Using examples from the first celebrity fan magazines of 1911 to the present, Celebrity Culture and the American Dream considers how major economic and historical factors shaped the nature of celebrity culture as we know it today. Equally important, the book explains how and why the story of Hollywood celebrities matters, sociologically speaking, to an understanding of American society, to the changing nature of the American Dream, and to the relation between class and culture. This book: Explores the relationship between celebrity culture, consumption, class, and social mobilityDiscusses social changes pertaining to class, gender, marriage and divorce, and raceIncludes numerous pictures from fan magazine articles and adsExamines the connections between celebrity culture and economic, political, and social changesConsiders the importance of the structure of the entertainment industry to understand how celebrity culture is manufactured