Popular objects and artifacts include people, products, foods, clothing, tools, proportions, etc. (historical or current), which have symbolic or representative value or meaning well beyond their 'ordinary' usage — becoming 'concepts' in their own right. Following are a few examples:

• Cars and roads: car types/models/brands (Cadillacs vs Chevrolets vs Jeeps), pick-up trucks, bumper stickers, roadside advertising (cf. former 'Burma Shave' ads), memorials ('World's largest ice-cream cone, etc.) and museums, drive-in businesses, "status" & customized cars, etc.

• Food & Food Brands: hamburgers, hot dogs, ball-park mustard, jello, Wheaties, apple pie, fried chicken & watermelon, moon pies , spam, picnic food, movie-theater food, Campbell soup, Heinz catsup (ketchup), holiday menus (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.), "large portions" . . .
  1. 'Native-identity foods' (only a native of that culture is normally able to tolerate them)? U.S. root beer, PB&J (peanut butter and jelly) sandwiches, 'sweet potato casseroles' [with toasted marshmallows on top], etc., vs GB Marmite, vs Finnish lipeakala, mämmi, etc.

  2. Foods which are identified with cultural concepts: Uncle Ben's rice and Aunt Jemima's pancakes and other 'iconic' advertising personalities vs the Finnish 'Elovena factor'? (cf. Elovena naiset — see also 'Elovena girl goes Italy')

• Products: Barbie dolls, hula hoops, Zippo lighters, Colt 45 pistols, Winchester rifles, etc. (vs Uzi, Mauser, AK-47, Beretta), Flexible Flyer sleds (cf Citizen Kane), Schwinn bicycles, Sears Craftsman tools and their lifelong guarantee,'classic' toys such as Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs, Slinky, Etch-a-sketch, etc. (cf. Growing Up in the 1950s [8.51-minute video with many product images of the time] and Take Me Back to the 1950s [7.32-minute video])

• People as concepts/objects/symbols: George Washington, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Elvis, the Marlboro Man, 'California Girls', Time Magazine Man [person, category] of the Year" awards, etc.

• Clothing: baseball caps, cowboy hats (and boots), team-symbol sports 'hats' (Green Bay Packer "cheeseheads", Minnesota Viking "horns," etc.), blue jeans, slogan t-shirts, L.L. Bean 'Canadian' rubber boots, hospital clothing, beach clothing, formal clothing, what retired people in Florida wear in movies, etc.

• Packaging: coke bottles, ketchup bottles, six-packs, National Geographic covers, etc.

• Architecture: McDonald's Golden Arches, Howard Johnson's (HoJo) orange roofs, mega-malls, strip malls, the early "domed" stadia ....

• Business brand/trade names and 'personalities': Wal-Mart, Nike, Sears, Tiffanys, Macys, The Gap, the Disney Store(s), and other mall names, a "dime store", drug stores and soda fountains, "7-11" stores

• Classic family-theme TV Series: Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, Lassie, Brady Bunch, Leave it to Beaver, Cosby Show, vs All in the Family, The Simpsons, etc.; (cf. The Sopranos or Six Feet Under?). Reflection of current society and social values, or shapers of new moods?

• TV Talk Shows (type=identification): Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Arsenio Hall, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, etc.

• Current or recent media 'images' (individual stands for larger concept): Howard Stern, Donald Trump, Janet Jackson & the 2004 Super Bowl vs. Paul McCartney & the 2005 or The Who & the 2010 Super Bowls, Barack Obama's Nobel Prize?

• Film actors/actresses/directors/genres (historic; genre or "type" identification): Boris Karloff, Rock Hudson & Doris Day, Spencer Tracy & Katherine Hepburn, Rambo movies, Disney movies, Marx brothers movies, Frank Capra movies, John Ford movies, Billy Wilder movies, Western films and actors of the past, etc.

• (Recent/Questionable) Sports heroes: Mike Tyson, Dennis Rodman, Pete Rose, John McEnroe (lifestyle conflicted with sports performance, etc.), Mark McGwire, Tiger Woods (post December 2009)

• American archetypes: 'rags-to-riches' and/or "hard work equals success": Abraham Lincoln, Babe Ruth, Steve Jobs, Jimmy Carter, Horatio Alger stories, immigrants, etc. )

• Group stereotypes: 'Soccer moms', college fraternity members/life, Baby Boomers, and Generations X and Y, 60s 'hippies' or 'flower power', 80s Southern California "Valley Girls", 90s popularization of 'poor white trash' as very different examples, vs 'New Militia' members or southern rednecks, etc.)