Your City in Pop Culture

[deja vu]

I thought this might be a fun game / diversion - and I don't think it has been done on this site yet -

Name ONE defining pop culture reference for your home town. Basically, any cultural product, like music, art, literature, fashion, dance, film, architecture, cyberculture, television, radio could count... It should be something with mass appeal / recognition, but it doesn't necessarily need to be the MOST recognized thing. If you city comes up more than once, that's fine, but you need to pick a DIFFERENT pop culture reference each time. The hope is that we'll learn some things about other places and others' perceptions of our home towns. Visual aids are welcome. Here's the twist: whoever goes next needs to first name ONE ADDITIONAL pop culture reference that they associate with the previous poster's city, before naming one for their own city. Get it?

I'll start. Kalamazoo, Michigan is the original home of Gibson Guitars. The factory still exists, and now houses Heritage Guitars, founded by some of the Gibson Guitar makers who stayed behind when Gibson moved to Nashville.

[mrnyc]

well, sherwin williams gets all the press lately because its building a new hq downtown, but cleveland has a much cooler and much more pop culture oriented paint company than that.

day glo.

[Steely Dan]

Chicago is the original home of that most enduring of snack cakes, the twinkie!



Source: wikipedia

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Chicago is the original home of that most enduring of snack cakes, the twinkie!



Source: wikipedia

So that's what they look like. I've heard of them but never seen one.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by isaidso

So that's what they look like. I've heard of them but never seen one.

Are you serious?

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Are you serious?

I don't live in the US and they don't sell those in Canada. At least, I've never seen one. 'Vachon' cakes fill that market niche in this country. It's a company from Quebec. Their most popular cake would be Jos Louis. It's in French so pronounced 'Joe Louie'. I think they make one like your 'Twinkie' called a 'Half Moon''. That said, they're a product of a by-gone era. I haven't had one in about 20 years.


https://www.mtlblog.com/en-ca/news/w...tage-in-quebec

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by isaidso

So that's what they look like. I've heard of them but never seen one.

Don't feel bad. I live in the US (and not too far from Chicago) and have never had one (or wanted to try one) either.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by deja vu

I'll start. Kalamazoo, Michigan is the original home of Gibson Guitars.

Ah ouais ? I didn't know. That's where they're currently packing Pfizer vaccine doses at -70°C / -94°F. I know about that. Lol I saw it in the news lately.
Fender is another famous guitar manufacturer, from California.
But it's true that Gibson may have some kind of more genuine folk sound that I like.

Pop culture with mass appeal and recognition, you're requiring...

Well, local fresh bakery products like croissants and baguettes are worldwide renown, but a lot of that stuff would've come from Vienna centuries ago. Hence the French generic term of viennoiseries. That said, Paris must be at least as good as Vienna in that kind of things nowadays. My own homemade apple strudel is pretty good, while I'm nothing like a baker.

Otherwise, there are well known fashion brands like Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Dior and so on.
Of course they're overpriced, nonetheless very pop. Even people who can't actually afford them would stupidly ruin their bank accounts for a dumb Vuitton purse. Right?

Oh, I know. Since we've been hit by that nasty pandemic, the name of Louis Pasteur is turning pop again. At least over here.
That's your freaking biologist whose achievements eventually saved countless lives.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur

Though he wasn't even a Parisian. He was from Franche-Comté.

Crap, I can't even find anything both pop and recognizable from Paris. Even the Eiffel tower came to us from Dijon, Burgundy where Gustave Eiffel was born and grew up.

It's just an old and giant melting pot over here. I won't bother looking for something both successful and 100% originally Parisian. It probably doesn't exist.

[mrnyc]

ah haaa! you all might have thought it impossible to beat an ever watchful steely chicago pimping post, but here we have proof that if you are on your game it can be done!

[deja vu]

Nice start everyone. Remember, there are two parts to this. You first have to name (guess) another pop culture reference for the previous poster's city, before you share your own. Bonus points if you don't cheat by using Google. Whoever goes next has to start with Paris.

Mousquet, you did come up with a good second one for Kalamazoo that is quite contemporary - the production hub for the BioNTech / Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Technically, it is Portage city proper, not Kalamazoo city proper, but the media usually says Kalamazoo, I think because it is more recognizable abroad.

[InTheBurbs]

Paris is referenced in at least 2 Jimmy Buffett songs - He Went to Paris and Last Mango in Paris.

Now for Houston, we were the city that the US nuked trying to destroy the aliens in Independence Day.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by InTheBurbs

Paris is referenced in at least 2 Jimmy Buffett songs - He Went to Paris and Last Mango in Paris.

Now for Houston, we were the city that the US nuked trying to destroy the aliens in Independence Day.

HOUSTON = NASA / Apollo 13 “Houston we have a problem.”

St. Louis originated the MONSTER TRUCK.

Heres the OG:


wikipedia.com

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot_(truck)

In 1981, Chandler placed two dilapidated cars in a field, so that Chandler could videotape himself crushing the cars with Bigfoot as a joke...

Growing up in the 80s in St. Louis County minutes from Bigfoot HQ in Ferguson/Hazelwood, I had Bigfoot EVERYTHING.

[pj3000]

Houston






Now for my hometown of Erie... a fun one... the Big Wheel and Green Machine. Manufactured in Erie, PA by Marx Toys.


• Video Link


• Video Link

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by InTheBurbs

Now for Houston, we were the city that the US nuked trying to destroy the aliens in Independence Day.

I saw that at the theater that used to be at W. Gray and Waugh. The entire audience laughed out loud at that.

[JManc]

Houston gave us all this:

[mrnyc]

haha yes bigfoot was absolutely thee first monster truck. at least that anyone ever heard of. very cool.

and the big wheel is -- so far -- untoppable.

paris has the parachute, thats pretty kewl dont count them out so fast.



houston, umm, up yr game lol!

[Yuri]

I even cheated with Google and still found nothing about Erie. I remembered this Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn movie and the went to Racine. It could have been Erie instead...

Londrina: they made this support character from The Expanse coming from Londrina. Completely random.

I don't think people we'll come up with something from Londrina. You can go with São Paulo instead...

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by yuriandrade

I even cheated with Google and still found nothing about Erie.

Smaller cities like Kalamazoo and Erie are difficult to cite pop culture originations for anyone not from there. But still, I don't think you tried too hard...

I mean, Erie gave us these two very important cultural icons, for instance:

[pj3000]

Good luck with Londrina, everybody...

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by yuriandrade

I even cheated with Google and still found nothing about Erie. I remembered this Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn movie and the went to Racine. It could have been Erie instead...

Londrina: they made this support character from The Expanse coming from Londrina. Completely random.

I don't think people we'll come up with something from Londrina. You can go with São Paulo instead...

Londrina is named for London, England, which is where Netflix's The Crown is set. Does that count?

Speaking of Netflix, I'm catching up on the show Big Mouth, and Harry Houdini was part of the storyline on one of the episodes. Harry Houdini died in Detroit of appendicitis while on tour.