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?
Target
Doesn’t it seem like you never heard of Target stores, and two days later they were everywhere? It’s as if someone in the...
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“America the Beautiful”
“America the Beautiful” is in our pantheon of greatest patriotic songs, right there with “God Bless America,”...
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U.S. Coast Guard
Let’s say you’re a nitwit, and you decide it’s a good idea to sail a tall ship replica of the H.M.S. Bounty into...
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Amazon.com
Okay, here’s a project: Try to think of something Amazon doesn’t sell. Oh, I can’t believe where your mind went. Of...
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L.L. Bean
In today’s urbanized America, it’s not likely that a company started by someone named Leon Leonwood Bean and headquartered in...
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Coleman Coolers
First, let me say up front that I’m not a camping person. One of my favorite quotes (paraphrased, and by Nora Ephron, best I can...
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“Twas The Night Before Christmas”
How does Santa Claus look? We can thank the Coca-Cola Company for giving Americans a visual that we all now accept as the jolly old man....
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Marching Bands
If you watch football on television these days, you’d conclude that marching bands are a relic of the past. Halftime shows for the...
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Veggie Tales
It’s a basic law of children’s entertainment that the best movies and videos appeal not just to kids, but to parents as well....
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Coal Miners
This isn’t about coal, for good or bad. It’s about the men who make their living underground in the dangerous dark, risking...
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