Inventing American Tradition From the Mayflower to Cinco de Mayo

How did a table song become the anthem of the United States? What really happened on the very first Thanksgiving? Who invented the word "okay" that is heard millions of times a minute around the world? Where did jeans come from, without which we cannot imagine our lives today? Anthropologist and sociologist Jack David Eller seeks answers to these and other questions together with readers in the book "The History of American Traditions. From Mayflower to Cinco de Mayo.

Traditions and customs are an extremely emotional and passionate part of human life. To a large extent, it is around them that people weave the fabric of everyday life, orient themselves on them when planning their lives, cherish and adhere to them, and are also extremely hostile to anyone who questions their value. Knowing one's own traditions allows one to understand and be aware of one's self. Knowledge of other people's traditions makes it possible to understand and get to know another people more deeply. The globalized world demands such an understanding more and more. And not only from historians. Actually, entering the world of customs gives a full sense of how we, people of different cultures and different experiences, are different and similar at the same time. And traditions are an extremely powerful force, able to both unite and divide. So the more we know about how this energy accumulated over the ages works, the more successfully we can cooperate with it and use its power.

"The History of American Traditions" consists of four parts, in which the author tells us about the political traditions and national holidays of the United States, about the everyday traditions inherent in Americans, as well as about the history of fictional characters who have become the personification of America for the world. Concise separate sections of each part cover the most important traditional symbols and rituals - from the national anthem to the American flag, from blue jeans to hamburgers, Coca-Cola and Mickey Mouse. Behind every tradition is the life story of real people with their purely human desire to fill life with meaning. Under the author's pen, these people come to life, and with them the events and feelings that inspired them are resurrected. Thanks to this, the not always simple, conflicting, confusing and contradictory history of America's emblems and institutions is revealed to us, without which it is impossible to imagine today. Some might call Eller's work debunking myths, but it's not. Eller lovingly fills the traditions with real life and struggle, and thus makes them even more human and warm. The author brings us to the realization: all traditions were invented by specific people at a specific time for specific reasons, and the process of "tradition creation" continues forever, especially in the country of free people.