May 23, 2015S. Mathews1 Human Geography By James Rubenstein Chapter 4 Key Issue 3 Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?

May 23, 2015S. Mathews2 Popular culture varies more in time than in place. It diffuses rapidly across Earth to locations with a variety of physical conditions.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews3 Diffusion of Popular Housing, Clothing, and Food Some regional differences persist in MDCs, but differences are much less than in the past.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews4 Popular Housing Styles Housing built in the United States since the 1940s demonstrates how popular customs vary more in time than in place.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews5 Since the early 1800s Housing in the US has been built to reflect rapidly changing fashion concerning the most suitable house form.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews6 After World War II Most US houses were built in a modern style. Since the 1960s, styles the architects call neo- eclectic have predominated.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews7 U.S. House Types

May 23, 2015S. Mathews8 Modern House Styles ( )  In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the dominant type was known as minimal traditional.  The ranch house replaced minimal traditional as the dominant style of housing in the 1950s.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews9 Ranch Style  Single story with low pitched gable roof and deep-set eaves  Horizontal, rambling layout  Large windows  Sliding glass doors leading out to patios  Attached garage

May 23, 2015S. Mathews10 Ranch Style House Large lots encouraged urban sprawl

May 23, 2015S. Mathews11 Other Modern Style Houses  Split Level  Contemporary  Shed

May 23, 2015S. Mathews12 Split-Level Style  Popular variant between the 50s- 70s.  The lower level contained the garage and the newly invented family room.  The kitchen, formal living, and dining room were on the intermediate level.  Bedrooms were on the top level.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews13 Split Level Style

May 23, 2015S. Mathews14 Contemporary Style  Especially popular choice between the 1950s and 1970s for architect-designed houses.  Frequently had flat or low pitched roofs.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews15 Contemporary Style

May 23, 2015S. Mathews16 Shed Style Houses  Popular in the late 1960s,  Characterized by high- pitched shed roofs, giving the house the appearance of a series of geometric forms.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews17 Shed Style

May 23, 2015S. Mathews18 U.S. House Types

May 23, 2015S. Mathews19 Neo-eclectic House Styles Became popular in the late 1960s, and by the 1970s had surpassed modern styles in vogue. “Great Room” replaced separate family room and formal living room.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews20 Neo-eclectic House Styles  Mansard  Neo-Tudor  Neo-French  Neo-colonial

May 23, 2015S. Mathews21 Mansard Style  Popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Shingle-covered second or third-story walls sloped slightly inward and merged into the roofline.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews22 Mansard

May 23, 2015S. Mathews23 Neo-Tudor Style  Popular in the 1970s.  Characterized by dominant, steep-pitched front-facing gables and half-timbered detailing.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews24 Neo-Tudor

May 23, 2015S. Mathews25 Neo-French Style  Appeared in the early 1970s.  Was the most fashionable style for new houses by the 1980s.  Featured dormer windows, usually with rounded tops, ahd high-hipped roofs.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews26 Neo-French

May 23, 2015S. Mathews27 Neo-colonial Style  An adaptation of English colonial houses.  Has been continuously popular since the 1950s but never dominant.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews28 Neo-Colonial

May 23, 2015S. Mathews29 Rapid Diffusion of Clothing Styles Individual clothing habits reveal how popular culture can be distributed across the landscape with little regard for distinctive physical features.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews30 Clothing Styles In MDCs reflect  Occupations rather than particular environments  Higher income  Diffusion of clothing styles permitted by improved communications.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews31 Diffusion  Improved Communications permit rapid diffusion of clothing styles from one region of Earth to another.  Inexpensive reproductions of designer’s originals are available in the stores in less than six weeks.  The globalization of clothing styles has involved increasing awareness of the variety of folk costumes around the world.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews32 Continued use of Folk Costumes May persist not because of distinctive environmental conditions or traditional cultural values but to preserve past memories or to attract tourists.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews33 Jeans An important symbol of the diffusion of western popular culture throughout the world.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews34 Denim Jeans  Are available throughout Europe and Asia for under $10  “Genuine” jeans made by Levi Strauss, priced at $50 to $100, are preferred as a status symbol.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews35 Blue Jeans

