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TourismEverything for Industryby walterwhite The statistics in the article seem strange next to the fact that another portion of Americans were traveling, going on vacation. One can infer the positive effects that growing the tourism industry could have on the economy. Starting new initiatives that could provide for a demand for people desiring to travel... |
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A Cool MillionThe Inevitableby walterwhite Nathaniel West's usage of dark humour is apparent to say the least. What is clear is his lack of ambivalence in dragging his character's through ordeals, however the reader him or herself does not go through this ordeal. It is this dark humour that softens the blow.
"He managed this... |
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More on The Grapes of WrathSteinbeck's re-conceptualisation of Christian doctrineby walterwhite It is interesting to note that the thinking of Steinbeck's characters in The Grapes of Wrath is not profound in any pointed sense. This is in no way a mark of their class, since literary history is filled with characters who are not by any means of 'noble' birth, but express something more than what is... |
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Good Old New Jersey The benefits and downfalls of living in suburbia by LilyB In the forward of the WPA's travel guide for New Jersey, one of the sponsors, Beatrice Winser, states "this story of New Jersey is cause of pride for those who love the state, but must also give pause to those who can be critical at the same time". This travel guide was first published in 1939, but I feel that... |
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Who Is California?The WPA's Two Dimensional Guide to a Much More Complicated Stateby Ali
The WPA guide for the state of California was particularly rosy and buoyant. Having grown up in Northern California, I have to admit I experienced that pang of nostalgia when glossing over the familiar names and landmarks of the state. In my own mind California emanates sunshine and a cool, fresh desert air. The WPA... |
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The road trip and cultural appreciation Berkowitz and Agee's theory and actuality of the post-Depression American road trip by tessa
Berkowitz describes why working class Americans gained leisure time towards the end of the 1930s, and Agee describes how the American roadside changed to accommodate for this influx of tourism. I was aware of the argument that leisure time leads to more productive workers, as that theory is predominant today, where...
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Guides and Goodiesor how I went into Bobst again and found myself amongst the food booksby amo Curious to see how my home state of Pennsylvania would sell its steel towns and “bumblef***” center to 1930s tourists, I was excited to look through the WPA guides this week. I wondered if the guide would take a historical approach and focus on the underground-railroad stations or Revolutionary War battlegrounds.... |
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Commodifying CultureAttempting an understanding of the destructive, and utterly absurd, aspects of tourist cultureby godiegogo The most obvious characteristic of the New York City WPA guide that I was flipping through was its out-datedness. The guide goes through a remarkably detailed neighborhood-by-neighborhood description of Manhattan, naming shops and restaurants, theatres and playhouses. I found myself struggling to find the... |
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Uniting the CountryBooks that explains why we are all so coolby cowboyjoe The Works Progress Administration’s soul job was to employ millions of workers in large-scale infrastructure and public works projects. Little known to most people however was the government’s employment of artists. One of the biggest successes that came out of this program was the WPA travel guidelines... |
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Welcome to HopkintonHome of the Boston Marathon...and Daniel Shays?by alice When I first realized one of our assignments would be to look through the WPA guides I couldn't help but flip quickly to Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Even though Hopkinton is in a fairly dense area of Massachusetts, very few Masschusetts natives have heard of the town. Those who have heard of the town often... |
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SymbolismIndividualism vs. Collectivismby walterwhite Steinbeck went in with the notion that he had to convey the dustbowl in as accurate a manner as possible. The book works as a call to action in favour of migrant workers. These workers were forced to live in poverty and endure life rather than live it. The book also manages to express several other elements with... |
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6. Photo-text booksWhat can Photos tell us?by walterwhite It's interesting that we finally get to take a look at imagery from the depression era. Most of the time we don't think sentence by sentence, rather we infer from the imagery that comes to mind on an intuitive level when thinking of the depression. Dorothea Lange brought just this to mind in her capturing... |
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Woman on the roadA perspectiveby walterwhite
"I am thirty years old as I write this, and have been a hobo for fifteen years..." say Boxcar Bertha. Bertha was interest in people having recorded conversations from various different experiences e.g. around the campfire, a boxcard, soup kitchens, from New York to Chicago to Florida. She meets a... |
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I <3 CAWPA Guide to CA in the 30sby nm123 Since I’m from Berkeley, California I chose to look through the WPA California guide. As I read the description of Berkeley, I was struck by how detailed it was and how it sounded exactly as I can picture it today – from its description of the Frat houses around the UC Berkeley campus to the homes in the... |
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A Controlled ImageHow the WPA guides provided a directed message, and where Idaho went wrongby Kinsey When we spoke about these guides in class, I (for whatever reason) assumed that they were small little pamphlets just giving the top highlights of the state. Little did I know, these were full on books, with Idaho’s topping 600 pages, giving in depth detail of the area and its sights. I chose to look at the guide to... |
