Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: May 5, 2021 at 10:54:15 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Environment]: Alberto on Putman, 'Boosting a New > West: Pacific Coast Expositions, 1905-1916' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > John C. Putman. Boosting a New West: Pacific Coast Expositions, > 1905-1916. Pullman Washington State University Press, 2020. > Illustrations. 306 pp. $34.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-87422-381-1. > > Reviewed by Brittani Alberto (Gilb Museum of Arcadia) > Published on H-Environment (May, 2021) > Commissioned by Daniella McCahey > > John C. Putman's _Boosting a New West_ presents a fascinating element > of West Coast boosterism that has been largely unexplored: the West > Coast exposition fair. Building on earlier works by Carl Abbott, > Robert Rydell, Abigail Markwyn, and David Wrobel, Putman explores > four fairs held on the US western coast in the early twentieth > century: the Portland Lewis and Clark Exposition (LCE), the San > Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), Seattle's > Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYPE), and the San Diego > Panama-California Exposition (PCE). Putman contributes to a growing > field of scholarship focusing on exposition fairs and their cultural > impact. Most scholars focus on larger, more eastern fairs, such as > the 1876 Centennial Fair, the 1893 World Columbian Fair in Chicago, > or the St. Louis Exposition of 1904; the LCE, PCE, AYPE, and PPIE are > often overshadowed due to their size, geographic disconnect from > major urban centers, and the fact that they occurred just before the > outbreak of World War I. Putman explores these four fairs that are > lesser known to understand West Coast boosterism, westward migration > patterns during the early twentieth century, and the formation of the > West. > > West Coast exposition fairs were born as marketing strategies to both > entice eastern migrants and dispel largely held notions that the West > was wild, dirty, and unruly. Such notions were perpetuated by > mass-produced dime novels and theatrical Wild West shows replete with > barbaric Native Americans, hangings of outlaws, and gunfights. West > Coast exposition fairs created publicity teams that were tasked with > designing dynamic marketing campaigns that could convince people to > travel thousands of miles for a fair. These fairs sold the idea that > the West was a place where anyone could be successful, even > relatively ordinary people, and a new land for those who were looking > to escape eastern industrialism. Largely focusing on newspapers, > magazines, and advertisements, Putman looks beyond the conventional > examinations of fairs as symbols of economic growth and innovation, > instead focusing specifically on what it took to "sell the West" to > living in the Midwest and on the East Coast, as well as how each of > the fairs chose to approach and portray race. > > Central to_ Boosting a New West_ is the fact that the fairs were both > a symbol of national pride and a vehicle to "demonstrate the > marvelous progress of Western America" (p. 21). Exhibits of modern > irrigation techniques, ultra-modern houses, showcases of the abundant > raw materials to be found in the West, and a clear emphasis on the > feasibility of trade with the Far East helped fairs to illustrate > America's destiny. Though the actual scope of the fairs, in terms of > both size and attendance, is not made clear, Putman paints a vivid > picture of West Coast fairs trying many different techniques to > attract not only tourists but also potential permanent settlers. The > vast array of exhibits functioned as major selling points for the > exposition fairs hosted in Washington, Oregon, and California, which, > blessed by simple geography, could count on their eastern-facing > ports to receive goods from Asia. In exploring the connections > between the "Orient" and the "Occident," Putman examines American > perceptions of Asian and Native American cultures and fairs as a > pageant of imperialism. Racially themed exhibits helped to enforce a > clear racial hierarchy in which whites were placed at the top. The > Japanese, the Chinese, Filipinos, Hawaiians, and Native Americans > were presented as living curiosa exhibits in the four West Coast > fairs, proving that American perceptions, stereotypes, and racialized > attitudes were large parts of boosting these fairs. > > Explorations of fairs presenting "primitive" Native American, Asian, > and Hawaiian cultures and points of interest as utterly inferior to > whites play a central role in _Boosting a New West_. West Coast > exposition fairs served as important tools for white Americans to > reaffirm their power and racial superiority. For example, Native > American students from boarding schools were ushered in to play > orchestral pieces or create handicrafts to show the possibilities of > human domestication, especially for visitors who could remember > seeing "savage Indians" in Wild West shows. These Native American > showcases were juxtaposed with exhibits of Filipinos and Hawaiians, > who were always depicted as lazy, backward peoples. Hawaiians were > often shown as passive and lazy with Hawaii itself depicted as a > relaxing vacation destination. On the other hand, Filipinos were > shown as barbaric and the "lowest in civilization of the inhabitants > of Uncle Sam's domain" (p. 138). To illustrate the sheer barbarism of > the Filipino people, a voyeuristic Philippine village was installed > in the LCE, complete with fifty "dog eating" Igorrote Filipinos > serving as actors. Exhibits such as these placed in proximity to > clearly domesticated Native American groups served to prove how these > people could be molded into proper American citizens. More important, > these exhibits were sensationalized by fair marketers and the press > to arouse interest in easterners and midwesterners and convince them > to see these primitive cultures without crossing the Pacific Ocean. > > Putman's examination of Japanese and Chinese peoples, as well as the > nations they represented, proves to be equally interesting. The > presence of both Japanese and Chinese exhibits in the fairs presented > American understandings and stereotypes of both cultures. With the > opening of direct trade with the Far East, exhibition officials > envisioned the American West as the new center of commerce. As Putman > explains, Asia had a commanding presence in the West Coast exhibition > fairs. Exhibits, such as those in the AYPE, were intended to foster > positive cross-cultural interactions and introduce visitors to Asian > manufacturers and products. Despite the positive view of Asians that > the fairs were trying to present, racialism was clearly present. > Portrayals of Asians were often inconsistent and fair officials were > tested with the creation of exhibits that would have to entice > visitors with Asian exoticism, please Asian businessmen and > officials, and ensure the creation of trade deals, all while not > provoking local groups such as the Asiatic Exclusion League into fits > of racial violence. To promote the real possibility of shorter trade > routes for eastern goods, fair officials introduced visitors to Asian > products through exhibits, celebrations of Asian cultural events, and > parades complete with Japanese and Chinese officials and businessmen, > brought in specifically to demonstrate the possibility of > establishing trade networks. Although these fair events were meant to > positively portray Asians, marketing strategies often took a > different approach. Outside of exhibits, advertisers often referred > to Chinese people as "slant-eyed Chinamen" and relied on exotic > tropes to attract visitors (p. 132). This could be seen in the PPIE > fair, which allowed visitors a chance to see the "fate of the opium > smoker and drug fiend" and to see prostitutes from San Francisco's > Chinatown (p. 212). Depictions of Asians were often clearly > contradictory and drew ire from local Chinese residents and Chinese > businessmen. In response to Chinese displeasure for the unsavory > opium den and Chinese prostitute exhibit, fair directors agreed to > close the Underground Chinatown attraction, only to reopen it weeks > later with the name Underground Slumming. > > _Boosting a New West_ is beautifully illustrated and provides more > than a social and cultural history of West Coast exposition fairs. > The text explores agents of westward expansion that are rarely > studied and will prove insightful for students and scholars of US > imperialism, the American West, and the Progressive Era. Though some > discussion of the receptions of West Coast fairs by eastern migrants > and travelers would be a welcome addition, Putman's examination of > fairs as a cultural phenomenon is astonishing and illuminating. > > Citation: Brittani Alberto. Review of Putman, John C., _Boosting a > New West: Pacific Coast Expositions, 1905-1916_. H-Environment, H-Net > Reviews. May, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56101 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#8363): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/8363 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/82607121/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
