the so-called quiet decade of 1900-1910 was anything but quiet. Spurred by the energy and progressive attitude of President Theodore Roosevelt and millions of immigrants flooding into our cities, American life saw tremendous cultural and technological change. A healthy economy gave workers more spending money and leisure time to enjoy hobbies, travel, and pastimes, including a new and revolutionary entertainment-the movies.
Providing an exciting picture of American life at the dawn of the 20th century, this volume covers:
• Innovations in technology, such as the airplane and the automobile
•The advent of modern architecture
•The proliferation of advertising aimed at the new middle class
•Fads, games, sports, and hobbies
•Changes in fashion and cuisine
This book also features the burgeoning of the arts, including the school of realism and naturalism in literature, the first truly American music-jazz-and the new performing art that played to American tastes: vaudeville. A wealth of facts, information, and interesting sidelights not available elsewhere makes this a treasure trove for students and interested readers.

The 1900s: (American Popular Culture Through History)

History

Batchelor, Bob

Americas

Greenwood

The eighties are seen by many as a time of excess and extremes. From Boy George to Madonna, metal heads to valley girls, and workout clothes to shoulder pads, many pushed the boundaries of what was was conventional. After a decade of war, disillusionment of the government, advances in civil rights, and disco, Americans became status seekers and shopaholics and the Me generation was born. Twelve narrative chapters describe the decade of decedence and its impact on popular culture including: the AIDS epidemic, preppies, Miami Vice, the Rubik's Cube, E.T., hair bands, the advent of the personal computer, malls, Ronald Reagan, Pac-Man, Cheers, Stephen King, Michael Jackson, the shuttle Challenger explosion, Bonfire of the Vanities, music videos, Roseanne, the power suit, Less Than Zero, rap music, and The Cosby Show, among many others.
Chapters on Everyday America and the World of Youth describe the important changes in American society, from Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs, to latch-key kids, to Black Monday. The following ten chapters explore the many aspects of popular culture-everything from advertising to fashion, literature to music, travel to the visual arts-that influenced Americans in the eighties. Supplemental resources include a timeline of important events, an extensive bibliography for further reading and a subject index.

The 1980s (American Popular Culture Through History)

Stoddart, Scott F.

Pop culture is the heart and soul of America, a unifying bridge across time bringing together generations of diverse backgrounds. Whether looking at the bright lights of the Jazz Age in the 1920s, the sexual and the rock-n-roll revolution of the 1960s, or the thriving social networking websites of today, each period in America's cultural history develops its own unique take on the qualities define our lives.American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade is the most comprehensive reference on American popular culture by decade ever assembled, beginning with the 1900s up through today. The four-volume set examines the fascinating trends across decades and eras by shedding light on the experiences of Americans young and old, rich and poor, along with the influences of arts, entertainment, sports, and other cultural forces.
Whether a pop culture aficionado or a student new to the topic, American Pop provides readers with an engaging look at American culture broken down into discrete segments, as well as analysis that gives insight into societal movements, trends, fads, and events that propelled the era and the nation. In-depth chapters trace the evolution of pop culture in 11 key categories: Key Events in American Life, Advertising, Architecture, Books, Newspapers, Magazines, and Comics, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Music, Sports and Leisure Activities, Travel, and Visual Arts. Coverage includes: How Others See Us, Controversies and scandals, Social and cultural movements, Trends and fads, Key icons, and Classroom resources. Designed to meet the high demand for resources that help students study American history and culture by the decade, this one-stop reference provides readers with a broad and interdisciplinary overview of the numerous aspects of popular culture in our country. Thoughtful examination of our rich and often tumultuous popular history, illustrated with hundreds of historical and contemporary photos, makes this the ideal source to turn to for ready reference or research.

