Wide Dispersion of Popular Culture Diffusion of popular housing, clothing, and food –Popular housing styles –Rapid diffusion of clothing styles –Popular food customs Television and diffusion of popular culture –Diffusion of television –Diffusion of the internet –Government control of television

Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed? Popular culture varies more in time than in place. Like folk culture, it may originate in one location, within the context of a particular society and environment. But, in contrast to folk culture, it diffuses rapidly across Earth to locations with a variety of physical conditions. Rapid diffusion depends on a group of people having a sufficiently high level of economic development to acquire the material possessions associated with popular culture.

Popular Housing Housing built in the U.S. since the 1940s demonstrates how popular customs vary more in time than in place. After 1945, most U.S. homes were built in a modern style. Since the 1960s, neo-eclectic styles have predominated.

U.S. House Types, 1945–1990 Several variations of the “modern style” were dominant from the 1940s into the 1970s. Since then, “neo-eclectic” styles have become the dominant type of house construction in the U.S. The “ranch” contributed to urban sprawl because it required a larger lot.

U.S. House Types by Region Fig : Small towns in different regions of the eastern U.S. have different combinations of five main house types.

Popular Clothing Individual clothing habits reveal how popular culture can be distributed across the landscape with little regard for distinctive physical features. In Europe & North America, clothing usually reflects occupations rather then environments. People with sufficient income may update their wardrobe frequently with the latest fashions.

Popular Clothing Improved communications have permitted the rapid diffusion of clothing styles across regions. Sketches, patterns, and specifications are sent instantly from European fashion centers to American corporate headquarters and then on to Asian factories.

Popular Clothing Folk costumes, like the Aleut parka, have become popular. Folk costumes may persist to preserve the past or attract tourists.

Blue Jeans Jeans are a global symbol of youth, independence & freedom. Levi Strauss Jeans are the most popular global brand. At times, they were traded on the black market of Europe’s communist countries.

Popular Culture Popular Culture flourishes where people in a society have sufficient income to acquire the tangible elements of popular culture and the leisure time to make use of them. People in a country with a more developed economy are likely to have the income, time, and inclination to facilitate greater adoption of popular culture.

Popular Food Customs Consumption of large quantities of alcoholic beverages and snack foods are characteristic of the food customs of popular societies, but they vary by region. Alcohol consumption is influenced by its point of origin and import, religious affiliation, leisure destinations as well as income and national advertising.

Alcohol Preferences in the U.S. Per capita consumption of rum (top) and Canadian whiskey (bottom) show different distributions and histories of diffusion.

Wine Production The distribution of wine production shows that the diffusion of popular customs depends less on the distinctive environment of a location than on the presence of beliefs, institutions, and material traits conducive to accepting those customs.

Wine Production per Year Fig. 4-13: The distribution of wine production shows the joint impact of the physical environment and social customs.

The Television First, watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in more developed countries throughout the world. Second, TV is the most important mechanism by which knowledge of popular culture, such as professional sports, is rapidly diffused across Earth.

Diffusion of TV, 1954–1999 Fig. 4-14: Television has diffused widely since the 1950s, but some areas still have low numbers of TVs per population.

Government Ownership of TV In most countries the government either directly operates the stations or appoints an autonomous board of directors to manage them. Most governments control TV stations to minimize the likelihood that programs hostile to current policies with be broadcast-in other words, they are censored. In recent years, small satellite dishes have made television a force for political change rather than stability.

Distribution of Internet Hosts The U.S. had two-thirds of the world’s internet hosts in Diffusion of internet service is likely to follow the pattern of TV diffusion, but the rate of this diffusion may differ. What role does the internet play in the diffusion of popular culture?