What trends or other things started in California?

Question

Can you list all the things you know of that were made popular in California? It doesnt have to be something that first came from Cali, but something that got alot of attention while it was going on in California.....example: Skateboarding, Another example: Crack (the drug) first showed up in Oakland. Does anyone know any other trends that first became big in California and then people in other states copied it?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

In addition to sourdough bread California chefs brought us new and unique ideas for salads, green and dishes based not on meat and potatoes but on the freshest greens and vegetables.
As to eductaion, the community colleges got a firm hold in california.

Answer 2

The Brands Juicy and Uggs.

Answer 3

Anti-smoking propaganda.

Answer 4

Strip clubs!

Answer 5

"Val Speak" / Valley Girls



It originated in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California.

"Valley Girls" are the stereotypically ditzy/dumb girls who are dedicated to shopping and personal appearance.

Ever hear teenagers use the words such as "Like, Whatever, as if, oh my god, duh!" <---That's "Val Speak".

A lot of "Valspeak", which is considered a "social dialect", also caught onto surfing and skateboarding slang. It originated among Valley Girls and was very popular in the 1980s. There's a lot of songs, movies, and other popular culture dedicated to this...e.g. the Frank Zappa song "Valley Girl", or the movie "Valley Girl" with Nicholas Cage, or the teen movie "Clueless".



A lot of times you will hear someone call a girl a "Valley Girl"--whether or not they actually live in the San Fernando Valley. So it's not even a geographic thing anymore, it's really cultural.





The term "Land of Fruits and Nuts" is always stereotypically associated with California. People seem to think that California is the center of gays/"fruits" (think San Francisco) and Nuts (crazy people). Anyways, it also refers to California's agricultural bounty....

Source(s):

Go here for more info (These articles explain it better):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_girl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valspeak
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.ph…

Answer 6

Sourdough was the main bread made in Northern California during the California Gold Rush, and it remains a part of the culture of San Francisco today. The bread became so common that "sourdough" became a general nickname for the gold prospectors.

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourdough

Answer 7

Levi's Jeans, McDonald's restaurants, theme parks (Disneyland was the 1st), incandescent light bulb, Hells Angels, Pinkberry

Answer 8

Most trends you see come from California..California leads the nation in almost every aspect..How California goes so does the USA..California is used as a test or "gauge" for how the USA will react to most everything..This is because California contains many populated cities while also containing very sparsely populated towns.

-fashion trends
-car trends
-food trends
-many police procedures originated here
-gangs originated here
-police helicopters originated here
-crystal meth
-home building


basically California sets trends on everything..we rarely go to other States to learn something new.

Answer 9

California's innovations are too numerous and diverse to fully list. Here's just a small sample of our creative might (along with the places that either invented or first popularized them):

Freeways (Los Angeles)
Raves (Los Angeles)
Indoor shopping malls (Los Angeles / OC)
Drive-thrus (Los Angeles / OC)
Surf rock (OC)
West Coast hip-hop (Long Beach / Oakland)
Modern theme parks (Anaheim)
Movies (Hollywood)
Conservation zoos (San Diego)
Martinis and Irish coffees (San Francisco)
Jeans (San Francisco)
Fortune cookies (San Francisco)
Psychedelic music (San Francisco)
Solar power (San Francisco)
Domestic partnership (San Francisco / West Hollywood)
LSD (Berkeley)
3-D animation (Emeryville)
The Internet (Silicon Valley)
iPods (Silicon Valley)

Answer 10

Juicy couture clothing, Flip Flop sandals all year round, Lakers, beach girls and ROXY clothes, California Pizza Kitchen restaurant, etc...

Answer 11

Valley Girls is a huge trend that started in California during the 1980s and is still in popular culture today all around the United States.

Source(s):

What's with all the down ratings!!??

Answer 12

California basically IS the trend generator.

Sushi in the 60s
Yoga in the 70s
Bottled water in the 80s
Japanophile culture in the 90s
The smoking ban in the 90s.
California wine culture in the 90s.
The green/organic food movement of 2000s.
CA didn't originate it, but that state is always the first to start or grasp the trend.

Hippy culture, Skateboard culture, surfing culture, casual fashion culture, car culture and the breakdown of formal wear culture, modern day gay rights movement, pretty much all started in California and spread eastward if not the entire world. Although high fashion is still dominated my Milan/NY/Paris, casual fashion is dominated by california. Los Angeles is responsible for the breakdown of suits and hats of your grandfather's time and the emergence of casual wear/ one layered wear as work and everyday wear. The denim as everyday wear is a california trend, as well as premium denim (faded, low rise, bootcut etc.)
Architecturally, even Disneyland had a huge effect on how cities were built. Enclosed "city-tainment shopping centers" like Citywalk and Disneyland are in every city. The idea of a metropolis center-less city/suburb is an LA invention that's taken over the rest of the US. Culinarily, California cuisine (the idea of using locally/seasonally grown organic produce and meats centered around grilling) as well as New American cuisine asian/latin american/-influenced multicultural fusion cuisine had it's start in California, so pretty much the most important food movements of recent years have started in California except for molecular gastronomy which still has not caught on outside of Spain.

And then you have the whole internet phenomenon which really took hold in Silicon Valley as well as the "tech coast".

All in all, the state is the most influential when it comes to "lifestyle" trends.