Browne Popular Culture Library

Genre Categories

Advertising

This is the largest category. It includes calendars that advertise a business or a product. These calendars usually display the name and address of the business provided. See also: Holiday

Animals

This category includes any calendar in which animals (of any kind) are the primary focus of the theme and/or each month's illustration/photography. This includes cat lover’s calendars, wildlife calendars, etc.

Art

This is an ambiguous/catch-all category. It should include any calendar that has a work of art as its monthly image. This work of art can be by anyone, from Leonardo to sick children. This category also includes print or painted visuals, as well as art photography and sculpture.

Astrology

This category consists of any calendar that includes horoscopes, or any other type of astrological symbols within its context.

Automobiles

Any calendar that focuses its main attention on automobiles fits into this category. It can be anything from a car dealership's ad to an historical car calendar - anything that features automobiles is placed under this category.

Cartoons/Comic Books/Comedy

This category should include any calendar that features comic book characters (Superheroes, etc.) cartoon/comic strip characters, or parodies. This includes strips like Far Side, Garfield, and Doonesbury. See also: Peanuts

Environment/Nature

Calendars featuring natural landscapes or the environment, plants and tress, flowers, etc. are included here. Often, these are produced by nature conservancy groups. See also: Animals and Travel

Erotica

There are primarily three types of these calendars. First are Playboy-type calendars, with nude photography. The second is photographic, but more like “pin-ups” - clothed men and women in poses and exotic scenes. Finally, there is the illustrated kind, including the 1940s-1950s Varga drawings. Any calendar with erotic intent is included here. See also: Playboy

Fantasy

This category includes calendars with any significant fantasy content - sword and sorcery, magic, fantastic beasts, fairy creatures, etc. This includes calendars pertaining to Dungeons & Dragons and similar role-playing. It also includes “dark fantasy” or gothic imagery - vampires, werewolves, etc. See also: Tolkien

Food

These calendars consists of different recipes for various vegetables, fruit, meat and poultry.

Historical

This category includes any calendar that deals with history, or of an historic event. Usually, the photos associated with the calendar are black and white. Most of these calendars deal with the history of a certain place, such as a town, a place of business, or a school. This category also includes those calendars based on heritages of certain nationalities, such as a Polish heritage calendar. These calendars can be either an older or newer calendar, but with historical content. This category is not to be confused with the Patriotic/Political Category.

Holiday

These are calendars with holiday themes. Primarily, this will entail calendars with Christmas messages, illustrations, etc., that are given as gifts before the start of the start of the new year.

Miscellaneous

This category includes calendars that do not belong in the other main categories. This is a category for those calendars that do not have 10 or more to make their own category.

Movies/Television

Calendars that contain images of film and television actors/actress.

Music

Calendars that contain images of music or of musical artists belongs in this category.

Mystery Detective

This category includes mystery calendars, about movies, novels and television shows. See also: Performing Arts

Patriotic/Political

Calendars that are either overtly political or partisan as well as those that celebrate America as a political/cultural institution are included here. Such calendars may feature politicians, great historical figures, monuments, etc. This category is not to be confused with the Historical Category.

Peanuts

See also: Cartoons/Comic Books/Comedy

Performing Arts

This is a very broad category. It includes any calendar that focuses on anything from Broadway to cinema to television shows. Anything that deals with theater or acting is included. This category also holds calendars focused on dance. See also: Mystery Detective and Star Trek

Playboy

See also: Erotica

Religion/Inspirational

This category includes calendars with religious themes or imagery. It includes any belief system, including “New Age.” It also includes calendars with inspirational art or quotations, religious or not. This includes business maxims, famous quotes, etc.

Science Fiction

Occasionally difficult to differentiate from fantasy, these are calendars that possess images of spaceships, aliens, robots and androids, space travel, time travel, etc. See also: Star Trek etc.

Sports

Any calendar with a sports theme or an image of a sport is included within this category. This also includes “pseudo-sports” like pro wrestling.

Star Trek

See also: Science Fiction and Performing Arts

Tolkien

This collection contains works of fantasy by Tolkien.

Travel

Calendars that display monthly images of exotic or foreign locales is included within this category. Travel in America can also be included, but should be differentiated from nature photos. See also: Environment/Nature

The Wizard of Oz

Any calendar that deals with Frank L. Baum's characters from his Oz stories falls into this category. See also: Performing Arts

Cross Referencing

Many calendars do not fit easily into only one category. There are calendars with Christmas greetings and business advertising and nature photos. A calendar is categorized in its primary genre, which is judged by the monthly illustrations. This will be what you see when first opening it - the overall impression.  For example, if you find a holiday calendar from a business, you would look in the advertising category as well as the holiday category.

Last Updated, M. Zuzik, 2/25/06