This document contains fifteen essays which study some of the didactic, moralistic literature which was popular in nineteenth century America, and speculate about the culture from which the literature evolved. The essays include "Millions of Moral Little Books: Sunday School Books in Their Popular Context"; "Nineteenth Century Gift Books: A Curious Combination of Popular and Elite Art"; "The Little Blue Books as Popular Culture: E. Haldeman-Julius' Methodology"; "The Pedestal Myth Reinforced: Women's Magazine Fiction, 1900-1920"; "The 'Celebrity' Magazines"; "The Death of the Saturday Evening Post, 1960-69: A Popular Culture Phenomenon"; "Through Rose-Colored Glasses: Some American Victorian Sentimental Novels"; "Of Few Days and Full of Trouble: The Evolution of the Western Hero in the Dime Novel"; "Turn-Of-the-Century Country-Life Novels"; "Social History and the Crime Fiction of Mary Roberts Rinehart"; "The Character and Function of Popular Religious Poetry 1820-1860"; "Four Popular Poets: A Century of Taste"; "Rock Music, Media, and the Counter Culture"; "Folk Music's Affair with Popular Culture: A Redefinition of the 'Revival'"; and "Travis McGee: The Thinking Man's Robin Hood." The essays were written for a graduate seminar on popular culture at Michigan State University. (RB)