Air Jordans, Barbie & the Big Mac: 10 great American products that changed the world

Some of America’s greatest products have solved problems — and others have changed culture.As Joel Stein, author of “America: The Imagination of a Nation,” tells it, these are their stories.Humans have always turned craft into art.

So when Nike teamed up with NBA star Michael Jordan in 1985, sneakers moved out of gym lockers and into display cases, signaling one’s devotion.Streetwear bubbled up from innovations on basketball courts in Chicago, skateboarders in Venice Beach and hip-hop fans in The Bronx.

Limited releases saw people waiting overnight to buy assets they could resell for thousands.At first, the traditional top-down fashion world scoffed, but eventually this new trend revolutionized global consumerism, elevating everyday athletic wear into a luxury status symbol.A credit card may seem like a simple piece of plastic, but it represents one of the most powerful tools and inventions in modern consumer life.

Introduced widely in the mid-twentieth century, it democratized access to purchasing power — transforming the way people shop, dine and travel and fueling an economy of continuous consumption.The credit card’s current life in digital apps is a reminder that its evolution is far from overBarbie was founded in 1959 by Ruth Handler, a mother and entrepreneur whose inspiration came from watching her daughter play with baby dolls and paper dolls with fashionable outfits.

Ruth combined the two ideas in a grown-up three-dimensional figure.Her philosophy? That girls could play and envision themselves as anything they wanted to be, pioneering the “lifestyle brand” model.

Over the past six-plus decades, Barbie has empowered generations to imagine themselves in aspirational roles, from astronaut to doctor.Wearing Levi’s in the 1960s was a college kid’s show of solidarity with the working class.It meant you didn’t care to get into country clubs, land a corporate job or eat at fancy restaurants (or, perhaps, be in your parents’ will)...