1 10 5 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/21511d7c5e1873710f1748036375c2d0.jpg 024acdcb6ba1cbae25806affb6d101f6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Union Pacific Pepper Shaker Description An account of the resource Omaha became the Union Pacific Headquarters near the end of 1800’s. Photographed here is a pepper shaker that was part of a Union Pacific railcar dining set. This pepper shaker is from The Durham Museum’s collection. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Durham Museum Permanent Collection https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/895b033d5d73ce1967d685a31c83d578.png 97ed12086e566a519657ec86f3861df6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dinner on a Dining Car Subject The topic of the resource Man cutting into a steak on Union Pacific's 'Portland Rose' Dining Car- a baked potato, salad, butter, salt and pepper, and a teapot are also on the table Description An account of the resource A meal enjoyed by a passenger of the Union Pacific Railroad. Top right of image you can see a pepper shaker tucked on the side for convenience. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Durham Museum Photo Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1934 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, L., & Frohardt, H. https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/f7182d5cf9300b039412c26f3dc9fde3.png 1ff01881e46f6757c41640359d082a0b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Village House in Sumatra Description An account of the resource Depicting a village house in Sumatra in 1811, this image provides insight into the Dutch view of Sumatra as an exotic region of production in the nineteenth century. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived “PLATE 19. A VILLAGE HOUSE IN SUMATRA.” W. Bell delt. J.G. Stadler sculpt. Published by W. Marsden, 1810 in William Marsden, The History of Sumatra, Containing An Account of the Government, Laws, Customs, and Manners of the Native Inhabitants, with A Description of the Natural Productions, and Relation of the Ancient Political State of That Island. Third Ed. (London: J.M'Creery, Black-Horse-Court, 1811). Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1811 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Consumer Revolutions Subject The topic of the resource Global Capitalism <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4758/39538672694_da9d00eca7_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> Butter-Nut Coffee Advertisement, Durham Photo Archive Description An account of the resource Globalization has brought the world to our doorstep. Expanding networks of trade bring goods from every corner of the world to our homes in Omaha. Although many of us associate globalization with the very recent past, those connections have a long history. This section of the exhibit takes us from the early history of globalization to the present and shows how our consumer decisions transformed economic and environmental relationships around the world. The first era of globalization dawned in the late sixteenth century when the Spanish Empire created the first global currency. The Spanish used gold and silver mined by indigenous peoples in Bolivia to trade for goods in China. Silver coins greased the wheels of early globalization and connected American mines, to tea fields in China, to the markets of Europe. Expanding wealth and power eventually opened up foreign landscapes to American use as well. By the nineteenth century, consumer networks allowed families in Omaha to consume tropical goods like coffee. Today, multinational corporations like ConAgra dominate food production. They use resources from every type of environment and ship their products globally. Consumer revolutions accelerated after the Second World War. Home appliances like televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines promised convenience and an increased quality of life, but new technologies sometimes produced unexpected environmental consequences. These objects remind us that modern consumerism was part of a long history of globalization that transformed global environments. Many of us still use objects like these on a daily basis. As you look through this section, ask yourself how many goods you have used or consumed today are connected in some way to foreign landscapes. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pepper Shaker Subject The topic of the resource By the nineteenth century, pepper was cheap and accessible for most Americans. It was even available to passengers enjoying a meal aboard a Union Pacific dining car, a fact which demonstrates its ubiquity. Although the commoditization of pepper benefited the American consumer, however, it also masked the social and ecological consequences of its consumption. The pepper trade had serious costs for the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Traditionally, Sumatran women had cultivated pepper in small, family gardens. As the demand for pepper increased, forests had to be cleared for large plantations to meet the demand. Many Sumatran women lost their jobs, and deforestation robbed many more people and animals of their homes and of the natural resources they had relied upon. This simple pepper shaker represents the disconnect between the use of pepper and where pepper comes from, demonstrating the global effects of even common products within the Anthropocene. Description An account of the resource Today, pepper has become such a household staple that we hardly spare a thought to where it comes from.  Yet black pepper, cultivated in East Asia, is a long ways from home in a pepper shaker on the American dinner table. (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/232">Figure I</a>) Pepper’s modern availability masks the complexity of the global systems involved in its transportation, commoditization, and production. Here we will analyze how a pepper shaker (and its contents) along with countless other products, construct and facilitate the creation of a global commodity chain spanning across oceans, connecting the rainy country of Sumatra to the American midwestern city of Omaha, Nebraska. Commodity chains such as this one link societies and environments around the world through the exploitation of the natural environment and indigenous peoples and the globalization of resources, like pepper, in the development of global trade. Though these themes of global supply and demand and their consequences are not revolutionary, we are exploring the history of pepper cultivation in Sumatra and the commoditization of pepper in the American West (including Omaha) as a means to demonstrate how commoditization of globally-sourced goods like pepper allows international consumers to utilize material products while ignoring their impacts on the peoples and environments involved in their production.  This strips these resources of their global significance and creates a pattern of consumption divorced from morality. Omaha, Nebraska, a major junction of the transcontinental railroad, is one of the many cities which allowed pepper to become a global product.  Referred to as the “Gateway City” (Larsen & Cottrell, 1983, 26), Omaha facilitated the distribution and consumption of pepper, along with many other goods such as, fruits and vegetables, grains, livestock, cotton, tobacco, household and agricultural machines, electricity, and petroleum to name a few. Omaha’s many intersecting rail lines ensured that the American had constant, inexpensive access to global resources. By the 19th century millions of tons of pepper were reaching the United States from overseas (Smith 2004, 66). However, pepper was just another comfort commodity, looked over as a part of the household table or a railcar dining set (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/235">Figure 4</a>). This flow of cheap and easily accessible goods enabled the creation of a global commodity chain; a “network of economic links which integrate transnational labour processes and corporations involved in global sourcing and global marketing of products” (A Dictionary of Sociology, 2018). The continuation of the transcontinental railroad through Omaha signified to many the continuation and realization of the American Manifest Destiny: “...Omaha was the starting point of the grandest undertaking God ever witnessed in the history of the world” (Larsen & Cottrell, 1983, 27). The Western world saw this expansion and modernization as their destiny, American society mimicking globalization occurring worldwide. Omaha built its early economic foundation in commerce from the railroads and the people of Omaha reaped the benefits despite the unseen systems of social and environmental exploitation.  