by david allan van nostrand | Jan 30, 2023 | Americana, Human Behavior, The world around us
The notion that there is a “just right” amount is known as the Goldilocks Principle. We see it in action with the premium and budget choices that make regularly-priced products and services more appealing. Sellers create bare-bones and bells-and-whistles versions,...
by david allan van nostrand | Jan 23, 2023 | Americana, Human Behavior, Point of view, The 1960s
Famers and physical laborers needed three square meals a day: all full, well-balanced and hearty. They’d eat breakfast before sunup, work until lunch, load up on calories again and work until sundown, when they ate a big dinner and went to bed. One origin story...
by david allan van nostrand | Jan 9, 2023 | Americana, Items in the News, Social Desirability, The Wayback Machine
Annie Oakley was a television series in the 1950s. The half-hour show was a highly fictionalized account of the legendary sharpshooter (née Phoebe Ann Mosey) who appeared as a star attraction with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. The executive producer was singing...
by david allan van nostrand | Jan 2, 2023 | Americana, The Wayback Machine, The world around us
Change is loose coins, almost always round and made of metal. In the USA, we use pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. We used to use half dollars and real silver dollars, such as the one George Washington is said to have thrown across the Delaware River. A chump is a...
by david allan van nostrand | Nov 21, 2022 | Americana, Psychology
Autumn harvests have been celebrated with feasts since before people started telling time. Historians tell us the harvest feast the Americans observe today began in Virginia 400 years ago when English Protestant settlers decided the day of their arrival in the New...
by david allan van nostrand | Nov 14, 2022 | Americana, Human Behavior, The world around us
Studies show that reading on paper goes lots faster than reading on a screen. Those who read on paper generally are more aware of how well they understand what they are reading than screen readers, a skill called metacognition, or thinking about your own thinking. At...
