The Mindset List of the Obscure: 74 Famously Forgotten American Icons From A To Z

by Tom McBride, Ron Nief

Today’s teens and twentysomethings have never seen a real airplane ticket. To them, point-and-shoot cameras are so last millennium and “Star Wars” is a movie, not a defense strategy. The world views of today’s young and old have never been more different.

In this entertaining romp through American culture, the creators of the globally acclaimed Beloit College Mindset List explore 75 icons once-famous and now forgotten—from Abbott and Costello to the singing telegram. Packed with entertaining facts, trivia, and photos, this is the perfect gift for college students, their oh-so-outdated parents, and pop culture mavens nostalgic for days gone by.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Trivia

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

Tom McBride is a professor of English, and Keefer and Keefer Professor of Humanities at Beloit, where he was also the long-time director of the colleges first year students program. Ron Nief is the former Public Affairs director of Beloit College who developed the Mindset List in 1998."

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC for review.

Takeaway? I'm old. These bits of pop culture come from the 1930s to the mid-1960s, so before my birth, but not so far in the distant past - out of the 75 there were only 11 with which I was totally unfamiliar (of course I've always read voraciously, especially trivia books). That said, I'm guessing most would be "forgotten" by today's 20 year olds and the edition 20 years from now would include "Laverne and Shirley" and Pop Rocks.

I enjoyed (but could have done without the silly "inspired guess by today's young and restless" and the use in a sentence) and if any entries strike one's fancy there's a fairly extensive bibliography - perfect for reading in bits and pieces.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.75 of 5

I really like bathroom-reader type books, and that's what this is.  Miscellaneous information given in short, easy to read snapshots.

Young Mr. McBride and Mr. Nief made two mistakes with this book... first, not all of these seventy-four articles are obscure (as the title says), and second, these are not "forgotten" -- at least not to some of us who remember many of these.

But other than what I might consider a tad bit of a misleading title, this book is a wonderful glimpse at pop culture and history.  While not everything here is forgotten or obscure, they certainly run the risk of being so, and McBride and Nief do well to remind us of these gems from our past.

The factual aspects appear well researched, but the attempts to be 'cute' or funny, particularly with the "Hypothetical Usage in a Sentence by the Old and Settled," which ends each section fall short.  The "Hypothetical Usage" doesn't read as 'real' nor as funny and I would have been fine without it.

Looking for a good book?  The Mindset List of the Obscure is good bathroom reading and a nice way to stay current with the past.

[Jolene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. However, I don't agree that everything in this book is obscure.

I will post my full review closer to the publication date

[Icknay Abbecray · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few interesting selections, but the majority of this wasn't all that obscure or interesting.

[Douglas Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

With apologies, as I don’t know if this was intended, but McBride and Nief have developed the Next Great Dude Bathroom Reader (replacing Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Blunders). Presenting 75 cultural oddities dating from the 1930s to the early 1970s, this is trivia (but not trivial) in punchy three-page entries.The content is a mini-census of pop culture on all sort of forgotten things from collect calls to slide rules and from coonskin caps to Don Ameche. It’s a real mishmash, with TV (Howdy Doody) and radio (Fibber McGee and Molly) mixing with politics (e.g., Dewey Defeats Truman, Watergate), industry (the Ford Edsel), you name it. The entries are genuinely interesting, but the larger lesson is that terms such as obscure, useless, outdated, and obsolete are relative; there is an overpowering urge to defend one’s lack of years while flipping through this. For instance, I recall many a happy car ride cranking eight-track tapes. It really wasn’t that long ago—but that’s relative. While to my kids, I’m ‘old,’ to my legion of older brothers (who actually took calls on Bakelite phones whilst watching Charlie McCarthy), I’m still kid tagalong. They probably watched Liberace to calm down and Ernie Kovacs (who once did a version of Swan Lake with ballerinas in gorilla suits) to cheer up. I never saw Ed Sullivan nor The Original Amateur Hour (“an American Idol for its time”) but I have seen cigarette girls with my own eyes (probably selling LSMFT Lucky Strikes). Could Sourcebooks do one from a hundred years ago or so to show what were people doing then? That’d be cool. VERDICT A good choice for Baby Boomers and older GenXers looking to take a trip down Memory Lane—or (sigh) to feel old.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read a very similar book from the UK that was offered as a netgalley copy about the same time, it's extraordinary how similar yet different the books are. The British one, 21st Century Dodos, is a bright and breezy low-brow journalism version, with very personal and personable entries about the media sources, chocolate bars and so on that the current youth's parents have lost during their lifetime. This List is very similar in intent – cataloguing that about which the modern young just don't need to care – but does it very differently, with a much more scientific, sociological outlook.