The complex and global system of pepper production and transport which makes this spice so readily available has drastically impacted both the environment and the culture of the community involved in its commoditization, however. Truly a story of globalization, pepper’s history begins in East Asia where it grows in tropical, rainy regions such as Sumatra. Although production of this crop remains limited to these regions even to this day, records indicate that pepper was exported to Mediterranean markets as early as the first century (Pliny 1855, 112). As Western cultures came into greater contact with these regions of production, they established more and more trade routes until, in the early 1800s, the port of Salem, MA became “the world’s premier pepper shipper, controlling the Sumatra market and re-exporting 7.5 million pounds a year,” (Smith 2004, 66). The unlikely fact that a port located halfway around the world from Sumatra could control this market so completely reflects both the globalization of this industry and the distance between producers and consumers. American (and, by extension, Omahan) pepper consumers had little to no concept of where this spice came from in the nineteenth century, and could not have possibly imagined how the system which provided them with this mundane resource was impacting the people and the environment involved in its production. Yet, despite consumer ignorance of the effects of pepper production on the people and environment of Sumatra, these effects were numerous, and their legacy continues to impact Sumatra to this day. One way cultivation of Piper nigrum has altered the environment of Sumatra is through the rampant deforestation which it inspired. Cultivation of pepper had always demanded some forest clearance; however, it was not until the Anglo-Dutch introduction of plantation agriculture that the cultivation of P. nigrum in Sumatra became truly detrimental to the local environment.. Prior to the fifteenth century, before pepper was cultivated primarily for export, the indigenous people of Sumatra either foraged for this crop or grew it in private gardens (Reid 1995, 98). This practice of limited cultivation in small, private gardens rotated only once every one to two years had very little impact on the densely forested environment in which pepper already grew naturally. In fact, Reid goes as far as to deem the impact of pepper cultivation on the Sumatran environment prior to the fifteenth century as “negligible,” (Reid 1995, 98). This style of cultivation, although environmentally sustainable, would prove incapable of sustaining the larger scale of production which Western European demand necessitated. Once the English and Dutch established trade routes with Sumatra and demand for pepper exports grew, the growing of pepper transitioned from the indigenous, horticultural style to the European-imposed plantation style. By the eighteenth century, the Anglo-Dutch had successfully implemented plantation-style cultivation across Sumatra and, through a system of rewards, punishment, and constant vigilance, had developed tight control over this industry. A contemporary historian during this period, William Marsden, describes Dutch regulation of pepper production in Sumatra in 1811, writing, “rewards and punishments are distributed to the planters as they appear, from the degree of their industry or remissness, deserving of either” (Marsden 1811, chapter 7 and <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/236">Figure V</a>). The large-scale, militant production of pepper which had become the norm by the beginning of the nineteenth century had a severe impact on the Sumatran environment, especially in terms of deforestation. In order to meet the demands of the European spice traders, planters had to cultivate pepper constantly. This led to rapid depletion of nutrients in the soil, which meant that growers would have to clear new areas of forest to plant new gardens every few years. Using statistics on the exportation of pepper crops as well as knowledge of these farming practices, Reid estimates the amount of primary forest cleared for pepper cultivation from the 17th to the 19th century to be 760,000ha (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/233">Figure II</a>). As these figures demonstrate, global consumption of pepper had a drastic impact on the Sumatran environment during this period, whether global consumers were aware of this impact or not. Indeed, deforestation continues to impact Sumatra today (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/234">Figure III</a>). As recently as 2014, CNN noted that deforestation as a means of increasing agricultural production continues to threaten Sumatran forest, with deforestation destroying an additional 25% of the Sumatran forest between 1985 and 2008 (Watts 2013, 1). Taking into account both the immediate and long term impacts of pepper consumption on Sumatran deforestation, then, one must acknowledge the grave effect which the seemingly trivial act of pepper consumption had on the Sumatran environment. Considering the system of pepper production, export, and consumption holistically reveals the power of even small acts to cause dire environmental changes in our current, globalized system, and cautions against the dangers of blind consumerism. Another unintended consequence of pepper cultivation in Sumatra, the commoditization of Sumatran women which resulted from plantation-style pepper cultivation further demonstrates the ripple effect simple acts can have within a global system, reinforcing the need for conscientious consumerism.  Most scholars agree that, prior to European domination of the region, Sumatran women enjoyed a comparatively higher societal status than did their western counterparts (Andaya 1995, 166-170). This elevated social status was, as Andaya contends, directly linked to the control which Sumatran women weided over an important resource: pepper. Since women were primarily in charge of the planting, cultivation, harvesting and selling pepper, women earned prestige in Sumatran society as valuable contributors/economic producers of this coveted crop. Consequently, due to their participation in the pepper economy, Sumatran women enjoyed more respect and freedom than did the Western women who would later buy the crops they produced.<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> The equalizing effects of horticultural pepper cultivation endured for many centuries; however, they, too, like the Sumatran forest, would become collateral damage in the battle to keep up with demands for pepper. European implementation of plantation-style cultivation of pepper in Sumatra led to rampant deforestation. But the detrimental impacts of European intervention in Sumatra did not end there. As Europeans restructured the Sumatran economy to meet the growing global demands for pepper, they removed women from the pepper economy completely, lowering women’s social status through the destruction of their once-valued societal role. Ramusack explains the ramifications European-style plantation cultivation had for women, writing: As European demands led to large-scale plantations, men displaced women, for whom plantation labor was incompatible with domestic duties and contrary to religious injunctions about female modesty. Because coastal centers were notorious sites of prostitution, the same proscriptions also restricted women from taking their pepper crops to the cities for sale to Europeans (Ramusack 1997, 126). As Ramusack reveals, the European implementation of the plantation system of cultivating pepper had serious consequences for Sumatran women, at once depriving them of their share in a lucrative and societally valued industry and imposing new, limiting ideas of modesty upon them. Ironically, due to the rigidity of the European ideals of modesty which prohibited women from engaging in traditional means of supporting themselves, many turned to prostitution. In his travel to Sumatra in 1703, Nieuhoff remarks, “The women are well fhaped, and of a fairifh complexion, with very white teeth; they make no account of chaftity, nor look upon it as a difgrace to explofe themfelves for money,” (Nieuhof 2002, 189). The radical transition from a society which not only provided women the means of supporting themselves but also valued them for this trait, to a society which deprived women of the means of supporting themselves and then derided their desperation, demonstrates the expendability of human beings within a globalized system. For the women of Sumatra, Western European commoditization of pepper represented the death knell of their societal status. Moreover, it constituted the devastation of the hopes, dreams, and dignity of many women who were once independent but now had to support themselves through prostitution. However, the pain of these women remained invisible to the consumers buying pepper off their supermarket shelves or pouring it over their eggs in the morning. By the time pepper entered the small, glass pepper shaker, it had lost all connection with the place and people involved in its production. Thus, while standing in the checkout line or eating his/her eggs, this global consumer did not have to consider the winners or the losers in the system which produced the product they were consuming. The deforestation or disenfranchisement of women in Sumatra was no less real, however, despite the consumer’s blissful ignorance. Consequently, while the global system may protect consumers from the mental burden of the truths behind the products they consume, it does not protect consumers from the immorality which they endorse through their consumption of these products. It is evident that the cultivation of pepper has had immense global impacts. The average American entering a midwest grocery store in Omaha, NE, enjoys the luxury of tossing the pepper grinder into the cart without a second thought. The commoditization of goods such as pepper has obscured the exploitation of people and environments involved in the production of these products. Modern technology has made nature cheap for humans to use, but has treating people cheaply become the price? The Anthropocene is a new geological epoch in the record of time defined by human induced change.  