American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade [4 volumes]

Humor & Entertainment

Pop Culture

Welcome to Pop Culture 2.0. In the 2000s, Generation eXposure, emerged from the marriage of new technology and the nation's obsession with celebrity. Social media technology, such as MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, and countless blogs, gave everyman a voice and a public persona that they could share with friends across the street or around the world. Suddenly, it was not enough to imitate Britney Spears or Paris Hilton, technology gave everyone a platform to launch their own 15 minutes of fame. The fixation on self and celebrity acted as a diversion from more serious challenges the nation faced, including President George W. Bush's War on Terror. The wars overseas sharply divided the country, after a moment of national unity after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, which took away one of the world's most recognizable buildings. The era witnessed interest rates dropping to historic lows, but later subprime became one of the most searched terms on Google as the nation teetered on recession. Big was in like never before and suddenly people nationwide could buy or build their own McMansion-a slice of the American dream. While supersized homes and fast food meals became commonplace, the electronics and transportation advances proved that good things came in increasingly smaller packages. Apple's iPod reinvented how people interacted with music, hybrids changed thoughts on fuel efficiency as a gallon of gas topped $3. Cell phones usage ballooned in our always on society, while physically shrinking to the size of a deck of cards. Yes, me-centric Pop Culture 2.0, which the pundits predicted would some day arrive, burst onto the scene and ultimately transformed the way we interact with one another and the world around us.
Chapters inside the latest volume in the American Popular Culture Through History series explore various aspects of popular culture, including advertising, literature, leisure activities, music visual arts, and travel. Supplemental resources include a timeline of important events, cost comparisons, and an extensive bibliography for further reading.

The 2000s (American Popular Culture Through History)

Bob Dylan transcends music. He has established himself as one of the most important figures in entertainment history. This biography examines the life and work of the iconic artist, including his groundbreaking achievements of the last two decades.
 • Provides extensive cultural and historical context that demonstrates Dylan's lasting impact on American history
• Supplies a comprehensive analysis of Dylan's iconic standing and influence on popular culture that readers will find fascinating, as well as underscores his status as more than just a singer, songwriter, or musician
• Brings together disparate elements of biographical information, song and album analysis, and historical and cultural context not found in other works

Bob Dylan: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)

Widely considered "America's Man of Letters," John Updike is a prolific novelist and critic with an unprecedented range of work across more than 50 years. No author has ever written from the variety of vantages or spanned topics like Updike did. Despite being widely recognized as one of the nation's literary greats, scholars have largely ignored Updike's vast catalog of work outside the Rabbit tetralogy. John Updike: A Critical Biography provides the first detailed examination of Updike's body of criticism, poetry, and journalism, and shows how that work played a central role in transforming his novels. The book disputes the common misperception of Updike as merely a chronicler of suburban, middle-class America by focusing on his novels and stories that explore the wider world, from the groundbreaking The Coup (1978) to Terrorist (2006). Cultural historian and biographer Bob Batchelor asks readers to reassess Updike's career by tracing his transformation over half a century of writing.

John Updike: A Critical Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Praeger

How has Hollywood―as a place, an industry, a concept, and a myth―affected American culture as a whole? This book addresses this complex question.
By the 1920s, Hollywood was well established as a center of movie and entertainment production. In the nearly 100 years since, Hollywood hasn't just been a source of entertainment: it has served to transform our culture; mirrored society's interests, opinions, and concerns; and evolved our expectations of what life should be like―for better and for worse.
Hooray for Hollywood! A Cultural Encyclopedia of America's Dream Factory presents approximately 200 alphabetically arranged entries that examine exactly what Hollywood has meant to us. The entries cover such cultural topics as fashion, dance, and music; influential films, directors, and actors; as well as fascinating brief histories of logos or unusual facts about America's film industry. The entries also provide cross-references and include "Further Reading" sections that cite print and electronic resources appropriate for additional research. A selection of roughly 40 primary documents, each accompanied by an introductory headnote, gives students a first-hand look at the history of Hollywood and promotes critical thinking skills in support of Common Core State Standards.
 • Presents hundreds of A–Z entries that discuss Hollywood as a place, industry, concept, and myth in American popular culture, within a historical context as well as from the modern perspective of our Internet-enabled, social media-driven society
• Supplies primary documents that present first-hand accounts of topics related to Hollywood
• Includes a timeline that highlights key events in Hollywood history

