"Communities of all types also were affected by the growth of roadside business establishments that catered to the automobile. The two most important generic categories in this regard are facilities that provide fuel (the gas/filling / service station) and food (roadside/fast-food restaurants)." (Berger 2001, 193)
There is even a great deal of evidence that the hamburger and the fast food industry have transformed marketing and even the architecture of the U.S. through transforming the ease of use and creating iconography that represents the image of America all over the world, but particularly American roads.
More specific in terms of food, but not necessarily of architecture, is Jeffrey Tennyson's Hamburger Heaven: The Illustrated History of the Hamburger, which, among other things, treats the design of hamburger restaurants and fast-food chains in a chapter entitled "Architecture and Signage." broader perspective is offered in John F. Mariani's America Eats Out, wherein the author argues that restaurant architecture in general has evolved into an advertising device by which customers are attracted to a particular establishment (Berger 2001, 210)
The hamburger is a recognized icon in the national and international arenas as a truly American design, indicative of American growth and prosperity, and regardless of truth the ideology of the American dream. In an international sense the McDonalds corporation is a recognized trademark restaurant that operates in more than 100 nations and reflects American ingenuity and entrepreneurship to its most extreme. "James Cantalupo, President of McDonald's International, claims that the goal of McDonald's is to 'become as much a part of the local culture as possible.'" (Watson 1997, 12)
This local culture, claim may be the case but people on the street know the origin and history of McDonalds and the value of its most prized and frequently ordered menu item, the Hamburger.
A popular culture frequently measures its successes either in exquisitely refined statistics... Or in gross numbers (the billionth hamburger produced by McDonald's was celebrated by its presentation to Art Linkletter, the host of a popular American television program, in 1963)." (Betts 2004, 1)
The exponential numbers are posted today at the bottom of every McDonalds restaurant sign, not an uncommon sight, and...
Animals & Their Place Inside the Fast Food Nation Animals and Their Place inside the Fast Food Nation The 1950's were a time of elegance, charm, and were truly the apex of American power. When one listens to music from this era or looks at photographs, one can almost feel the happiness that people felt during that time, especially after the war-torn decade preceding the 1950's. However, when looking at old photographs
He encourages people to come aboard a train being engineered in "weirdo abandon" by musicians who "dramatized a sense of what it is to be American" (1987, p. 10). Christgau, another writer who sees the correlation between this music and the greater society in which it occurred, adds: "rock criticism embraced a dream or metaphor of perpetual revolution. . . . Worthwhile bands were supposed to change people's lives,
European countries have absorbed a great deal in the way of material and culture from the United States, they have not become "Americanized," and that each country has incorporated what it takes from the United States into its own nationalism. In addition, the author argues that American culture has been influenced by European countries, although our culture has remained distinctly American. Finally, he makes the point that "Europe" is
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