Welcome to this AMA which today features five panelists willing and eager to answer your questions on 20th Century American Popular Culture.
Our panelists are:
/u/Bufus American Comic Books: I do historical research using comic books as primary sources and have written my thesis on the relationship between comic books of the postwar era and larger questions of gender and sexuality in American society.
/u/randommusician American Popular Music: a History degree with a B.A. in Music and well-versed in American popular music. /u/randommusician will be joining us a little later.
/u/BonSequitur Cinema: Classic Hollywood, Latin America, Pre-war Western Europe: has spent way too much time reading and posting to this subreddit about the history of cinema, including but not limited to the development of Hollywood cinema up until the 1970s. He approaches this from the film studies and criticism end, and so he's more interested in broad historical and aesthetic trends than specific people or events. /u/BonSequitur will be joining us a little later.
/u/Yearsnowlost New York City: I am a New York City tour guide and writer who adores learning, talking and writing about city history every day. NYC has been a multicultural hub throughout most of its history, bringing many different people together in close proximity. As a lens through which to view American pop culture, New York City is significant, as its residents and transplants have influenced our modern world in profound ways and through art, music, poetry, literature, film and countless other mediums.
/u/American_Graffiti History of Childhood and Youth: I am a PhD Candidate in American History, focusing on the history of childhood and youth in the 20th Century United States. While not a "specialist" in the history of pop culture, I should be able to answer most questions on youth and children's culture in the 20th Century US, and many broader questions about the history of American pop culture more generally - particularly if they deal with the post-WWII era.
Let's have your questions!
Thank you so much for arranging this very interesting panel!
My question is the following: When did the cinema become a common sight in the towns and cities of the United States? Was it something that was targeted for a specific audience or was it like today where everyone ranging from teenage couples to families can find something to watch (and be entertained by)?
Two questions:
What were the initial reactions from Europeans when Ragtime started emerging?
In the 1960's the phrase "Generation Gap" entered mainstream society. In pre-1960's America, were there any generation gaps?
What would an average American caucasian midwestern nuclear family do on weekends in the late 1950s?
This one is for /u/American_Graffiti: What sort of children's literature was popular in the mid-20th century? Was it common for parents to read to their children or was it something they were encouraged to do on their own?
Why wasn't football (soccer) very popular in the US during that era, given that in the 20th century, a large number of immigrants from nations that love soccer, such as Italy, Germany or Mexico arrived? When the USA was announced as the host of the FIFA World Cup, did the sport expect a surge in its popularity?
/u/yearsnotlost: How has the introduction of the automobile affected the growth and development of New York City? Has the city undergone a really major overhaul to better accomodate automobile traffic?
Are there any notable double entendres (like "that's what she said") of the 50's?
How did mainstream American music transition from a "Sinatra" sort of genre to these different sort of post ww2 genres such as Elvis, the Beatles, etc. Were there any reasons or contributing factors, or was it just a regular progression of music that occured? Sorry if I'm being too broad, just interested in the general changes in music during that era.
What's up with anglophilia (love of English stuff) in the 60s and 80s? Was there one thing in particular that sparked it?
Oh man, this is exactly what I came here to post about.
/u/Bufus: In looking at the history of Cold War era comic books I have run into some scholarship that points to the use of Comic books to establish an understanding of emerging nuclear power after World War II. My question then is, if this was in fact the case, what were reactions in the industry like to nuclear accidents like Three-Mile Island or Chernobyl? I know it says above that your focus in gender in comics but I figured I'd ask.
Some sources I've run into already Ferenc Morton Szasz' Atomic Comics: Cartoonists Confront the Nuclear World and a couple articles published in the Journal of Popular Culture.
EDIT: One more question. What was the portrayal of Communism like in the same era of American/Western comic books? This is what I was originally researching but I've been running into far more materials on Nuclear Power.
For /u/Bufus :-
How did you go about reconstructing readers' responses to themes of gender and sexuality in comic books? How can we understand which elements were understood as escapist and which were embraced as models of social order?
This one is most likely for /u/randommusician: bringing forward one of my favorite unanswered questions on music from a while back, what were race relations like between early rock and roll musicians in 50s-60s America?
Could I have an overview of how football gained ground over baseball during the 20th century, as well as the rise of football in American culture?
Okay, I think I've got a decent question that can apply to a few of you fine, fine panelists.
In your opinion, did your chosen field of media (music, cinema, comic books, etc.) advance or push boundaries of gender and sexuality? How so? Or, conversely, did your media follow slavishly along with established gender roles? Were there outliers? What were the reactions to these boundary-pushing examples?
Thank you all, so much, for doing this AMA!
For /u/american_graffiti: how did the automobile become an essential part of the "coming-of-age" experience? How has it's role in that experience changed over time?
What, if any, aspects of Brazilian culture were incorporated or influential in American popular culture? If there was none, there were any that were erroneously attributed to Brazil?
I can't believe this killer panel has had so few questions! I'll throw mine into the pot. I understand this might be kind of difficult to answer.
How did the paranoia of the Cold War affect cinema/music?
What was the counter culture like throughout this era, more specifically the drug related counter culture. When do you see it first emerge? When did it become popular to smoke marijuana? When did it get high class to snort coke?
/u/randommusician: What primary sources do you use for the study of the history of popular music?