A brave new world of food and drink
In one way or another, food has always been an important part of the World's Fair. Visitors to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1903-04 in St. Louis were among the first to enjoy ice cream cones, hot dogs, candy floss, iced tea and puffed rice (although in the case of the latter, "enjoy" may not be quite the correct term). Some believe the hamburger as we know it was also unleashed at that fair, by a Texan named Fletcher Davis.
There's a nice essay on the British Film Institute's site on the fair as it relates to Vincente Minnelli's 1944 film Meet Me In St. Louis.
A second essay on the BFI site reveals that not everyone was welcome at this "celebration of the human family". It would seem that karma fuels the widespread misconception that esteemed African-American agricultural scientist George Washington Carver invented peanut butter – another food introduced at the 1903-04 Fair.
By the time of the 1964 World's Fair in New York, the snack food industry - in particular the soft drink industry - was firmly ensconced among the world's giants of commerce. Witness the achitectural marvel that was the Coca-Cola pavillion:
Other pop pavillions included Pepsi Cola and Seven-Up. One might have been forgiven for mistaking the soda makers for oddly-named countries.
posted by Mimi at 7:36 PM
2 Comments:
Great blog, Mimi. When you get really famous, remember who it was who first provided links to you.
Some of the pictures remind me of reading W.G. Sebald. Even reading it does. Sebald sometimes touches on architecture and art, but other than that, the subject matter is quite different. No cheese in any of the books I've read.
I, for one, can't wait to visit Moxievania.
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