The Ed Sullivan Show

CBS-TV in New York City

An American variety show extraordinaire, and a Sunday night TV institution. Ed Sullivan introduced every possible type of entertainment, from Vaudeville acts to The Beatles, to Americans from coast to coast.

Nancy

Levis (blue jeans)

everywhere

I know you suggested other categories but if you can pick motorcycles, please consider Levis. Their impact on fashion, how they helped turn the tide to dressing comfortably, how they have been coveted in other countries, etc. I'm old enough to remember life before their impact. There was a time when women could only purchase jeans in a boys size. I don't think it's accidental that I thought of this while listening to Lucy.

Laurie

John Steinbeck

Mid-West, USA

His book, The Grapes of Wreath, depicted the Depression and many of its aspects resonant in today;s culture and economy. Its a timeless piece of great American literature that could only be written by an American.

Donna

garrison keillor

st paul, mn

for some 25 years he has performed/written/coordinated the Prairie Home Companion radio show. he wit, intelligence and mastery of the LIVE radio medium is unsurpassed. he has brought much needed laughter continuously each week..and his daily writing of authors/books are unique, his script wring--both in a serious and amusing vein--and his weekly vocals and acting are sincere expressions of a one-of-a-kind legendary genius in a field he has dominated.

paul

Apollo 11

Washington, DC

This "building" is truly an American icon. This represented a time in America when the prosperous times following World War II were being replaced by the threat of the cold war. This was an American victory in that race to the moon and a win for America's hard work and technological victory. It showed what we were capable of as a country working towards an “impossible” goal.

Ron

Howdy Doody

TV, USA

Howdy Doody was a seminal for baby boomers, a friend for all.

Andrea

The Lone Ranger

The early western United States

The Lone Ranger might not have changed my life but I was enthralled by listening to the William Tell Overture and by watching his adventures everyday on TV. The Lone Ranger isn't from another planet. He's a person who goes out of his way to help others in need. He talks about and acts on these human values that we as people can follow. He is someone that we can measure up to. Of course it helped that he personally wealthy.

Steve

King Kong

New York, New York

I'm not sure if King Kong changed my life. I was definately fascinated with it when I saw it on TV as a boy. I have to disagree with the American Film Institute. What is it, number 50 on the AFI list? Shame on you voters. It should be in the top 10. Film is supposed to be,in most cases,escapist fun. King Kong is that to a T. It has converted me into fan of American cinema.

Steve

The Hero Inventor

New Haven CT

The Hero Inventor is an important American myth. We need the Whitney's, Bell's Edison's and Jobs' even if we know better than to attribute break throughs to individual genius. Catch and honor the stubborn skepticism of John Lienhard (http://uh.edu/engines/jhlbio.htm) while he is still available. Get the Lemelson Center (http://invention.smithsonian.org/home/) to partner/sponsor the topic

Bill Brown

Free To Be You and Me

don't know

I and many children of the 70s grew up with this album. The songs are enchanting and positive and down-to-earth. And yet, they were doing something pretty groundbreaking. I'd like to know more about the context - the time the album emerged from, the motivations of Marlo Thomas and friends to make such an album, how it was received at the time, and how and whether it endures.

Rekha

Dallas (the television show)

Hollywood/Dallas

Not only did the TV show Dallas affect American viewers but, for better or for worse, the show shaped the image of Americans for viewers around the world. During the 1980s many people who would never travel to the U.S. were exposed to this one specific vision of the country and it had tremendous implications for our relationships abroad.

Laura

flatiron building

new york city

unique, beautiful, and well located building, responding to its immediate environment. ageless and iconic.

ned cherry
new mexico architect

ned

Addison DeWitt

Hollywood, CA

The unpleasant secret of american success very elegantly conveyed by this character.

peter

Mark Twain

Hartford Ct.

Eleanor Nettleton

Samuel L. Clemens / Mark Twain

Hartford, CT/ Mark Twain House

Clemens was humorous, insightful and an eyewitness to the growth and history of our country. He explored the American scene, class relations, slavery, big business, oppression and political corruption. He was a journalist in the finest sense, observing and reporting as he traveled the world. As Shelley Fisher Fishkin wrote in Lighting Out for the Territory‚ “As a legend‚ Mark Twain is alive and well – and almost as well known as he ever was.”

toni

"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

Yoknaphatawpha County, Mississippi (Oxford,MS)

The Sound and the Fury is the novel that eventually established William Faulkner's reputation as a novelist and made him an American icon. The Sound and the Fury was not a commercial success--that came later for Faulkner with Sanctuary--perhaps because it was released in 1929, a time of economic turmoil much like today. However, the blending of a variety of narrative techniques was considered innovative at the time and is often emulated today.

W. Ralph Eubanks

Ansel Adams Moon over Yosemite

Yosemite National Park, CA

This image has so much resonance for our time ... America was about to embark on its race to the moon... Adams was to become the artist most identified with environmentalism in the modern age... and photography was arguably about to become the key art form for the last half of the 20th Century.
Do you already have producers lined up for these? ;-)

Steve

Charles Schulz's "Peanuts"

Santa Rosa, CA

For decades, Charles Schulz spoke to us through Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, et al. The strip transcends generations, traditional boundaries, even the medium itself. It's the touchstone of the last half of the 20th century.

Jon

Bugs Bunny

Brooklyn, NY and Hollywood, CA

Bugs Bunny has been the hammer shaping his reality and our youthful perceptions since 1938. He plays on a deeply held American belief that, any competitor has a weakness that can be exploited, making them their own worst enemy. You can succeed with cleverness and opportunism and you can be cool while you’re doing it.

He mocks “classical” culture while tacitly promoting it. He stretches the limits while dictating them.

Smug superiority is sometimes his own downfall, but his refusal to accept authority without good reason coupled with his disregard for cultural convention helps define him as an American Icon.

I know he's not a book or a movie, but some icons continue to break boundaries.

Brian

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Red Cloud, NE

Cather put into words the experiences of countless immigrants to this country, and created an indelible image of the "Great American Desert" in the opening lines to this classic novel. She also managed to express for so many of us the love we hold for this part of the country, even when we're so far away from it. On a personal level, this was the first book I ever read in which Nebraska was mentioned, and that made me happy as someone who grew up here.

Barb