Globe and Mail, July 13, 1998
It has been said that one can construct the history of a civilization merely by studying its garbage, but I prefer the rummage sale. The one at our local church always provides grist aplenty for the amateur social historian’s mill. Little bits and pieces of dated pop culture line the tables in a sometimes humorous, often instructive array. The Darth Vader shampoo dispensers, Elvis busts and Saturday Night Fever soundtracks seem to say more than even the most historically relevant coffee grounds and banana peels ever could. Continue reading “Brave new world of teen autonomy: Teen-agers today are influenced by other teen-agers, television, celebrity endorsements, music, gang standards. Not by adults”