\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBright Lights, Bright Food<\/b><\/p>\n
Food is one of the more present features of Americana\u2014but each image has its own quirky origin. Along with cornflakes, milkshakes, and fried chicken, fruit imagery is also important. These fruit symbols were originally used on the mechanical slot machines created by German immigrant Charles Fey at the turn of the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century. Others included a diamond, spade, heart, and horseshoe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nKnown as \u2018one-armed bandits\u2019, these early gaming mechanisms quickly spread from San Francisco across the country. The classic symbols used in early slot games still survive. One of the world\u2019s most popular slots, <\/span>Starburst<\/span>, relies on the same brightly colored symbols to capture the attention of players\u2014including diamonds. Today, players aren’t cranking physical mechanisms. Instead, they’re spinning virtual reels to see which winning combinations hit. Starburst is popular for its bright and familiar reel of symbols, along with its varied number of features, including bonus rounds and multipliers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/images.pexels.com\/photos\/5426884\/pexels-photo-5426884.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&w=1260&h=750&dpr=2\")
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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNation & Place<\/b><\/p>\n
Some of the most important symbols in the Americana aesthetic focus on the nation. The flag, for example, is probably the most robust image in the Americana repertoire\u2014but it\u2019s far from the only one. Along with the flag, landmarks like Mount Rushmore and even Route 66 can be placed under this umbrella.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd it\u2019s not only places that feel particularly American. For example, Route 66 is more of an act than an image. If you toss in brands like Harley-Davidson motorcycles and cars from Ford or Chevrolet, you\u2019ll have a fully layered aesthetic. Even better if the rider is wearing a motorcycle jacket and listening to rock\u2019n roll.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
A Warm Home<\/b><\/p>\n
Not all Americana imagery needs to be so grand and sweeping. In fact, many Americana motifs focus on the experience of domestic bliss\u2014or what it\u2019s slated to be. Pastimes like camping with the family or even living within the bounds of a white picket fence are classical nods to Americana.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGoing to a college prep school is also included under the world of Americana\u2014as is going to a football game. When viewed in this way, almost any element of the average life can be repackaged as a cultural symbol. Just listen to any country or folk song and you\u2019ll hear callbacks to this type of romanticized domestic life, from <\/span>Dolly Parton<\/span> to Zach Bryan.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Small Town Glory<\/b><\/p>\n
Just about every culture places a strong emphasis on life in small towns. That\u2019s because many people move to urban centers as adults, meaning more rural towns are associated with the comforts of home and family. This focus is blown into new proportions under the guise of Americana. In fact, the concept of a small town is considered one of the focal points of American cultural imagery\u2026 even if most people live in cities today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJust look at hits from US television that cover this type of small-town closeness. One of the best examples is Smallville, a television show from the 2000s that followed Clark Kent (AKA Superman) in high school. As the title suggests, Kent grows up in a tiny town in rural Kansas before he steps into his role of saving the world. Just like the concept of a small town, Clark Kent himself is often claimed as a major symbol of Americana.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When it comes to classic American symbolism, Americana is one of the most well-known aesthetics. If you\u2019ve heard this term before, you might be thinking of a book titled \u2018Americanah\u2019…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[282],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34472"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34617,"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34472\/revisions\/34617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedesigninspiration.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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