But many of these human induced changes, meant to benefit the growing human aggregate, have actually become dehumanizing as our exploitation has led to the use of humans and cultures only as resources. The story of pepper provides one example of globalized commodification disguising environmental histories. The effect of this trade on the region of production in Sumatra reflects the dangers of a system which divorces products from their environmental and cultural significance. In commercializing the natural resource of pepper, the global system has, in effect, separated the act of consumption from the moral consequences for the region and the people of Sumatra. Thus, increasingly global commodity chains provide one example of anthropogenic change that is decreasingly anthropocentric.  <a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Additionally, due to the increased value women earned as producers/economic contributors in East Asian Society, Sumatran women also enjoyed greater social advantages than did women in Western society. For example, bilateral descent was a widespread occurrence in Sumatra, and male-female roles in indigenous rituals were largely complementary (Andaya 1995, 3). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olivia Fuson Hannah Yackley Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Andaya, Barbara. "Women and Economic Change: The Pepper Trade in Pre-Modern Southeast Asia." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 38, no. 2 (1995): 165-190.  "Aksarben Foundation History - Our Past, Present and Future." Aksarben Foundation. 2018. Accessed November 07, 2018. <a href="https://www.aksarben.org/heritage/">https://www.aksarben.org/heritage/</a>.  Basyuni, et al. “Deforestation Trend in North Sumatra over 1990-2015.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, vol. 122, no. 1, 2018, pp. 4.  Bathke, Deborah J., Robert J. Oglesby, Clinton M. Rowe, and Donald A. Wilhite. "University of Nebraska." Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change, September 2014, 14-16. Accessed November 6, 2018. doi:10.4135/9781412963893.n675.  Bostwick, L., & Frohardt, H. (1934). Dinner on a Dining Car[Photograph]. Bostwick-Frohardt Collection, Durham Museum, Omaha.  "commodity chains." A Dictionary of Sociology. . Encyclopedia.com. (November 13, 2018). <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/commodity-chains">https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/dictionaries-thesauruses- pictures-and-press-releases/commodity-chains</a>  Chains, Absorbing." Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences, 2004. Doi: 10.1002/0471667196.ess0008.  Gaveau, Wandono, & Setiabudi. "Three Decades of Deforestation in Southwest Sumatra: Have Protected Areas Halted Forest Loss and Logging, and Promoted Re-Growth?" Biological Conservation 134, no. 4 (2007): 495-504.  Grant, H. Roger. ""Minnesota's Good Railroad": The Omaha Road." Minnesota History 57, no. 4 (2000): 198-210. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/20188231">http://www.jstor.org/stable/20188231</a>.  Greever, William S. "Railroad Revisionism." The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 53, no. 1 (1962): 44-45. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/40487714">http://www.jstor.org/stable/40487714</a>.  "History." Omaha Steel. March 21, 2017. Accessed November 07, 2018. <a href="http://www.omahasteel.com/about-us/history/">http://www.omahasteel.com/about-us/history/</a>.  Larsen, L., & Cottrell B. (1983). The Gate City: A History of Omaha Lawrence H. Larsen Barbara J. Cottrell. Pruett Publishing Company   Larsen, & Larsen, Lawrence H. (2007). Upstream metropolis : An urban biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.  Marsden, William. The History of Sumatra, Containing An Account of the Government, Laws, Customs, and Manners of the Native Inhabitants, with A Description of the Natural Productions, and Relation of the Ancient Political State of That Island. Third Ed. London: J.M'Creery, Black-Horse-Court, 1811.  Neiuhof, Johan. "Remarkable Voyages and Travels to the East-Indies." In A Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 2, translated and edited by Awnsham Churchill, 146-275. Asian Educational Services, 2002.  Pliny the Elder. "Book XII." In The Natural History of Pliny. London: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, 1855.  Potts, James B. "THE NEBRASKA CAPITAL CONTROVERSY, 1854—59." Great Plains Quarterly 8, no. 3 (1988): 172-82. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/23531122">http://www.jstor.org/stable/23531122</a>.  Ramusack, Barbara. "Women and Gender in South and Southeast Asia." In Women's History in Global Perspective edited by Bonnie Smith, 125-150. Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1997.  Reid, Anthony. "Humans and Forests in Pre-colonial Southeast Asia." Environment and History 1, no. 1 (1995): 93-110.  Smith, J. N. "The King of Spices." World Trade 17, no. 11 (2004): 66. <a href="https://login.cuhsl.creighton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=14738428&site=ehost-live">https://login.cuhsl.creighton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=14738428&site=ehost-live</a>  Watts, Jenni. "The Devastation of Indonesia's Forests." CNN (October 14, 2013): <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/14/world/expedition-sumatra-episode-5-blog/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/14/world/expedition-sumatra-episode-5-blog/index.html</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The Durham Museum Permanent Collection Commodity Chain Consumption Indonesia Pepper Union Pacific https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/1d618972d238f08b89a6d9d495f576ee.png 4bccf373fddb74c923bd5eb844a0d16e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Omaha International Exhibition Pamphlet Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Permanent Collection Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/bda9c1fbb8bc5b3c33bd40f7909b8c2d.png 9d97d4d9a2e955c8d6b32657a14e6312 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Trans-Mississippi Exposition Description An account of the resource Looking west down the Grand Court at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska. A canal runs down the middle of the court with buildings on either side. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Photo Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/0269eb30ae87ec476f0f0a2fc64251b9.png d2f67107f2e954c5cebf269d6d3ee3c3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Fine Arts Building Description An account of the resource A building with two domes on it. A gondola is on the lagoon in front of it. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Photo Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/35c1a9e0821afb4829a0f07331b8eedb.png b96afb140eb0587ee54cb394c9e42371 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Trans-Mississippi Exposition Description An account of the resource The Agriculture Building stands near the water at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The building is white with arched windows and has flags on the top. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Photo Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/ef72a0864fad31dbfd2c834a0912cfdc.png 95c1eac7df60e4f2551b910f270d92c9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Trans-Mississippi Exposition Description An account of the resource The Government Building stands at the West end of the Grand Court at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The building has a gold dome and statues on top of it. LRB Personal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Photo Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/c1e985536cb6ba1d828568054e8ba142.png 772081ffb2fc687262163ef005082b25 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Grand Court at Night Description An account of the resource A lagoon with buildings surrounding it at night. Photograph by Rinehart. Located in Omaha, Nebraska. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Photo Archive http://durhammuseum.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15426coll1/id/5712/rec/13 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/d16353fc4efae97ad47dc3269d6e06a3.png fee0ee30b4ef7fc478cf740d8442a187 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Trans Mississippi Exposition Description An account of the resource courtyard of Fine Arts Building Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Photo Archive http://durhammuseum.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15426coll1/id/5552/rec/6 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/ae9259fa9c550b268f3fe3a1d053911d.png 30e6cf9cfd774de2a8a833c76feb98f2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Estimates of number of farms (circles with solid line) and mean farm size (triangles with dashed line) in Nebraska, 1870–2002. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Hiller, Tim L., Larkin A. Powell, Tim D. McCoy, and Jeffrey J. Lusk. "Long-Term Agricultural Land-Use Trends in Nebraska, 1866-2007." Great Plains Research 19 (2009): 225-237. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Consumer Revolutions Subject The topic of the resource Global Capitalism <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4758/39538672694_da9d00eca7_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> Butter-Nut Coffee Advertisement, Durham Photo Archive Description An account of the resource Globalization has brought the world to our doorstep. Expanding networks of trade bring goods from every corner of the world to our homes in Omaha. Although many of us associate globalization with the very recent past, those connections have a long history. This section of the exhibit takes us from the early history of globalization to the present and shows how our consumer decisions transformed economic and environmental relationships around the world. The first era of globalization dawned in the late sixteenth century when the Spanish Empire created the first global currency. The Spanish used gold and silver mined by indigenous peoples in Bolivia to trade for goods in China. Silver coins greased the wheels of early globalization and connected American mines, to tea fields in China, to the markets of Europe. Expanding wealth and power eventually opened up foreign landscapes to American use as well. By the nineteenth century, consumer networks allowed families in Omaha to consume tropical goods like coffee. Today, multinational corporations like ConAgra dominate food production. They use resources from every type of environment and ship their products globally. Consumer revolutions accelerated after the Second World War. Home appliances like televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines promised convenience and an increased quality of life, but new technologies sometimes produced unexpected environmental consequences. These objects remind us that modern consumerism was part of a long history of globalization that transformed global environments. Many of us still use objects like these on a daily basis. As you look through this section, ask yourself how many goods you have used or consumed today are connected in some way to foreign landscapes. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Trans-Mississippi Exposition Subject The topic of the resource The Trans-Mississippi Exposition was a World’s Fair hosted in Omaha in 1898. This pamphlet described the attractions and new technological developments on display. Sponsors hoped the fair would boost the local economy and encourage settlement in unclaimed Western lands. People could then use those natural resources as a source for profit. The fair’s fantastic Renaissance-style buildings showed this potential for success, but they only existed for one year. Planners constructed buildings with cheap materials and destroyed them after the fair ended. No buildings from the fair remain today. The fair, and this artifact, are a symbol of this frontier sensibility. People treated the environment in the same way: using resources until they were not profitable, and then moving on. This exploitation of nature for profit is a common theme of the Anthropocene. Description An account of the resource “The mighty West affords striking evidences of the splendid achievements and possibilities of our people,” remarked President William McKinley. “It is a matchless tribute to the energy and endurance of the pioneer, while its vast agricultural development, its progress in manufactures, its advancement in the arts and sciences, and in all departments of education and endeavor, have been inestimable contributions to the civilization and wealth of the world.” Few times in the prior history of America did it possess the opportunity to demonstrate its affluence and ingenuity as it did with the platform of World’s Fairs and Expositions in the late 19th century. Catalyzed by the synthesis of resource and resourcefulness, industry elevated America on the new global capitalist stage. Greater than anticipated, the then-untamed West possessed a wealth of resources for cultivation and extraction alike. The success afforded the majority of the nation as a result of its Western backbone led to many celebrations of the West in the form of lavish World’s Fairs, the prime model being Chicago’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. However successful the West had appeared, in truth the West’s ability to support the new industrial America was an illusion. The West’s extreme prosperity came at the cost of an ever-accelerating requirement for a finite amount of new land: over-commodifying the land had exhausted its ability to produce. The same boom and bust mirrored in the years to come in the lesser Western fairs and expositions: demonstrating illusive staying power and affluence, but in truth embodying overexploitation and their promises preying on the hopeful. The 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition exists as a metaphor for the boom-and-bust nature of capitalism in the developing West. All facets of the exposition illustrated these cyclic patterns, ranging from the physical construction and demolition of the exposition buildings to its impact on the local economy. Boom-and-bust financial cycles were fundamental and recurrent phenomena in capitalist economies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Since the 1970s, environmental historians have critiqued the predominant economic interpretation of these cycles, emphasizing their connections to western expansion. A “capitalist ethos” reframed nature as resource and incentivized the utilization of Western resource frontiers for financial gain. Omaha’s economic success in the 1890s reflected in the exposition’s ability to market the untamed Western land purely as substances ready for new settlers to exploit. This capitalist ethos originated from the idea that humans are separate from nature, a mindset that resonated throughout the exposition, what Jason Moore refers to as Cartesian dualism that prevails in practice. This rejection of ties with the natural environment enabled drastic overexploitation, without consideration for future viability. The Omaha Trans-Mississippi International Exposition represented the cyclic pattern of success and decline caused by many similar dualisms, evidenced in the exposition’s physical construction as well as its fluctuating economic outcomes. The Omaha 1898 International Exposition pamphlet (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/1d618972d238f08b89a6d9d495f576ee.png">Figure 1</a>) was a commemorative item and a contemporary guide for attendees of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. It was distributed beginning in June during the 1898 festival and provided 32 pages of detailed exhibit coverage. It supplied visitors with necessary information regarding available amenities and transportation around Omaha, a comprehensive exhibit guide, and details about the available diversions, including carnivalesque swordsmen, mazes, and funhouses. The pamphlet first describes the layout of the exposition as a guide for navigation. The exposition grounds consisted of Renaissance-style buildings surrounding a lagoon (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/bda9c1fbb8bc5b3c33bd40f7909b8c2d.png">Figure 3</a>). Nearly half the pamphlet consisted of photographs of these architectural installations. The classical, palatial aesthetic of the Omaha Exhibition was proudly lauded, illustrating the grandeur of the fair. The pamphlet enumerates the exhibits housed within each of the state buildings, as well as exhibits documenting substantial achievements. Specific care is taken describing the special exhibits. The government exhibit (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/ef72a0864fad31dbfd2c834a0912cfdc.png">Figure 4</a>) displayed exotic artifacts, such as a draft of the Declaration of Independence, and featured military and educational advancements that promoted imperialist sentiments. The Indian Exhibit, when juxtaposed with the exposition’s impressive shows of classical architecture, technology, and material wealth, emphasized the progress of colonialism. Other major exhibits, such as the Agriculture (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/35c1a9e0821afb4829a0f07331b8eedb.png">Figure 5</a>), Electricity, and Machinery buildings, presented the technological advancements and the resources wrought by these newfound processes in order to glorify the technological progress and economic opportunity in the West. The Exposition celebrated western technology and colonial progress, and their relationship to economic opportunity, though the fair itself was an opportunity for financial gain. Ironically, this fair celebrating western progress originated when the entire nation was recovering from the Financial Panic of 1893. Western states were disproportionately impacted by the panic and therefore especially determined to revitalize their economic prospects. Several macroeconomic problems initiated the beginning of an economic recession; however, the addition of unexpected Western crop failures pushed a common depression into a financial panic. These agricultural shocks were most prevalent in the Western and North Central states, including Nebraska, which caused bank failures that were strongly concentrated in Western states. National and Eastern banks, which were less influenced by the struggling Western agricultural markets, did not experience the same magnitude of the recession following the panic. However, rural banks depended on the success of nearby farms, so local and state banks in the West failed more frequently than in other regions. The Trans-Mississippi Exposition was a direct response to this economic disaster. Shortly after the recession, Omaha leaders determined that an exposition would successfully communicate the financial potential of the