ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the origins of American popular culture and those elements within it that were prime movers of Irish-American characterization. It describes some of the first forms of popular culture that emerged and is confined (very roughly) to the period 1850–1930. I chose these specific forms of popular culture because of their historical alignment with the arrival and assimilation of millions of Irish immigrants after the Great Famine. Many later forms of popular culture, including radio, film, and television, also proved influential to the development of Irish-American identity over the years. Irish Americans had largely assimilated by the mid-twentieth century and no longer experienced the kinds of societal and cultural pressures that had defined the Irish experience in the United States previously. Irish-American women often appeared as either alluring red-headed "wild Irish girls" or stout, assertive matrons. Often these characters were presented as "real" and "authentic" Irishmen and women in stories intended to celebrate Irish-American culture.
