Currently browsing: Americana
Americana means different things to different folks. Here at Great American Things, it means cool stuff that doesn’t fit into any other category. I guess we could have called it Miscellaneous, but “Great Miscellaneous Things” doesn’t tell you much, does it?
Americana: The Star Spangled Banner Flag
We all know the line from our national anthem: “Oh, say, does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and...
Read MoreAmericana: Band-Aids
I wish I had a dollar for every Band-Aid that covered my skin during my childhood. Kids and Band-Aids are made for each other. While people...
Read MoreKid Stuff: Raggedy Ann
Decades before Cabbage Patch, before Barbie, and before Betsy Wetsy, American girls had a favorite doll. She didn’t come with a birth...
Read MoreAmericana: Consumer Reports
It doesn’t take advertising, so no company can influence its editorial product. And it buys every item it tests at retail, so it...
Read MoreAmericana: Advertising Jingles
The older you are, the more of these ditties you have rattling around your brain. And just when you think you’ve put them away...
Read MoreKid Stuff: Looney Tunes
It’s hard for me to imagine now, but Looney Tunes – and its sister Merrie Melodies – both originated because Warner Bros....
Read MoreAmericana: Mount Rushmore
Okay, first the amazing scale of Mount Rushmore. The memorial covers 1,278 acres. The heads of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Teddy...
Read MoreAmericana: The Sunday Paper
Everyone says the Internet will eventually run newspapers out of business. And there’s no disputing the facts – according to...
Read MoreTV Shows: Greatest Theme Songs
I’m not sure if theme songs are as important to TV shows today as they used to be. In the early days of TV, they were used to...
Read MoreThe Arts: Pulitzer Prizes
It’s ironic that Joseph Pulitzer, a newspaper owner noted in his time for shaping the truth to fit his personal views, has become...
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