West to the rest of the nation and perhaps resurrect the economic stability in the region. The immense, unprecedented success of Chicago’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 inspired several Western leaders to advocate similar projects in their respective cities. In 1894, Nebraskan delegates invited the Trans-Mississippi Congress, a group of men from Western states who promoted the commercial and material interests of their region, to host the next annual meeting in Omaha. After proposing the idea to the Congress in 1895, local Omaha businessmen successfully committed their city to host an exposition. The 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, also known as the Omaha World’s Fair, was one of forty international expositions that occurred during the “Golden Age of Fairs” from 1880-1910. The purpose of the Omaha World’s Fair was to exemplify the fertility and potential of Western farming and manufacturing as a definite pathway to financial success. The initial settlers already utilized the Western resources by growing crops and raising livestock, but many were still skeptical about adopting the pioneer lifestyle. The number of Nebraskan farms drastically increased from 1870-1890, but then growth and settlement stagnated through the 1890s following the agricultural failures from Panic of 1893. The development of new procedures and technologies provided a stronger promise of success for those moving West. William Jennings Bryan, the spokesman for the Nebraska committee of the Trans-Mississippi Congress, stated, “We believe that an exposition of all the products, industries and civilization of the States west of the Mississippi River, made at some central gateway where the world can behold the wonderful capabilities of these great wealth-producing States, would be of great value, not only to the Trans-Mississippi States, but to all the homeseekers in the world.” The planners hoped the exposition would directly combat the previous notion of the West as having low and unpredictable crop yields observed in the Panic of 1893. By projecting Western industrial and agricultural success to the rest of the nation, Omaha leaders sought to attract settlers to utilize the abundant resources in order to boost the local economy. The desire to project an image of the West’s success and appeal to potential settlers influenced the construction of the fairgrounds itself, though its execution occurred in a temporary and superficial manner. The goal of the architecture and landscaping was to produce the impression of a prosperous civilization: full of order and stability. A two-thousand foot-long lagoon designed to resemble Venetian canals hosted gondola rides as a whimsical form of transportation throughout the fair (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/0269eb30ae87ec476f0f0a2fc64251b9.png">Figure 6</a>) . Stately trees and lush grass plots lined artistically crafted walking paths, illuminated by electric lights (left) . Bright white building designed in Renaissance style reflected ancient Greek and Roman influences (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/d16353fc4efae97ad47dc3269d6e06a3.png">Figure 7</a>) and possessed strenuous constraints on color, scale and height. The strict application of artistic consistency and simplicity produced a harmonious environment to all attendees. Though the architecture created the appearance of success and stability, the exposition was merely an illusion of prosperity. The clean “White City” had no resemblance to the rough and untamed Trans-Mississippi wilderness that the exposition claimed to be the source of their economic success. The trees and shrubs were transplanted onto the original landscape to create the illusion of mature landscapes and fertile soil. The buildings were inherently temporary – constructed of plaster of Paris and horsehair – since they were only intended to survive the short duration of the 5-month exhibition and then destined for immediate demolition. The purpose of the Omaha World’s Fair was to initiate lasting economic growth following the financial panic, yet the founders had no intention of maintaining the environment or circumstances that would promote further financial prosperity following the exposition’s conclusion. Omaha did experience some transient financial benefits due to its successful execution of Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The fair attracted over 2.6 million visitors to the city of Omaha over the short five-month duration of the fair. Planners generated a sufficient profit to recoup the expenditure of $2.5 million to put on the Exposition. Nebraska’s government sponsored the Nebraska Exposition for $100,000, and leveraged its local resources to great effect, reaping significant short-term financial gains through its infrastructure and by prominently featuring its agricultural bounty . Visiting delegations, such as Illinois, also poured significant financial investments into the fair. The Illinois delegation regarded the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of paramount importance in its reports to the governor, since the fair would provide a stimulus for Chicagoan industry. Their expenditures were unequivocally reimbursed in returns from the committee and through advertising for Chicagoan business, affluence, and luxuries. All the delegations present at the Omaha Exposition were involved for profit, and Omaha took advantage of its position by exhibiting its hospitality and luxuries. Omaha’s immediate financial success was due to its ability to thoroughly project the inherent potential of Western land and resources throughout all aspects of the exposition. Despite its immediate financial benefits, Omaha did not experience its predicted, long-lasting settlement and success. The number of Nebraskan farms leveled off around 1890, which coincided with the period of agricultural failures in the Panic of 1893 (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/ae9259fa9c550b268f3fe3a1d053911d.png">Figure 8</a>). However, the number of farms did not increase following the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, as the stagnant trend following the recession continued. Population changes followed the same trend: dramatically increasing into the 1890s, stagnating during the decade, but failing to resume its upward climb following the close of the exposition (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/f8c204b4ecbc26c56b2f21c5d9cca249.png">Figure 9</a>). Though the fair experienced an initial financial boost, its predicted lasting effects were a bust. A capitalist ethos of commodified nature and endless growth permeated the Omaha World’s Fair. From this perspective, industrious westerners viewed capital as exogenous from nature. Nature was a commodity, and resources were simply reduced to substances to be used by humans. Jason Moore has argued that capitalism promoted this dualistic mindset, which ultimately separated humans from the environment with profound, global consequences. The objective and the execution of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition precisely illustrate this duality. Acquisition of capital was the motivating force for creating the exposition, and the event itself worked to convince other Americans to join the pioneering effort to use the Western resource frontier to create wealth. In a public address, Gurdon Wattles, the President of the Trans-Mississippi Association, explicitly named the goal of the exhibition to be an “advancement of commercial interests of the West, a demonstration of the marvelous resources of the great West.” The fair promoted the improvement of Western territories and in doing so, converted nature to resources to wealth, unclaimed wilderness to Western Civilization. Moore, in The Capitalocene, remarks that “capital… forms independently of the web of life, and intervenes… intruding in, and interrupting, a pre-given ‘traditional balance between humanity and nature.’” Moore states that capitalism depends on the frontier; although the centrality of capitalism is the commodification of everything, it is the frontier that underpins the acquisition of capital. More specifically, the methods to sustainably tame this untouched nature are disparate from the methods that Western settlers used and the age of World’s Fairs glorified. Although practices that promote profit maximization are logical from capitalist perspectives, they become illogical in ecological contexts. Capitalist production utilizes this separation of humans from nature to view natural resources as disposable commodities, in which the exploitation of these commodities results in profits, yet also often degrades the environment of its source. In ecological matters, this process occurs without feedback or regulation until overproduction or resource depletion occurs, where profitability declines and environmental destruction endures. The cycle of an expedited profit boom and following bust from the Trans-Mississippi exposition illustrates this cycle of exploitation and the resulting ecological impacts. The Omaha World’s Fair exceeded their goal of financial revitalization in the short duration, and therefore attempted to prolong their success. However, the bust arrived almost immediately following the closing of the fair. Although remnant funds from the exposition were intended for a new exposition, much of the board who had conducted the previous year’s Exposition were unwilling to accept the responsibility of a second