batman
• Bugs Bunny
• Clark Kent and Superman
• Cowboy
• Flag of the United States
• Fourth of July
• Hollywood
• Mickey Mouse
• Mount Rushmore
• Route 66
• Small town
• Statue of Liberty
• Tent revival
• Thanksgiving
• Traveling carnival
• White picket fence
• Wild West

Food

• Apple pie
• Barbecue
• Bubble gum
• Brownies
• Buffalo wings
• Hamburgers
• Hot dogs
• Ice cream
• Fried chicken
• Milkshake
• Muffins
• Pizza, American-style

Music

• Americana music
• Blues
• Country
• Folk music
• Jazz
• Rock and roll
• "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Religion

• Camp meeting
• Tent revival

Clothing and fashion

• Blue jeans
• T-shirt
• Cowboy hat
• Motorcycle jacket
• Denim jacket
• Cowboy boots
• Penny loafer
• Workwear
• College prep
• Western shirt

Brand names

• Alden
• Allen Edmonds
• Budweiser
• Camel
• Campbell's
• Chevrolet
• Coca-Cola
• DC Comics
• Disney
• Ford
• Harley-Davidson
• Heinz
• Jack Daniel's
• JanSport
• Jim Beam
• John Deere
• Kellogg's
• KFC
• Levi's
• McDonald's
• Marvel Comics
• Marlboro
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Nike
• Stetson
• Texaco
• Timberland
• Warner Bros.

Similar concepts

• Regional
  • Floridiana, artifacts relating to the state of Florida.
  • Hawaiiana, Native Hawaiian cultural artifacts from Hawaii.
• Anglosphere
  • Australiana, for cultural artifacts from Australia
  • Canadiana, for cultural artifacts from Canada
  • Kiwiana, for cultural artifacts from New Zealand
• Communist nostalgia, a similar concept in former or currently communist countries
  • Ostalgie, a similar concept in East Germany
  • PRL nostalgia, a similar concept in Poland
  • Soviet nostalgia, a similar concept in the former Soviet Union
  • Yugo-nostalgia, a similar concept in the former Yugoslav states
• Rhodesiana, a similar concept in Zimbabwe relating to items made when it was known as Rhodesia

References

References

1. {{cite Merriam-Webster. Americana
2. {{cite Dictionary.com. Americana
3. Shriver, Jerry. (31 August 2009). "Grammys will be putting Americana on the map". [[USA Today]].
4. "2011 Grammy Category Descriptions".
5. Sears, Stephen. (1975). "Hometown U.S.A.". American Heritage.
6. Canby, Henry Seidel. (1934). "The Age of Confidence: Life in the Nineties". Farrar & Rinehart.
7. Giovanni Russonello. (August 2013). "Why Is a Music Genre Called 'Americana' So Overwhelmingly White and Male?". The Atlantic.
8. (January 13, 2005). "Conversations with Don DeLillo". University Press of Mississippi.
9. "Local History Archive Larimer Legends – Old Town & Disneyland – City of Fort Collins, Colorado". Library.ci.fort-collins.co.us.
10. Sears, Stephen. (1975). "Hometown U.S.A.". American Heritage.
11. Sears, Stephen. (1975). "Hometown U.S.A.". American Heritage.
12. (August 31, 2010). "Farrell's looks to restart growth Owner outlines expansion plans for iconic ice cream chain". Nation's Restaurant News.
13. Perelman, Britton. (August 27, 2020). "How to Capture "Americana" in Photography".
14. (17 February 2020). "Mount Rushmore Sculptor Gutzon Borglum Carved American History".
15. Sides, Hampton. (2007). "Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier". Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
16. Stoutland, Frederick A.. (2006). "Landscapes of Christianity". FAS Publishing.
17. (28 August 2023). "What is Americana? (with pictures)".
18. Xiong, Nzong. (2008-03-03). "White picket fences appease homeowners". TuscaloosaNews.com.
19. Evans, Jon. (Sep 21, 2021). "Why "Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie And Chevrolet" Has Stood The Test Of Time". Advertising Weekly.
20. (2008). "Savage barbecue : race, culture, and the invention of America's first food". University of Georgia Press.
21. "The Jewish history of Bazooka bubble gum". [[The Times of Israel]].
22. "Behold the burger: Americana on a bun – DGO Magazine".
23. (29 June 2022). "How Theme Parks Use Fried Chicken to Sell the American Dream". Eater.
24. (20 May 2015). "Milkshakes: pure Americana and a Hong Kong burger's best friend". South China Morning Post.
25. (2021). "Food Americana : the remarkable people and incredible stories behind America's favorite dishes".
26. (17 May 2016). "Without Jazz and Blues, There's No 'Americana'". The Atlantic.
27. Lineberry, Cate. (March 1, 2007). "The Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner".
28. Melvin, Don. (7 October 1990). "COCA-COLA A SIP OF AMERICANA THINGS HAVE BEEN GOING BETTER WITH COKE SINCE 1886.".
29. (10 January 2003). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Coca-Cola goes back to its 'Real' past in an effort to find some new fizz for its Classic brand. - The New York Times". The New York Times.
30. "The Americana Essentials That Will Literally Never Go Out of Style | Complex".