Hooray for Hollywood!: A Cultural Encyclopedia of America's Dream Factory

Jones, Norma

Turner, Kathleen

Movies

Greenwood Pub Group

In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald produced his third novel, a slim work for which he had high expectations. Despite such hopes, the novel received mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Over the decades, however, the reputation of The Great Gatsby has grown and millions of copies have been sold. One of the bestselling novels of all time, it is also considered one of the most significant achievements in twentieth-century fiction. But what makes Gatsby great? Why do we still care about this book more than eighty-five years after it was published? And how does Gatsby help us make sense of our own lives and times? In Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel, Bob Batchelor explores the birth, life, and enduring influence of The Great Gatsby—from the book’s publication in 1925 through today’s headlines filled with celebrity intrigue, corporate greed, and a roller-coaster economy. A cultural historian, Batchelor explains why and how the novel has become part of the fiber of the American ethos and an important tool in helping readers to better comprehend their lives and the broader world around them. A “biography” of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, this book examines The Great Gatsby’s evolution from a nearly-forgotten 1920s time capsule to a revered cultural touchstone. Batchelor explores how this embodiment of the American Dream has become an iconic part of our national folklore, how the central themes and ideas emerging from the book—from the fulfillment of the American Dream to the role of wealth in society—resonate with contemporary readers who struggle with similar uncertainties today. By exploring the timeless elements of reinvention, romanticism, and relentless pursuit of the unattainable, Batchelor confirms the novel’s status as “The Great American Novel” and, more importantly, explains to students, scholars, and fans alike what makes Gatsby so great.

Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel (Contemporary American Literature)

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

At the core of Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies is the riveting story of Kimberly-Clark, a Wisconsin paper company that became a pioneer of personal hygiene products in the twentieth century. Its first big commercial success was Kotex, which came from sanitary wound bandages developed in World War I. Similarly, Kleenex evolved from Army gas mask filters into disposable handkerchiefs and became the company's most reliable profit maker. Finally, Huggies turned Kimberly-Clark into a leading player in the highly competitive diaper market of the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to tracing Kimberly-Clark's fascinating history of technology development and product diversification, Heinrich and Batchelor explore momentous changes in consumer behavior and marketing. When Kotex first arrived on the scene in the 1920s, menstrual hygiene was burdened with cultural taboos that made it impossible for many women to ask the (inevitably male) pharmacist for a sanitary napkin. To solve such vexing marketing problems, Kimberly-Clark invented the artificial word "Kotex" and inserted it into consumer vocabulary through massive advertising campaigns. Making it easier for women to shop for the new product, Kimberly-Clark also recommended that stores place boxes of Kotex on the counter where women could help themselves without embarrassing conversation, thus pioneering the concept of self-service.

KOTEX, KLEENEX, HUGGIES: KIMBERLY-CLARK AND THE CONSUMER REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN BUSINESS (HISTORICAL PERSP BUS ENTERPRIS)

Business & Money

HEINRICH, THOMAS

Biography & History

Ohio State University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Batchelor, Bob. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Batchelor, Bob

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Batchelor, Bob. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The 1900s: (American Popular Culture Through History)

The 1980s (American Popular Culture Through History)

American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade [4 volumes]

The 2000s (American Popular Culture Through History)

Bob Dylan: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)

John Updike: A Critical Biography

Hooray for Hollywood!: A Cultural Encyclopedia of America's Dream Factory

Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel (Contemporary American Literature)

KOTEX, KLEENEX, HUGGIES: KIMBERLY-CLARK AND THE CONSUMER REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN BUSINESS (HISTORICAL PERSP BUS ENTERPRIS)

Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel (Contemporary American Literature)