GREAT AMERICAN WEBSITES

Author: Edward J. Renehan, Jr. 

Publisher:  Osborne McGraw-Hill, $24.99

 Americana is defined as a collection relating to American history, culture, folklore and geography.  This book presents an eclectic mix of such web sites varying from showing George Bush in baseball uniform meeting Babe Ruth, [1] (see list at the end) to the massive Crazy Horse Mountain Carving in South Dakota [2], from Coney Island to the White House, from W.C Fields to William Buckley.  It is written in an informal, conversational style which makes for easy reading while informing, entertaining and amusing. This is more than a mere categorical web site directory. Though over 1,100 sites are presented, most are provided with some explanation, and they are grouped into thematic chapters.  Some of the sites I found particularly interesting are listed at the end of this review.

            We Americans have a relatively short history but we do have our Patriots and related web sites for legends such as Daniel Boone, innovators like Booker T. Washington and genuine trailblazers such as Ralph Bunche.  A particularly pertinent listing is for Grace Hopper “the Mother of Computing”. Contemporary Personalities are covered in a separate chapter.  Politicians - we need them but don’t want them.  There are Presidential sites, plus conservative, liberal and public-interest sites, free updates on latest political news [3] and data on who gave how much to whom [4] are all here.  

Historical sites include the expected.  But a particularly unusual web site is The Political Graveyard [5] which lists grave sites and biographical information for an amazing number of politicians, with intriguing categories such as “politicians who were killed in an elevator”?  Local Historical society sites are given, including the Hudson River Maritime Museum. There is a discussion of auctions to stave off the financial travails of the New York Historical Society [6].  

How many criminals were imprisoned at Alcatraz?  [7] Crime & Criminals covers this and gives details on Billy the Kid, the ACLU’s position against the death penalty, the FBI’s Most-Wanted-List and many others. There are sites for various Law Schools, Supreme Court decisions [8] and others such as the Center for Law and Public Policy. Some of these sites can be engrossing, providing information you may not have thought much about, until now.

 Kitsch refers to “pretentious bad taste in the arts”.  This section includes the site with a live camera on a cow in Alloway, NJ [9], and sites for the Edsel (for those old enough to remember), Howdy Doody, the Archie McPhee Catalog of practical joke props and many others. Food-related sites give recipes, American wines [10], New York City restaurants and inform us that Americans eat 535 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving.  Extravaganza includes parades and festivals from around the country including  the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade [11], arts, film and jazz festivals, circuses, clowns and Mardi Gras. American Sports includes information from poems, (Casey at the Bat), to statistics, bowling to yachting and athletes from Jim Thorpe [12] to Roger Clemens.  “Pop ‘Till You Drop” starts with James Dean and Marilyn Monroe and extends to  TV shows of the 1950’s [13].  (These shows are too old even for cable TV’s Nick At Night.)

American Music lists sites for Spike Jones [14] to Irving Berlin, and Dirty Linen Magazine to Windham Hill recordings. The discussion on American Literature covers classic and current authors, including William Carlos Williams [15] from Rutherford, NJ.   Architecture explores the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright with a particularly interesting site covering architectural gargoyles in New York City [16].  The detailed close-ups could have provided the inspiration for the movie Ghostbusters.

Made In The USA begins with Bill Gates, but sprinkled inside are unexpected sites - Amish quilts, birdhouses, hand-made shoes, walking sticks, saddles, clocks, kayaks and more. The Lionel train site [17] gives links to many sites and clubs for people interested in these toy trains of our youth.  Outdoor Interest sites include the national parks [18], the Appalachian Trail, various government and environmental organizations, local places such as the Mohonk Mountain House and activities including deer hunting and fishing. This book lists sites for Religions, conventional and unorthodox [19].  Science In The  USA covers physics, astronomy, biology, chaos, beekeeping, electric vehicles, mad science [20],  Ben Franklin and MIT.  The Map sites include an interactive New York City Subway Map [21].

            For Visual Arts in America the book lists various museums, the paintings in the White House [22], and artists from Mary Cassatt to Andy Warhol.  But there is no reference to  the wondrous mural on the old Alexander’s building on Route 4.   Is anyone interested in starting a web site on this local landmark?  I would help with the research.

            All in all, the book’s listed sites provide an interesting diversion on the Internet as well as a source for information on America’s cultural background.

 SITE LIST:  (all at “http://www.” unless noted)

  1.  csdl.tamu.edu/bushlib/president/bio/babe.html

  2.  state.sd.us//state/executive/tourism/20reason/crzy_hrs.htm

  3.  allpolitics.com 

  4.  tray.com/FECInfo/index.html-ssi

  5.  http://polygon.intranet.org/tpg/

  6. cityconnection.com/NYHS/

  7. nps.gov/alcatraz/

  8. usscplus.com/)

  9. accsyst.com/cow.html

10. way.com/food/wine/daily/apr96/archives.html 

11. festivals.com/macy/
 

12. alphacdc.com/necona/jimthorp.html

13. fiftiesweb.com/kids.htm

14. geocities.com/SunsetStrip/4020/spike.html 

15. library.kent.edu/speccoll/poetry/williams.html

16.  aardvarkelectric.com/gargoyle/

17.  lionel.com

18.  americanparksnetwork.com/

19.  churchsurf.com/

20. net/~msdsite/

21. transarc.com/afs/transarc.com/public/brail/html/transit/manhattan.html

22. whitehouse.gov/WH/ glimpse/art/html/top.html