Exposition. The novelty of the Trans-Mississippi grounds and image had lost its shine. After the physical fairgrounds structures had outlived their use and profitability, the buildings were hastily destroyed or removed from the North Omaha site. The majority of the demolished material shipped to Chicago by freight cars, but the plaster sculptures and exteriors of buildings were discarded into the emptied lagoon. The exposition physically transformed the North Omaha landscape for the purpose of temporary financial gain, but once the financial payoff began to decline, the fairgrounds were entirely trashed and forgotten with no remnants remaining. The extremely temporary lifespan between construction and demolition, and similarly the exposition’s investment and payoff, portrays the culmination of all societal, economic and environmental perspectives influencing the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The inception of the exposition was financially motivated in response to the Financial Panic of 1893 in hopes of accruing wealth. In order to combat the recession, Western inhabitants utilized untouched Western resources as disposable substances for capital gain. The perspective of nature existing independent of humans originated from a capitalist ethos, which justified this exploitation of nature for quick financial gain. Likewise, the construction of the exposition fairgrounds mimicked the exploitation of the environment. The land of North Omaha transformed for the purpose of economic gain, and certainly not in a Lockean sense for its improvement. The buildings were structurally deficient and the landscaping unnatural and artificial. Once profits declined, the city demolished the fairgrounds and erased any actual remnant of the exposition from the Omaha landscape. Today, the only trace of the fair is a small park located on top of the plaster-filled lagoon. Commercial businesses and residential areas now occupy the previous location of the White City. The Trans-Mississippi Exposition strived to instill a lasting economic change, but since it was inherently tied to capitalist economic cycles, the successful boom was followed by the inevitable bust. The technological advances showcased at the fair eventually allowed Western economies to flourish, yet this was in not a direct result of the Exposition’s efforts. Though its legacy is largely forgotten, Omaha eventually evolved into a prosperous metropolis, which satisfied the initial goal of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Maddie Fung Matthew Mordeson Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Altvater, Elmar. "Ecological and Economic Modalities of Time and Space." Capitalism Nature Socialism 1, no. 3 (1898): 59-70. Bostwick, Louis, and Homer Frohardt. Shot of Government Building. Digital image. Durham Museum Photo Archive. Bostwick, Louis, and Homer Frohardt. View of the Agriculture Building. Digital image. Durham Museum Photo Archive. Dupont, Brandon R. "Panic in the Plains: Agricultural Markets and the Panic of 1893." Cliometrica 3, no. 1 (January 03, 2008): 27-54. Findling, John. "World's Fair." Encyclopaedia Britannica. September 15, 2017. Haynes, James B. History of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. (Omaha, NE: Committee on History, 1910), 14. Hiller, Tim L., Larkin A. Powell, Tim D. McCoy, and Jeffrey J. Lusk. "Long-Term Agricultural Land-Use Trends in Nebraska, 1866-2007." Great Plains Research 19 (2009): 225-237. Kelly, Michael. "Find in Trench Dusts Off Exposition Quests." Omaha World-Herald, June 11, 1980. Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission. Patterns on the Landscape: Heritage Conservation in North Omaha. (Omaha, NE: The Commission, 1984), 25. Maloney, Kathy Jean. World's Fair Gardens: Shaping American Landscapes. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2012. Moore, Jason W. "The Capitalocene Part I: On the Nature and Origins of Our Ecological Crisis." The Journal of Peasant Studies 44, no. 3 (March 17, 2017): 594-630. Nebraska State Commission. Report of the Nebraska State Commission for the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. Omaha, NE: Omaha Printing Company, 1898. Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, NE) “Greater America Exposition at Omaha, July 1 to Nov.1, 1899.” June 25, 1899. Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, NE) “Only Small Crowd Appears.” July 6, 1899. Rinehart, F.A. Bird's-eye View Grand Court (Night). 1898. Durham Museum Photo Archive. Rinehart, F.A. Fine Arts Building. 1898. Durham Museum Photo Archive Rinehart, F. A. "Grand Court Looking E. (1)" Digital image. Trans- Mississippi & International Exposition. April 5, 1996.; Rinehart, F. A. "Grand Court Looking E. (2)" Digital image. Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition. April 5, 1996. Spencer, Jeffrey. East End of Lagoon. 1898. Durham Museum Photo Archive. "The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition at Omaha." Scientific American 78, no. 22 (May 28, 1898): 346-47. Wishart, Ryan. "Coal River's Last Mountain." Organization and Environment 25, no. 4 (November 27, 2012): 470-485. Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. 6. Zipay, John P., "The Changing Population of the Omaha SMSA 1860-1967 With Estimates for 1970" (1967). Publications Archives, 1963-2000. Boosterism Financial Panic Transmississippi Exposition World's Fairs https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/75eeb048dfbfdf4e378015dcda67469d.JPG ce35f033e92a2f2412c42553a6b401d2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 1: 1797 Carolus III, Spanish silver Reales Description An account of the resource The foundation upon which capitalism and the Anthropocene grew. In the 17th century alone, more than two million per year were produced and shipped from European sources to the East. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Image courtesy of Durham Museum https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/f16b4dcef754dffb6a2e735b98ac65b0.JPG 563f021b3105238145bd944e7a9ae34c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 2: 1792 Carolus III, Spanish silver Reales Description An account of the resource The foundation upon which capitalism and the Anthropocene grew. In the 17th century alone, more than two million per year were produced and shipped from European sources to the East. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Image courtesy of Durham Museum https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/9087ebfda6b3cbc69f2e5a854677359e.jpg be398599d87175db14e735019dad80d2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 4: 1866 Omaha, Nebraska Land Survey Map Description An account of the resource Note the several large properties around city limits in Byron Reed’s possession (circled in orange). At this time the Civil War had just concluded, and work on the Union Pacific railroad was accelerating, resulting in much of Reed’s land quickly becoming urbanized. Reed also owns a number of plots within the city in 1866, however, ownership of these lots is not pictured in the graphic. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From the collections of Omaha Public Library https://cdm16747.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16747coll4/id/1408/rec/17 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Davis, Oscar F. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Omaha Public Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1866 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Consumer Revolutions Subject The topic of the resource Global Capitalism <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4758/39538672694_da9d00eca7_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> Butter-Nut Coffee Advertisement, Durham Photo Archive Description An account of the resource Globalization has brought the world to our doorstep. Expanding networks of trade bring goods from every corner of the world to our homes in Omaha. Although many of us associate globalization with the very recent past, those connections have a long history. This section of the exhibit takes us from the early history of globalization to the present and shows how our consumer decisions transformed economic and environmental relationships around the world. The first era of globalization dawned in the late sixteenth century when the Spanish Empire created the first global currency. The Spanish used gold and silver mined by indigenous peoples in Bolivia to trade for goods in China. Silver coins greased the wheels of early globalization and connected American mines, to tea fields in China, to the markets of Europe. Expanding wealth and power eventually opened up foreign landscapes to American use as well. By the nineteenth century, consumer networks allowed families in Omaha to consume tropical goods like coffee. Today, multinational corporations like ConAgra dominate food production. They use resources from every type of environment and ship their products globally. Consumer revolutions accelerated after the Second World War. Home appliances like televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines promised convenience and an increased quality of life, but new technologies sometimes produced unexpected environmental consequences. These objects remind us that modern consumerism was part of a long history of globalization that transformed global environments. Many of us still use objects like these on a daily basis. As you look through this section, ask yourself how many goods you have used or consumed today are connected in some way to foreign landscapes. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spanish Silver Reales Subject The topic of the resource Birthed from Spanish mined “New World “silver, the Spanish Reales coins became the first global currency. The coins united 16th century economies across the world by providing a universal system of value. Soon, businessmen oceans apart could trade with confidence, opening ports from Shanghai to Peru. Yet, the Reales’ effects were not confined to trade alone. Global currency allowed exponential business growth, shifting the human-nature relationship. Instead of seeing value in nature itself, nature became worth what it could produce for the economy. Natural areas were only valuable because they could be either mined, farmed, or logged. And so, few ecosystems have remained unaffected by humans. But, human society has begun to realize the danger of this mindset and is turning to a more sustainable coexistence with nature. Description An account of the resource Upon first glance at Bryon Reed’s Spanish Reales, it may be tempting to assign little significance to these silver coins. They are relatively small, light, and devoid of ostentatious ornamentation. (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/75" title="Figure 1">Figure 1</a> and <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/76" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Figure 2</a>) They are perhaps one of a billion other coins that share their name. It would certainly seem that, attributing events as monumental as the rise of globalization and the beginning of the Anthropocene, an age of dramatic human influence on the earth systems, to such inconsequential objects would be absurd. Likewise, connecting these coins of the Spanish empire to the history of Omaha, Nebraska, a gateway city to the American west seems unreasonable at best. We argue, however, that these coins have a very consequential story to tell, one that connects continents and spans hundreds of years. It was no coincidence that these Spanish coins found their way to Omaha, a city thousands of miles from where they were mined and processed. The story of these coins is one of two parallel historical developments. First, the story of globalization and the silver trade. Founded in the 16th century, the silver trade birthed the globalization of expansive production frontiers, where the exploitation of cheap nature fueled capital accumulation. A second, parallel story tells the history of the United States frontier in the nineteenth century. That historical moment brought these coins to Omaha, itself a product of a new, American commodity frontier, this time in land. The real estate mogul Byron Reed connects these narratives. The story of these silver coins begins in 1492 with the Spanish kingdom’s expansion into the New World. Prior to this date, global communities displayed a pattern of relatively even development, characterized by similar forms of production, urbanization, large scale movements, social structures and economic development (J. Blaut, 1992). Often feudal in nature, the economic organization of these communities seem a far cry from those of the modern world system (J. Blaut, 1976). On the other side of 1492, the opposite quickly became true. While subsistence and survival characterized mankind’s exploitative relationship with nature prior to the Spanish’s conquest, an insatiable thirst for capital has fueled subsequent and increasingly expansive interactions with our environment (J. Moore, 2010). Commodity frontiers, areas where cheap land and labor lent themselves to capital accumulation, quickly became coveted resources. The silver frontier of Bolivia, appropriated shortly after the Spanish discovery of the New World, holds a unique spot in history as one of the first and most influential commodity frontiers the world has ever seen (J. Moore, 2007). Prior to the Spanish 1545 conquest of Potosi, the indigenous inhabitants primarily practiced an agricultural way of life, similar in character to their European counterparts (J. Moore, 2010 and R. Barragán, 2017). More significant to the Spanish was the indigenous mining activities at Cerro Rico, “the rich mountain of silver.” A geological anomaly, the mountain, whose slopes rose above the small community of Potosi, quickly became the greatest single source of silver in global history (O. S. Arce-Burgoa and R. Goldfarb, 2009). Native Bolivians extracted silver prior to the Spanish conquest, however, with the Incan kings representing the primary source of demand, the ore’s market remained relatively small, effectively regulating its environmental impact (R. Barragán, 2017). The Spanish invasion of the city profoundly altered Potosi’s relationship with its environment and thrust it into the center of a developing world system. Feeding an insatiable imperialistic drive while also propping up the failing home economy, the Spanish saw Cerro Rico as their key to continued colonial expansion (J. Moore, 2010 and E. Galeano, 1973). Upon Spanish invasion, Potosi became a swirling hub of activity, not unlike the later boomtowns on the American western frontier. However, instead of agricultural expansion and real estate, an unquenchable Spanish thirst for silver drove Potosi’s expansion. At first profit margins were ample. Massive amounts of silver was mined, refined and converted to silver currency, like the Spanish Reales, before being packed on Spanish Galleons to be shipped across the world. By 1560 the quality of ore began to decline (J. Moore, 2010), yet Spanish pressure to produce ever increasing amounts of silver still persisted. The consequences were catastrophic for native people and the landscape. Forests became merely fuel, natives only a useful source of labor, and the soils served only as a means to supply the energy necessary to sustain the labor (J. Moore, 2010 and R. Barragán, 2017). Collectively they became cogs in a machine, simply a means to an end. The lifeblood of Potosi, its people and its land were commodified and exploited in the name of silver production. With over 60% of the world’s sixteenth century silver output attributed to Potosi (D. O. Flynn and A. Giraldez, 1995), it is hard to argue that this system was not fantastically successful for the Spanish. However, the ecological and human tolls were as devastating as they were obvious. As one early 17th century Spanish observer of Cerro Rico noted, “because the work done on the mountain, there is no sign that it had ever had a forest, when it was discovered it was fully covered with trees… On this mountain, there was also a great amount of hunting…There were also deer, and today not even weeds grow on the mountain, not even in the most fertile soils where trees could have grown (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/77" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Figure 3</a>) (J. Moore, 2010).” Shattered in succession, the forests, fields and ecosystems in all of modern day Bolivia suffered with Cerro Rico, as the height of the Spanish silver frontier necessitated expansive, unsustainable agriculture and a 200 mile ring of deforestation centered on Potosi. Eventually, the rich veins of Cerro Rico dried to a trickle and the Spanish moved on to the new silver frontiers of colonial Mexico. The silver of Potosi, however, paved the way for a new global epoch, the Anthropocene (A. Jorgenson and E. Kick, 2003). Understanding the subsequent rise of the Anthropocene, in the face of mass silver production requires a shift of focus from Bolivia, to China. China was the largest, wealthiest civilization of the early modern period. Yet, to the Spanish, it was also frustratingly difficult to trade with (D. O. Flynn and A. Giraldez, 2002). Focused on self-sufficiency, the Chinese viewed western products as wholly unnecessary to their continued success. However, silver’s rapid emergence onto the global stage in the 16th and 17th century quickly dismantled these constraints to globalization. In China, an unstable 16th century economy, plagued by extreme hyperinflation of paper money, led to a drastic “silveration” movement of the state (D. O. Flynn and A. Giraldez, 2002 and W. Schell, 2001). At precisely the moment that Potosi opened its veins to Spanish mining, silver became the most highly sought commodity in China, effectively terminating the Chinese boycott of European trade (D. O. Flynn and A. Giraldez, 2002). While silver was opening the ports of China to European trade, it was simultaneously expanding Europe’s once limited commodity frontiers. Before silver’s rise, the lack of a physically backed, universally acknowledged system of value had hindered long distance, expansive resource extraction. However, silver’s arrival onto the scene solved these problems (J. Moore, 2010). Providing investors and borrowers alike the financial security necessary to facilitate extended resource commodification, silver ushered in a new era of vast ecological resource use (J. Moore, 2010). Suddenly, colonial powers began to view their available land and labor as forms of cheap nature to be exploited for the accumulation of wealth. Modeled after the Potosi silver frontier, Europeans took a hold of this new mindset, and in applying it to their iron, timber, agriculture industries, began to fundamentally alter their surrounding environments (J. Moore, 2017). Consequently, an explosive extension of environmental commodification ensued, engulfing