The TV dinner represented a change in the way Americans were thinking about food. Introduced in 1954 by Swanson & Sons, of Omaha, Nebraska, it offered women--more and more of whom were working outside the home but still assumed to be responsible for cooking--an alternative to time-consuming meal pre

Demand for inexpensive, mass-produced women’s clothing spurred the rise of early garment factories. The ILGWU was formed in 1900 by bringing together several smaller local unions to fight to end sweatshop production, higher wages, and improve working conditions in the cities where the garment fact

This yellow, floral patterned tea length patterned dress was worn by Minnijean Brown during the Spingarn Award Ceremony in 1958. The Spingarn Medal is a gold medal that has been awarded annually since 1915 by the NAACP. According to the NAACP, the purpose is “to call the attention of the American

"This black t-shirt, which says “Silence = Death” with a pink triangle, symbolizes the struggle against AIDS. Six activists – Avram Finklestein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Lione, and Jorge Soccaras – founded the “Silence = Death” project in New York City in 198

Although we might think of fax machines as a relatively recent (if somewhat dated) technology, this episode uncovers the surprising history of the wireless fax machine. Host Tory Altman speaks with Hal Wallace, associate curator of the museum's electricity collection, about this 1930s device that

How did women serve in uniform during World War I? In this episode, host Tory Altman joins Curator Margaret Vining of the Museum's Division of Armed Forces History to talk about women's service in the conflict, and how their contributions helped the cause of the woman suffrage movement.

One of the most enduring national brand characters to appear in the early days of advertising is everyone's favorite sartorially gifted legume, Mr. Peanut. In this episode, host Tory Altman joins Kathleen Franz, professor at American University, to talk about the history of "spokes-characters" in

The history of patenting higher-level organisms began in the mid-1980s with a little guy called OncoMouse. In this episode, host Tory Altman joins Mallory Warner of the Museum's Division of Medicine and Science to talk about the first animal patented in the United States, and some of the ethical

Whether convenient, fast, organic, processed, gourmet, ethnic, or local—the foods available to Americans have never been more plentiful and diverse, or more ripe for discussion. Coupled with big changes in who does the cooking, where meals are consumed, and what we know (or think we know) about

The story of America includes the history of those who have lived through extraordinary circumstances. One such person was Camilla Gottlieb, whose ordinary life in Vienna suddenly became endangered when the Germans invaded and annexed Austria in 1938. As a Jew, she confronted devastating cha