New Books in Popular Culture Eurie Dahn, "Snack" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Mar 16, 2026
Eurie Dahn, scholar of Black American periodicals and author of Snack, explores snacking as a cultural force. She traces packaging, marketing, and products like Flamin' Hot Cheetos to show how snacks travel from trivial to powerful. Short threads cover definitions of snacks, links to tobacco tactics, childhood and immigrant snacking identities, and snacking’s ties to diet culture and pleasure.
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Snack Means Small And Trivial Historically
- The word snack historically signaled triviality, originating as a 'snap' or small bite in the 1400s.
- Eurie Dahn notes that triviality is embedded in the term, which contrasts with snacks' outsized cultural presence today.
Packaging Turned Snacks Into A Mass Market Habit
- The mass popularity of snacking in the U.S. rose when snacks became packaged for private consumption.
- Eurie Dahn traces the 1980s–1990s snacking boom to innovations in packaging that moved snacks from public vendors into homes.
Six Practical Rules To Spot A Snack
- Dahn defines snacks by six qualities: no immediate fire, no utensils, short duration, portability, not fully filling, and a playful vibe.
- These criteria distinguish snacks from meals even though many exceptions exist.
