1. Where are Folk and Popular Material Culture Distributed?
Chapter 4 Key Issue 2
Where are Folk and Popular Material Culture Distributed?

2. Big Question
What factors affect folk and popular clothing, food, and housing and what effect do regional variations have on these factors? Give examples to support each type of material culture.

3. Key Terms
Terroir
Food Taboos

4. Elements of Material Culture
Material culture includes clothing, food, and shelter
Just like with folk leisure activities, material culture usually has unknown origins, diffuses slowly through relocation diffusion, and is distributed among isolated groups
Popular clothing, food, and shelter originate from a person or corporation, diffuse rapidly across the Earth, and depend on individuals having high income to acquire them

5. Elements of Material Culture
With popular material culture there are some regional variations but much less so than in the past (ex. Suburbs look the same across America)
Also, folk material culture is much more likely to be affected by environmental conditions than popular culture is and the two can and do come into conflict with each other (See “Wine Geography” section on pages )

6. Folk and Popular Clothing
In folk culture, clothing usually reflects climate or agricultural practices (ex. Wooden shoes in the Netherlands, fur-lined boots and snowshoes in the arctic)
Religion can also affect clothing choices such as a Jewish Yarmulke or Muslim Burqa
In popular culture, clothing preferences generally reflect occupations over environments

7. Folk and Popular Clothing
Clothing habits also show how popular culture distribution is not affected by physical boundaries like folk culture is
Instead, we see pop culture clothing affected by occupation and income
Advances in transportation and communication technology have helped with the diffusion of pop culture clothing (Designed in Milan, manufactured in China, and purchased in Dayton Ohio)

8. Folk Food Customs
Food products are always affected by availability of products and cultural traditions affect the methods by which the food is prepared and served
The environment a folk culture lives is important because the inhabitants of a region must consider the soil, climate, terrain, vegetation, and other characteristics of the environment when deciding what to produce
People adapt their food tastes to conditions in the environment and the effects the environment has on that taste is known as terroir

9. Folk Food Customs
Food Taboos are societal rules based on religious law or social custom or even concerns for the environment
Protecting endangered animals or scarce natural resources are considered

10. Folk Food Customs
Examples of this are the kosher laws that dictate Jewish diets, including pigs, shellfish, and cheeseburgers
In Muslim culture, pork is forbidden and in Hindu culture, cows are forbidden
Environmental factors weigh heavily on these rules, but social values are what keeps the rules alive

11. Popular Food Preferences
Popular food preferences are influenced more by cultural values than environmental factors
Advertising, political factors, social differences can influence people to prefer one product over another (ex. Coke vs. Pepsi)
Differences in snack food preferences follow similar guidelines and is heavily influenced by regional norms (alcohol consumption in Utah, tortilla chips in Texas, pork rinds in the south)

12. Folk and Popular Housing
All humans need a place to live and housing is a product of both cultural traditions and the environment
The makeup of a house takes into account current fashion, functional needs, and the impact of the environment

13. Folk and Popular Housing
Environmental Needs – The type of building materials used to construct folk housing and the style of the structure are influenced by what is in available in the environment (ex. stone, lumber, pitched roof, direction of the windows)
Cultural Influences – Religious values and customary beliefs may determine the placement of certain walls, front doors, and relative proximity to neighbors

14. Folk and Popular Housing
Older houses in the U.S. (Pre-1940s) demonstrate examples of folk housing
Different regions had different styles of homes based on environmental and cultural factors
After World War II, houses in America became similar in style as suburbs became more widespread

15. Big Question & Key Terms
What factors affect folk and popular clothing, food, and housing and what effect do regional variations have one these factors? Give examples to support each type of material culture.
Terroir
Food Taboos