May 23, 2015S. Mathews36 Jeans in the Former Soviet Union  Became an obsession and a status symbol among youth, when the Communist government prevented their import.  Their scarcity was just one of many consumer problems that were important motives in the dismantling of Communist governments in Eastern Europe around 1990.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews37 Popular Food Customs People in a MDC are likely to have the income, time, and inclination to facilitate greater adoption of popular culture.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews38 Alcohol and Fresh Produce Consumption of large quantities of alcoholic beverages and snack foods are characteristic of the food customs of popular societies.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews39 Americans  Choice, in part, on the basis of preference for what is produced, grown, or imported locally.  Cultural backgrounds also affect the amount and types of alcohol and snack foods consumed.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews40 Low Alcohol Consumption Because Baptists are concentrated in the Southeast and Mormons in Utah, these regions have relatively low consumption rates.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews41 Geographers cannot explain all the regional variations in food preferences.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews42 Per Capita Consumption of Rum

May 23, 2015S. Mathews43 Per Capita Consumption of Canadian Whiskey

May 23, 2015S. Mathews44 Wine  Distinctive character is derived from unique combination of soil, climate, and other characteristics of the topography where the grapes are grown.  Distribution is based principally on culture, both historical and contemporary.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews45 Wine Consumption  Extends from the Roman Empire.  Production traditions were preserved by monasteries during the Middle Ages.  Extremely popular in Europe and Western Hemisphere.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews46 Wine Identification The world’s finest wines are most frequently identified by their place of origin. - Bordeaux is grown in sandy and gravelly soil - Champagne is grown in chalky soil - Moselle is grown in soil of a slate composition

May 23, 2015S. Mathews47 Wine Production is discouraged in regions of the world dominated by religions other than Christianity. Hindus and Muslims avoid alcoholic beverages.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews48 Wine Production

May 23, 2015S. Mathews49 Role of Television in Diffusing Popular Culture The most popular leisure activity in MDCs throughout the world. The most important mechanism by which knowledge of popular culture, such as professional sports, is rapidly diffused across Earth.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews50 Diffusion of Television Inventors from the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union, simultaneously contributed to the development of television. The US public first saw television in the 1930s. However, its diffusion was blocked for a number of years when broadcasting was curtailed or suspended entirely during WWII.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews51 Early Television

May 23, 2015S. Mathews52 T.V. from 50s - 90s During the early 1950s television sets were being sold in only 20 countries, and more than 85% of the world’s 37 million sets were in the US. By the early 1990s more than 180 countries had 900 million sets, with less than one-fourth in the US.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews53 Televisions/1000 (1954)

May 23, 2015S. Mathews54 Televisions/1000 (1970)

May 23, 2015S. Mathews55 Televisions/1000 (1999)

May 23, 2015S. Mathews56 Levels of T.V. Service  Countries where nearly every household owns a TV set.  Countries in which ownership of a television is common but by no means universal, primarily Latin America…and the poorer European states.  Countries in which television exists but has not yet been widely diffused.  About 30 countries, most of which are in Africa and Asia, have very few television sets.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews57 Afghanistan in the 1990s The Taliban made it illegal to own or watch television. Typical punishment was three months in jail and confiscation of equipment.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews58 Diffusion of the Internet Internet service is following the pattern established by television a generation earlier, and is likely to diffuse rapidly to other countries in the years ahead.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews59 Internet in LDCs Among less developed regions, Latin America and Asia are likely to expand internet hosts more rapidly than Africa.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews60 Internet Hosts per 1,000 Population 2002

May 23, 2015S. Mathews61 U.S. T.V. Ownership  Most television stations are owned by private corporations.  Some stations, however, are owned by local governments or other nonprofit organizations and are devoted to educational or noncommercial programs.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews62 In Most Countries The government(s) control television stations to minimize the likelihood that programs hostile to current policies will be broadcast... in other words, they are censored.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews63 In Most Countries Operating costs are typically paid by the national government from tax revenues, although some government-controlled stations do sell air time to private advertisers. A number of Western European countries have transferred some government-controlled television stations to private companies.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews64 Reduced Government Control  In the past, many governments viewed television as an important tool for fostering cultural integration.  In recent years, changing technology—especially the diffusion of small satellite dishes—has made television a force for political change rather than stability.

May 23, 2015S. Mathews65 Electronic Technology  Governments have had little success in shutting down satellite technology.  The diffusion of small satellite dishes hastened the collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe during the late 1980s.  Facsimile machines, portable video recorders, and cellular telephones have also put chinks in government censorship.