Americans today often think of thrift as a negative value—a miserly hoarding of resources and a denial of pleasure. Even more telling, many Americans don't even think of thrift at all anymore. Franklin’s Thrift challenges this state of mind by recovering the rich history of thrift as a quintessentially American virtue. The contributors to this volume trace how, from the eighteenth century on, the idea and practice of thrift has been a robust part of the American vision of economic freedom and social abundance. For Benjamin Franklin, who personified and promoted the idea, thrift meant working productively, consuming wisely, saving proportionally, and giving generously. Franklin's thrift became the cornerstone of a new kind of secular faith in the ordinary person's capacity to shape his lot and fortune in life. Later chapters document how in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, thrift moved into new domains. It became the animating idea behind social movements to promote children's school savings, create mutual savings banks and credit unions for working men and women, establish a federal savings bond program, and galvanize the nation to conserve resources during two world wars. Historians, enthusiasts of Americana or traditional American virtues, and anyone interested in resolving our society's current financial woes will find much to treasure in this diverse collection, with topics ranging from the inspirational lessons we can learn from the film It’s a Wonderful Life to a history of the roles played by mutual savings banks, credit unions, and thrift stores in America’s national thrift movement. It also includes actual policy recommendations for our present situation.

The be-all, end-all guide to cooking the perfect steak—from buying top-notch beef, seasoning to perfection, and finding or building the ideal cooking vessel—from the James Beard Award–winning team behind the New York Times bestseller Franklin Barbecue. “This book will have you salivating by the end of the introduction.”—Nick Offerman Aaron Franklin may be the reigning king of brisket, but in his off-time, what he really loves to cook and eat at home is steak. And it’s no surprise that his steak is perfect, every time—he is a fire whisperer, after all, and as good at grilling beef as he is at smoking it. In Franklin Steak, Aaron and coauthor Jordan Mackay go deeper into the art and science of cooking steak than anyone has gone before. Want the real story behind grass-fed cattle? Or to talk confidently with your butcher about cuts and marbling? Interested in setting up your own dry-aging fridge at home? Want to know which grill Aaron swears by? Looking for some tricks on building an amazing all-wood fire? Curious about which steak cuts work well in a pan indoors? Franklin Steak has you covered. For any meat lover, backyard grill master, or fan of Franklin's fun yet authoritative approach, this book is a must-have.

An exploration of Benjamin Franklin's diverse legacies in American life from 1790, the year of his death, to 1990. This book also focuses on the intricate relations between the functions of images and perceptions in society on the one hand and the changing social and cultural conditions that have constantly affected the alterations of those images and perceptions on the other. Includes a Selected Bibliography. Illustrations.