Popularity

.

Washington, D.C. Sweaters and long ropes of beads are popular with the girls at Woodrow Wilson High School: photo by Esther Bubley, October 1943

Popular was originally a legal and political term, from popularis, L-belonging to the people. An action popular, from C15, was a legal suit which it was open to anyone to begin. Popular estate and popular government, from C16, referred to a political system constituted or carried on by the whole people, but there was also the sense (cf. COMMON) of 'low' or 'base'. The transition to the predominant modern meaning of 'widely favored' or 'well-liked' is interesting in that it contains a strong element of setting out to gain favor, with a sense of calculation that has not quite disappeared but that is evident in a reinforced phrase like deliberately popular.

-- Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised edition, 1983)

Jayne Ann Monaco was one of the popular girls. One extremely cold night, early in the Eisenhower Administration, while ice skating upon the large circular frozen-over puddle in the midst of Fox Park, she said it was so cold that her pants were frozen stiff. Disbelief was expressed. Just feel, she said. Obediently one did as bidden. The pants, not the leg! she said.

Washington, D.C. Saddle shoes are still popular at Woodrow Wilson High School: photo by Esther Bubley, October 1943

Photos from Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress