I'm hoping to start a business writing custom biographies/memoirs. I imagine they will mostly be of older people and I think it would be helpful for me to get a more precise understanding of what technologies were in use when, what music people were listening to, what the social customs were at different points during the last century. Anybody have any favourite books on the topic? A history of ordinary people so to speak, rather than geopolitics.

I'm not a historian, but I did study philosophy, so I'm not afraid of academic tomes.

Update: I'm in Canada, so Canadian or American histories would be best. I will definitely look at "Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945" from the recommended books list.