ABSTRACT
The expression ‘pan out’, meaning to ‘end up, conclude’, is derived from panning for gold during the California Gold Rush (Oxford English Dictionary). Given that my own, Bloch-inspired, approach to contemporary nostalgia culture has involved digging for gold in the ideological rubble, it is worth now standing back and asking: How much gold have I found, what is its quality, and what is it now worth? Are there any broader insights that can be drawn from these three in-depth readings of contemporary American nostalgia texts?
