Pop Culture
« Previous EntriesAbraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Books about Abraham Lincoln have traditionally sold well. In recent times, a number of television shows, movies, and books about vampires have popped up. Perhaps it was inevitable. Best-selling author Seth Grahame-Smith’s new book, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, has certainly garnered a lot of publicity in recent months. The marketing campaign behind the book has been particularly intriguing. Several [...]
Civil War in the News
Thursday, May 14th, 2009The war might have ended in 1865, but the battle over Civil War memory remains especially fierce. A number of news stories have recently appeared on my radar: Groups at the University of Alabama disagree over “Old South” celebration What is Confederate Memorial Day? Op-Ed Offers Alternative to SCV Confederate History and Heritage [...]
The Votes are in…Where Does Lincoln Rank?
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009We do strange things to the past. Consider what happens to our former presidents. We carved four of their portraits onto the side of a mountain in 1927. Though we seem to have given up such gigantic tributes, today we reduce many of them to mere caricatures of their former selves. Take, for example, this strange collection of presidential bobbleheads (pictured [...]
Winner of the 2009 Lincoln Prize Sees Lincoln in Obama
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009The OUP Blog, from the folks at Oxford University Press, has been busy lately. The Bicentennial appears to have inspired a number of Lincoln-related posts. I look forward to pointing out a few of them to you. The first post of note was written by Craig L. Symonds. You may have heard Symonds’ name in the news. His [...]
History Channel: Stealing Lincoln’s Body
Monday, February 16th, 2009I spent the last several days talking at great length about the Lincoln legacy. Over the last 144 years, politicians and political parties, as well as special interest groups and advertising agencies, have used Lincoln for their own benefit. However, did you know that a group of desperate criminals turned to Lincoln for help in 1876? [...]
Two Million Yen for Lincoln’s Wedding Ring
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008I’m sure you have heard about the latest scandal involving foul-mouthed Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. LincolnStudies.com has been reporting on his unfortunate cuts to state historic sites since February 2007. New Salem was among the first to feel the crunch, then a number of other sites took a hit. Protests didn’t even seem to bother [...]
Advertising Controversy at American Heritage
Monday, December 1st, 2008No, I’m not in the business of selling jewelry now. However, if I had made such a transition, do you really think I would be pushing Confederate rings? Highly doubtful. So why the Rebel ring at the top of the page? I came back from the Thanksgiving break to find this story in the New York Times. [...]
Douglas Goes Negative in 1860
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008With less than a week to go before the 2008 presidential election, you may have noticed the political ads have gotten increasingly more negative. Several commentators have spoken out against the negative tone. Story Here, Here, and an example Here. All of this got me thinking about “negative ads” in the nineteenth century. I came [...]
A Familiar Face at the Republican National Convention
Friday, September 5th, 2008Did you happen to catch “Abraham Lincoln” at the Republican National Convention last night? I saw him celebrating in the crowd after John McCain’s speech. I searched the web for an image to use today, but instead, I found an interview with him! At least I think this is the same fellow I saw on [...]
Apparently Davey Crockett Never Wore a Coonskin Cap
Thursday, July 24th, 2008Several weeks ago I received an email from the folks at Studio Macbeth. They told me they had created new digital images of “Lincoln.” My curiosity was peaked, so I took a look at them. I was impressed. However, it seems some folks did not have the same reaction. Under the headline “Digitally Created Abe Lincoln [...]
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