The Decadent Art of Butter Sculpture
Butter sculpture is a fixture of American state fairs. The practice of using food as a medium for art dates back centuries.
The Story of the Invention of the Potato Chip Is a Myth
Everyone knows the potato chip was invented in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1853. Except it wasn’t.
How Little League Prepares Kids for Work
Little League baseball as we know it is result of child development theory and practices in America's heartland in the years directly after World War II.
Gamification, Then and Now
Nineteenth-century board games help to map public morality, from religious virtue to upward mobility.
The Rise of the Taco Truck
It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the taco was invented, but the taco truck has grown from humble origins to inspire an entire mobile food revolution.
Why Were Americans Obsessed With Ghosts in the 1940s?
In 1940s America, two folklorists undertook the task of collecting and studying the "modern" ghost stories of their time.
The Genealogy of the Jewish Deli
The Jewish deli is a New York City tradition that has spread far beyond the city's limits. It's a tradition worthy of its own history.
What Santa Claus Looks Like
Where does the figure of Santa Claus come from? Turns out the answer is not "the North Pole." And he's not just about Christianity, either.
Thanksgiving Is a Feast of Things Forgotten
Thanksgiving is a feast so complex and semiotically dense that things are very often forgotten and rarely go according to plan.