In Search of the Real Betty Crocker
Betty Crocker, the woman who would become America’s most beloved baker, sprang to life in 1921 in an all-male advertising department.
What Father’s Day Jokes Really Mean
Comic strip dads give us some sociological clues into how views surrounding masculinity and fatherhood have changed.
When Tacos Become a Political Flashpoint
In 2008, the “Taco Truck War” broke out in Los Angeles. Taco trucks again became a hot-button issue in the 2016 presidential race. Why?
“Give Us Bread!”
In 1917, a food riot erupted in Brooklyn over the prices of staples. These forms of protest, sadly, are not quite yet ready for the dustbin of history.
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.