Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore that Shaped Modern America

by Martin J. Smith, Patrick J. Kiger

An irreverent tour of twentieth-century events, inventions, and individuals that affected modern American culture notes the influences of Betty Ford, super-absorbent disposable nappies, permanent-press clothing, TV dinners, black-velvet paintings, and more.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Pop Culture, Trivia, Sociology, Cultural

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Author Martin J. Smith was editor-in-chief of the monthly Orange Coast magazine from 2007 to 2016, and a former senior editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He wrote three crime novels, "Time Release," "Shadow Image," and the Edgar Award-nominated "Straw Men," before turning his writing energy to nonfiction books, including "Oops: 20 Life Lessons from the Fiascoes That Shaped America," "Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions and Lore That Shaped Modern America" (both with co-author Patrick J. Kiger), and "The Wild Duck Chase," upon which the award-winning documentary film "The Million Dollar Duck" is based. Diversion Books published his fourth series novel, "The Disappeared Girl," in March 2014, and released his first stand-alone suspense-thriller, "Combustion," in September 2016. Globe Pequot published his collection of journalistic essays about the people, places, and peculiarities of the American Southwest, "Mr. Las Vegas Has a Bad Knee," on Nov. 1, 2017. His latest nonfiction book is "Going to Trinidad: A Doctor, a Colorado Town, and Stories from an Unlikely Gender Crossroads," which Bower House and Tantor Media will publish in April 2021. Smith lives in Granby, Colorado.

Reviews

[Dinanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

📈 Rating: 3.5 / 5

💭 Initial Thoughts:
I learned a lot about the cultural and long-lasting influence that marketing has had on the American/global society. I was genuinely surprised. The most enlightening chapter for me was chapter 03: How Thin Became In.

👌Favorite chapters: 1-3, 9, and 11

👎Least favorite/Interesting: 6,13,16, 17, and 20

🧠 Topics: Marketing, Psychology, Consumerism, Sociology, 20th century, Americanism

💬 Key Quotes:
" Tomorrow's events always color how historical records will be written... some of the most important things that happen never make the front page or the top of the evening news. "

"We can create and control our own artificial climate-and live virtually oblivious to hot climates and seasons- to such an extent that we've made sweating into a form of luxury."

"Marketers are waging a relentless, pitched battle for the hearts, minds, and disposable income of every citizen of the planet..."

[Pamela Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the coolest books I have ever read! 20 interesting things you’d like to know about Pop Culture and make you the winner of Trivia Pursuit. Interesting facts every baby boomer should know!

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a book of « light snacking » of american pop culture trivia. Picked up a copy of the book when I discovered a friend knew one of the authors. Very well researched for a collection of interesting essays on semi-obscure trivia. But you have to really like the trivial to enjoy this book.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stuff was mildly interesting, but mostly it was just ok.

[Ketan Shah]

A fascinating look at 20 inventions and trends that changed everyday American lives. Written in a breezy yet informative style that makes you think about trends and how they affect both the individual and society .The topics covered include everything from air conditioning,lawns,product placement,disposable diapers,zombies,the computer mouse,the Ford Edsel,the slam dunk to cross dressing wrestlers.My favourite chapter was the one on Gorgeous George,the flamboyant trash talking wrestler who influenced everyone from Muhammad Ali to Kiss and Marilyn Manson. The chapter on product placement and alternative advertising is also fascinating.The chapter on the invention of the graphical user interface (point and click) is a history of the little known pioneers of interface design,who influenced how we work with computers and household appliances up to today.If you enjoyed this you might enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point,and David Bodanis's the Secret Family and the Secret House. You might also enjoy The Dreams our stuff is made of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World,by Thomas Disch.If you enjoyed the chapter on Zombies,you might like The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror by David J Skal.

[Tippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authors of oops, each chapter a unique story of how an unlikely event, invention or belief shaped American culture as we know it. I did not like this one as much as Oops. Some of the highlights:
-air conditioning increased the population in the sunbelt,changing the number of electoral votes from the region and our elections
-Betty Ford's intervention decreased the stigmatization of alcohol and drug users
-ET and Reeces led to "hidden" sales techniques
-Dr. J's slam dunk changes the style of the NBA (mimicking the ABA)
-Douglas Engelbart added a mouse and a screen (to the dismay of blind computer workers) to a computer and gave a 90 minute presentation that inspired Steve Jobs and Bill Gates (http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1...
-Robert Harrison's magazine "Confidential" begins the business of publishing movie stars lives and scandals

[Nathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The purpose of this book is explicit: to entertain, and to muse on the trends and traditions that have shaped American culture as we know it. It records fairly well; we are given the history of everything from diapers to talk radio; but having given us the facts, it doesn't tell us what to do with them, or why it matters. I don't have anything against "trivia as history", but personally, I would have preferred at least the broadest of common factors pointed out so as to tie everything together. What did all these phenomena point towards? This book is very superficial; take it or leave it, there's not much difference.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reviews the history of many of the strands of culture we take so much for granted: thinness as judgment, angry talk show hosts, ease in using computers, the slam dunk in basketball and as metaphor, and many others. The book is interesting because of its subject and short narratives format; however, I must add two caveats-- (1) the book deals with Kinsey and his culture-changing (or reflecting) view of sex with a frankness (he was fairly untypical sexually) which may offend many readers (2) written in 2002-3, the book, dealing in pop culture that shifts and changes from year to year, is somewhat dated in some areas (especially sports, computers and media).

[Tori]

2004- I sort of felt like the authors of this book put a whole bunch of ideas in a hat they liked and picked them out. It makes for an interesting (usually) mish-mash of stories about why things are the way they are in America. Touching on topics from America's obsessions with lawns to how air conditioning has affected politics, there are some interesting entries here to read just because you're an American. Other chapters seem like they are more geared to people with a specific interest (and written as if they are too, I was totally lost during the guitar chapter). Worth a look I guess.

[Thebruce1314 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell's work, without the polished writing and research. Most of the chosen topics were of some interest, but I never felt like the authors got to the heart of each story - the preamble often lasted longer than the conclusion, with no sense of how we got there. And, despite what the title says, the chapters aren't really linked back to how each topic "shaped modern America," though I suppose it is implied in the narrative.
A book of passing interest to pick up and read a chapter at a time, but not something that I think I will revisit.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Bought Nov 2007]
An interesting collection of mini-articles on various bits & pieces of (mostly American) pop culture - things, people and places.
I appreciated that each article had a "Further Reading" section at the end, with a more complete bibliography at the end of the book, along with an index.

[BryAnn]

Each chapter gives short histories about pop culture. While working out, I read about the history of black velvet painting, how Les Paul made the electric guitar, how gender-bending showboating started with professional wrestling, and halfway through the history of celebrity gossip magazines. All in 50 minutes. A quick, light read about pop culture.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Air conditioning made us sedentary and fat! People thought the electric guitar was a stupid idea! Velvet paintings have a history.

You can learn a lot from this book. It's not to complex and the writing isn't stellar but it makes up for it in the sheer amount of trivial knowledge you will pick up.

[Austin Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collection of essays (or 'blog posts' as the kids call them these days) about American pop culture. Sometimes the tone is distant, other times more judgemental. Entertaining, but would have benefitted from pictures- I couldn't remember what the Edsel looked like. Picked up for free, ultimately fun but nothing extraordinary.

[Gretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've learned more while reading this book than I learned in four years at college. Or rather, I've learned more awesome things. Why no one thought to teach me about the history of the lawn is completely beyond my comprehension.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, informative tidbits. It doesn't go into great depth on any of the topics touched upon, but it does give insight into some of society's norms which can be pretty nonsensical once examined.

I still hate lawns though and don't believe in them. Rebel!

[npaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much more could have and should have been done with this. They introduce several interesting things, but never fully develop what is there. They offer a taste and I wanted a whole meal. And of course, dessert. Didn't happen.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is what I would call History Lite, but I found it fairly interesting. It has individual chapters on different trends or inventions that we now take for granted in modern American life (from professional wrestling to wrinkle-free fabric), with historical context and (lite) analysis.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty entertaining in some cases, but it really depends on which chapter you're in. Some I couldn't care less about (golf clubs), but others were fascinating (the stories behind pantyhose, tacky chic, disposable diapers).

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it.

[Robertkaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting light summer reading.

[Julie N · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one. It's not one I'll reread over and over or anything, but it was interesting and funny at points. Lots of fun trivia type information.

[Scampi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in a soupy dumbed down context, not too bad considering. This is what I think of when I think of a book that just kinda stays in the bathroom for those "long visits".

[Justine Borer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, gossipy, and easy to read. My favorite chapters were the ones about the advent of the fad diet and air-conditioning.

[Yiftach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love things like this - sort of true-life, behind-the-scenes alternative history. The chapter about Night of the Living Dead created the zombie movie genre is, of course, one of my favorites.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book -- I especially liked the 'recommended reading' lists at the end of each section. I'm a sucker for pop-culture trivia!

[Alan]

Interesting trivia about such diverse topics as air conditioning, lawns, pantyhose, and drug and alcohol rehab.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very entertaining and brought a new perspective to some everyday objects.

[Vikram Ketkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but makes more sense if you are a American or have lived in the States for a long time.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny--things you never pondered, or maybe did, about the American culture