pink flamingo

fitchburg ma.

you find them on lawns every where.

laurie

Seinfeld

New York, NY

The snarly, "show about nothing" defined the 90s. Each character became their own icon, and the references from the show continue to be re-incorporated and utilized today. Can anyone say shrinkage? Double dipper? No soup for you?

Oh yeah, hoochie mamma! That's the Seinfeld effect.

Sam

@SamFeinArt

Dr. Pepper soda

Waco, TX

2 years older than Coke, an endearing part of Americana and the Industrialization of America, since you should take a break at 10, 2, and 4. Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco located on site of original bottling plant.

Doug

The Ramones

New York, New York

A band saying that they were influenced by The Ramones has become a cliché, but the fact is that the New York music scene that began in the early 1970's, centered around CBGB's, and led by The Ramones, changed the sound and the face of rock music.

Bruce

The Soap Opera

Chicago, IL

Pundits usually say that three genres are uniquely American: musicals, jazz, and the soap opera. Started on Chicago radio in the 1920s, soaps have dominated all aspects of television storytelling and become a billion dollar worldwide industry. They've also managed to find a home in every form of media from radio to television to the internet. Soaps came into their own on television in the 1950s with the half-hour debut of As the World Turns, which was daytime's number show for almost twenty years!

Andrew

andrew42083

Groucho Marx/ The Marx Brothers

Six feet under, clutching a cigar

20+ pages and no mention of Groucho and the Marx Brothers? Interwebs, lover of all things funny, I am disappoint. A bunch of poor immigrant kids make it big by working hard to make the laughs come easy. All of them had interesting backstories (especially Harpo), but it's Groucho that sits so deep in our collective memory. Visit any costume store this time of year for evidence. For those in doubt, take a seat for Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. Everything Hollywood still struggles to do was all right there.

Aaron

The Kitchenaid Stand Mixer

Proudly displayed on kitchen counters nationwide.

Few other consumer products (and certainly no other kitchen appliances) have achieved the revered status of this weighty little marvel. It is also one of the new "modern conveniences" of the 20th century to actually deliver on its promise of making lives better. Blatantly targeted at the stereotypical homemakers of the post war boom, its performance and reliability built the legend even while the marketing campaigns evolved with the times. And then came the cooking show boom of the 1980's and 90's. From Natalie Dupree to Alton Brown, its presence was constant and comforting. So now, here we are, so many decades after the initial launch, and this ruggedly simple combination of solid motor and sleek styling has attained heirloom standing. It is never hidden away when not in use; it is left proudly in the open to inspire awe. People in their 20's are learning how to bake (and whip, and grind) on their grandmother's machine with a sense of pride that borders on greed. Any attempt to wrestle one away from the owner is an invitation to a chair throwing brawl. Can you think of anything else so widespread and seemingly mundane in our lives that so readily generates such a response?

Aaron

Ford's Model T

A road near you.

It brought on bedrock changes for our approaches to design, manufacturing, selling, city planning, home architecture, shopping, leisure time, consumer credit, even food(!). It short, there are few places in the american landscape that have not been affected by it, physically or psychologically. And it is the first poster child for what our country has become known worldwide for: making the seemingly inaccessible readily available to almost anyone. Air travel and houses and computing power would follow, but the unassuming T was first.

Aaron

The collected works of Norman Rockwell

Stockbridge, MA

Dann

Bob Dylan's "Bringing It All Back Home

In the World

The lyrics of the songs express American thinking.

karen

Robert Bruno Steel House

Lubbock, TX

Perched on the edge of a small fissure in the vast west Texas farmscape, is the 110 ton solid steel mastodon known simply as “The Steel House”. Robert Bruno, its sculptor of 35 years, was in so many ways quintessentially a western pioneer, but a century later than his cattle driving contemporaries. His independent, neighbor-be-damned, and tireless commitment resulted in a monument to the last of the great beasts that roamed the great plains. Mocked by a sea of tract houses, it stands prepared to outlast the next global apocalypse.

Stuart

Soul Train & the Soul Train Dance Line

Chicago, IL/Los Angeles, CA

Soul Train, and the dance line specifically, was the organic product of joy and exuberance, particularly of young Black Americans. Wacky, weird, with a definite DIY feel, Soul Train took all kinds, and reflects a time of optimism for racial identity and expression in America. The outfits, the moves ... mind-blowing! I don't know enough about Don Cornelius to know if he set the show up that way on purpose, but Soul Train is a beautiful piece of Americana.

Kristina

Paul Simon

Everywhere

Mr. Simon is America's songwriter. He wrote the soundtrack to my life, beginning with Sounds of Silence and his performance at the 9-11 10-year memorial he still rocks. With songs like America, Homeward Bound, The Boxer and let's not leave out Graceland, Mr. Simon is not only the "Only Living Boy in New York" he's the quintessential American Icon.

Jan

Statue of Liberty and the Capitol

New York & Washington

Both embody everything this country stands for. Unity. Community. Cooperation. Liberty. Both are instantly recognized here and around the world, calling us to be better, to reach our ideals.

Francis

@FCreighton

The Great Santini

Charleston, SC

Classic American story told by a consummate American storyteller.

Norann

The Great Santini

Charleston, SC

Classic American story told by a consummate American storyteller.

Norann

The Great Santini

Charleston, South Carolina

Classic American story told by a consummate American storyteller.

Norann

The Great Santini

Charleston, South Carolina

Classic American story told by a consummate American storyteller.

Norann

The Great Santini

Charleston, South Carolina

Classic American story told by a consummate American storyteller.

Norann

The Great Santini

South Carolina

Classic American story told by a consummate American storyteller.

Norann