Saturday, 15 February 2014

What icons originated in the US?

What icons originated in the US?
A HUGE number of iconic people, images, brands and objects have originated from the United States. I couldn't begin to list them ALL, but here are some:George WashingtonAbraham LincolnJohn F. kennedyRichard NixonElvis PresleyMarilyn MonroeHumphrey BogartOliver Hardy (though NOT Stan Laurel- he came from the North of England)Harold LloydBuster KeatonW. C. FieldsJohn WayneMartin Luther KingMuhammed AliFats DominoeLittle RichardJames DeanEdgar Allen PoeJoe DiMaggio (though he's little known outside of the US)The Beach BoysThe Andrews SistersMichael JacksonMadonnaMarlon BrandoJim MorrisonHot DogsPopcornthe RockOla jukeboxThe Fender Stratocaster electric guitarCoca-ColaThe White HouseThe Stars & Stripes flagThe Empire State BuildingThe Golden Gate BridgeHarley Davidson motorcyclesHells Angels (though not motorcycle gangs in general)Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other Disney charactersThe Mount Rushmore carvingsThe Sherman tankAmerican footballer's costume (though the game itself is actually a variation of the game of rugby, which first appeared in England)The Woodstock rock festivalThe Saturn V rocket and images of the lunar landingsThe paintings of Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol'Appalachian Spring' by Aaron CopelandInnumerable famous moviesThe Hollywood signThe electric chairThe Model-T FordHallowe'en pumpkins (though pumpkins themselves originally hail from Europe, and were brought over by The Pilgrim Fathers)The B-29 SuperfortressThe B-52 bomber'A Catcher In The Rye' by J.D.Salinger'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott FitzgeraldCountry & Western musicThe dollar sign and dollar billWall St.BroadwayJazz music and many famous jazz musiciansThe baseball capLevi's jeansWindows computer softwareBetty BoopKodak films and camerasNylon stockingsBlondie & Dagwood....I could go on and on!!I've deliberately NOT included the following:The Statue of Liberty (she was originally built in France, and was shipped over in pieces as a gift to the USA)Cowboys (although they have become most famously associated with the US, cowboys also existed in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina and other countries, and were'nt American specifically)Baseball (this originated in England as a game called 'Rounders')Hamburgers, bagels or pizzas (all of these originated in Europe)Audrey Hepburn (she was Anglo-Belgian, not American)1950s car design of tailfins and chrome (although this was most prominent in the US, the original design teams who came up with this styling contained a lot of British designers, and a number of non-American makes such as Vauxhall, Simca, Mercedez and the USSR's GAZ also built cars like this)The Internet (developed originally in England)American geographical features (these had already existed for millions of years before the US came into being)North American Indians (Indians had been living in North America for Centuries before the USA was created, and are also as much a part of Canadian society and culture as they are American).Since I last answered this, I've thought of a few more- they are:Checker taxis of New York (sadly no longer used- I bet loads of New Yorkers miss them!!)Tiffany jewellery & decorRobert FrostShaker furniture and needleworkJohn Deere tractorsPaul RobesonStephen King'Flyer' children's pull-along cartsThe New York subwayKurt KobainMalcolm XJames BaldwinAretha FranklinBubblegum (though not CHEWING gum- this was devised by the French)The Huey and Chinook helicoptersCarson McCullersThe photographer Ansel Adams....I'll update again if I come up with more!!

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