Both approaches work to make a great read, although of course one will probably prefer that from one's own side of the pond. This List was still very, very good for me, in itemising things I knew about (Abbott and Costello, Dragnet, Bakelite) with things that would never have crossed my cultural path yet have held significance for a world superpower (A&P stores, Queen for a Day scandals etc). The many entries cover a whole gamut of societal elements – home entertainment and the media that presented them, political concepts and major slogans of the time, and more. The way they're delivered isn't brilliant – the creators could well drop the example quote illustrating usage they invent for every entry, likewise the assumed definition a modern youngster would give to each subject, which is never specifically declared to be fiction or otherwise. But the whole edutainment aspect of the book, bringing a list of socially significant aspects of life back to the cultural table, as opposed to one man's list of Dodos to mourn, is spot on. I suspect a sequel could be managed with no loss of import or power – this is a trivial book in appearance only.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review

Being the kind of person who has spent way too much time being obsessed with vintage and antique things and ideals, most of the things on this sizable list are things I have heard of. Not that it makes this book any less fun! But I also absolutely love books that are essentially giant lists of 'useless' trivia.

After the usual introduction to what this book is, we are tossed headfirst into the obscure! Each obscure thing (be it stores that have long since closed to show references that were all in the pop culture in the 50s) is explained using Timeline, Inspired Guess by the Young & Restless (which is hilarious, really, the generation right after mine is quite imaginative) The Ancient Truth, That Was Then This Is Now (basically how whatever is being looked at compares to modern day...also Vaudeville is so much better than modern comedy, just sayin') and lastly Hypothetical Use in a Sentence By The Old and Settled (which also is pretty hilarious).

If you are not like me and spent way too much time watching 'oldies' on Nick at Night (because I had chronic insomnia and it was either that or Infomercials, and this was back before they were funny) you might recognize some of the things referenced in this book when talking to your grandparents.

Now, if yall don't mind, it is time to dust off the Betamax (to watch some Dragnet), sport my Bakelite bangles, and contemplate the sadness that is future generations not knowing about Liberace's overwhelming love of rhinestones!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of get what they're trying to do. The whole "whoa-ho, look at all those references the kiddies won't get!" doesn't really work, because entertainment is a self-obsessed, self-referencing snake that eats its own tail. Walter Winchell's greeting is echoed in Steven Colbert's nightly welcome; Arthur Murray is how Johnny became a dance instructor in Dirty Dancing; Watergate is referenced in every damn scandal since it occurred. These are not obscure references, yet they are in this book. Some, like Aimee Semple McPherson or the slide rule, are genuinely obscure or a symbol of a bygone era. Others, like the Zapruder film or Liberace, you just have to wonder what rock the authors think kids live under. It's one thing to have never watched The Princess Bride (what one particularly sheltered 24 year old told me a few years back), it's quite another to have never heard the phrase "as American as apple pie." While it's an interesting read and sort of well written, I just bristle at the idea that kids are idiots who have never watched an old show...or The Simpsons...or The Muppets...or any of the 50 movie channels that show classics...or read a book from before 1980...

[OutlawPoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Trip Down Memory Lane

This is one of those books that is full of fascinating nuggets of history. Although I read it straight through, it also lends itself to picking out those people, phrases, or things that strike a chord with you.

Now, very few of the things listed in the book were in my direct experience growing up. I do remember 8 tracks and Betamax, but much of what is listed are things I've heard about from my parents and grandparents.

And it was a great deal of fun reading about them and learning about largely forgotten bits of popular culture.

The book touches on everything from Bearded Ladies to Evangelists - and on everything in between. The stories are funny and fascinating. I wasn't bored by a single entry! And as I read it, enjoying the bits of nostalgia it brought back, I realized that everything in the book would be foreign to the resident-six-year old.

This is the perfect book for trivia and reference junkies or as a gift for those who long for days gone by.

*ARC provided by Netgalley for review purposes.

[Am Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, presented in a very accessible format. You can read the chapters in any order, and each chapter is a bite-sized chunk of info 3-4 pages long. The "inspired guess by today's youngsters" section was quite funny (though in some cases a bit off or far-fetched), and I thought the "example of usage" section could be done better, but all in all the book gave me an entertaining glimpse into yesteryear's trends.

[Kasey Cocoa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would gather that by forgotten they mean really old. Some I knew about, others just the name, a few not at all. It is worded in a humorous way which I am not fond of. My guess is they did it that way to make the read less dry and boring. I'd use this in my homeschooling and recommend it as required reading in schools. I was able to view an evaluation copy in exchange for my opinion.

[Delan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its always nice to learn about people in the past and the history that comes with them. I loved reading about the pioneer figures who helped shape modern life. This book is a nice way of learning about 74 American icons that were quickly forgotten by today's modern society.

***I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.***

[Kady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at stuff that a lot of younger people might not know about, I know I learned a few things.

[Tracee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A trip down memory lane of Americana phrases, many lost through time. Interesting to see some of their origins