nature on a global scale, and devouring 19th century Omaha and the United States western front in its wake. Exploring the spread of production oriented industry to Omaha is essential to understanding the linkage between the “gateway city to the west,” Byron Reed, and the 16th century silver trade from which the early pioneer’s silver Reales originated. Born in East Darien, New York, in 1829, and later forced to move west with his parents in 1842 (Western Heritage Museum: Byron Reed Exhibit Pamphlet, 1985), Byron Reed was emblematic of the mid-19th century American western frontier pioneer. Filled with a passion for adventure and excitement, he made his way through his early twenties working in the telegraph industry and later as a Civil War reporter, a job which nearly cost him his life (Omaha Sunday World-Herald, June 7, 1891). Consequently, and perhaps wisely, he left the reporting business, and moved to Omaha, Nebraska in March of 1856. Omaha in 1856 was a small town, with a population just over 200 people. However, with the growing river trade industry of the time, the community’s location on the Missouri river, lent to the town an immense potential for growth. Sensing an opportunity, Reed, chose to settle down and began to acquire land, which he then sold through his business, The Bryon Reed Real Estate Company, the first of its kind in town (Bryon Reed Company Inc: The Story of Omaha, 1956). Subsequently, officials recruited him to survey much of the city, and soon he became known as Omaha’s authority on land transfers. A few short years later the city would boom upon, not the increasing growth of river trade, but instead the back of Lincoln’s 1862 Pacific Railway Act. The proclamation placed Omaha as the central hub of this new ribbon of steel, and with the rail line’s construction in 1863 (J. Brown, 2012), it solidified the city as, “the gateway city to the west.” Soon after, Omaha became the heart from which these wealth conveying railroads flowed. With the completion of these early railroad lines, including the Union Pacific, Burlington and Quincy, and the Chicago-Rock Island and Pacific, subsequent immigration quickly amplified, spurred by news of early pioneers’ successes and cheap government subsidized land (X. Duran, 2013). Consequently, urbanization trailed closely in its wake, abetting the rampant commodification of the western frontier and the rise of real estate industry. Fighting for a premium position upon the 19th century world stage, the United States engaged in increasingly expansive trade policies and practices in order to compete with strengthening global competition (A. Menard, 2011). The Pacific Railway Act of 1862, a component of this political platform, was seen as an essential element to the United States success, with its railroads serving as the cornerstone linkages in expanding American trade (W. Webb, 1931 and X. Duran, 2013) . However, the rail lines quickly became more than a means to traverse the vast expanses of the Midwest. Previously unexploited, the tall grass prairies of the American western front, overflowing with rich natural resources, epitomized cheap nature worthy of great exploitation. Access though, had long been problematic, limiting the tremendous potential for capital accumulation (R. Billington, 1974). The expansion of these nineteenth century railroads, however, essentially resolved the access problems, simultaneously pulling the American economy and millions of settlers westward into a new frontier. Consequently, the resources necessary to extract the riches of prairie ecosystems were suddenly at the very fingertips of the early migrating farmers, igniting an agricultural boom. The once virgin Midwestern soils were busted, fertilized, cultivated, and commodified, with exceptional wealth materializing at the expense of nature. Skyrocketing land values in the late 19th century Midwest exemplify this sudden explosion of capital potential, with railroad centered lands of the Nebraska and Kansas territories exhibiting average price increases of $3.10 per acre upon railroad completion, representing a 24% rise in value (C. S. Decker and D. T. Flynn, 2007). As a result of these changes, Omaha’s industry and population exploded, and Reed, who had amassed a good deal of land around and outside the city prior to the railroads’ arrival (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/86" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Figure 4</a>), quickly became a wealthy man. Whether selling urban property, or rural agriculture, the once virgin and untouched land which Reed dealt became fundamentally altered and commodified in the wake of the new frontiers arrival. Simultaneously, Reed became an actor and benefactor of the capitally driven western commodity frontier. Not unlike the many other 1850’s and 1860’s American western migrants who saw their fortunes soar with the development of the western frontier (J. Stewart, 2006), Reed was soon worth over an estimated two million dollars. Buoyed by his sudden wealth, he continued to collect land throughout his life, affirmed by the large number of city plots, the additions, and more than 350 acres of farmland he possessed at the time of his death (M. Brown, 1989 and Omaha Sunday World-Herald, June 7, 1891). However, his collection interests expanded beyond land alone. Fascinated by coins, Reed accumulated one of the finest coin collections in the world, in the middle of which sat the Spanish silver Reales, the very piece of history responsible for producing the capitalistic, commodifying, anthropogenic age that made Reed’s collection possible. While time has muddied the waters between Byron Reed’s Spanish silver and the new human epoch, the Anthropocene, exploring the era’s roots in capitalism and the commodity system crystallizes the distorted relationships. An exemplary western front migrant, Reed built both his reputation and his fortune off this new 19th century commodity frontier. However, while railroads and agriculture, rather than imperialistic lust and mining, characterized the front, its ties to Potosi silver, remain indisputable. Appropriated in the 16th century, Spanish mining of Cerro Rico, the silver mountain, simultaneously became the model, and the agent of change in ushering in a new economic era. Upon this mountain’s rich and mighty slopes, a mindset of production orientation was born, spreading the Spanish silver Reales and paving the way for globalization and intensive nature commodification. Thus, despite their superficial differences, the American western frontier, which delivered Bryon Reed his fortune and his Spanish Reales, fundamentally mirrored its silver 16th century counterpart, both being driven by an insatiable appetite for capital accumulation at the expense of commodified nature. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ian Reuter Dakota Wagner Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Blaut, James M. On the Significance of 1492. Political Geography, 11, no. 4 (1992): 355-385. doi: 10.1016/0962-6298(92)90003-C. Blaut, James M. Where was Capitalism Born? Antipode, 8 no. 2 (1976): 1-11. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8330.1976.tb00633.x Moore, Jason W. "‘Amsterdam is Standing on Norway’ Part I: The Alchemy of Capital, Empire and Nature in the Diaspora of Silver, 1545–1648." Journal Of Agrarian Change 10, no. 1 (2010): 33-68. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2017). Moore, Jason. “Silver, Ecology, and the Origins of the Modern World, 1450-1640.” In Rethinking Environmental History: World-System History and Global Environmental Change, edited by Hornborg, Alf, J. R. McNeill, and Juan Martínez-Alier 123-142. Plymouth: AltaMira Press: 2007. Moore, Jason W. “’This lofty mountain of silver could conquer the whole world.’ Potosi and the political ecology of underdevelopment, 1545-1800.” Journal of Philosophical Economics, 4 no. 1 (2010): 58-103. https://jpe.ro/?id=b1&cuprins=ascuns. a. “In the first two decades after Spain’s enclosure of Potosí, the ores were rich indeed. Soon, however, ore quality declined sharply. By the late 1560’s, the yield on Potosí ore fell 98 percent from two decades earlier.” b. “Declining yield implied rising fuel inputs, the major production cost for smelter.” Ore refinement consequently became a major sink of fuel and labor, exacerbated by the “transition to mercury amalgamation… because it reduced per unit fuel costs…it enabled such a large increase in output over so short a time, the consequence was more, not less deforestation” c. “Construction and fuel needs devoured the forests around Potosí, driving successive expansions of the timber hinterland. By 1714, Potosí, was drawing timber from Paraguay” Barragán, Rossana. "Working Silver for the World: Mining Labor and Popular Economy in Colonial Potosí." Hispanic American Historical Review 97, no. 2 (2017): 193-222. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5, 2017). a. “Until Spanish 1575 reforms in labor, indigenous population carried out the extraction at their own cost and largely for their own benefit… in contrast the forced labor system ‘mita’ established afterwards, lacked the principle of protections found in slavery systems, instead the Potosí system had no safeguards against overexploitation” Galeano, Eduardo. Open veins of Latin America: five centuries of the pillage of a continent. Carlton North, Vic.: Scribe Publications, 1973. Moore, Jason W. “The Capitalocene, Part I: On the Nature and Origins of our Ecological Crisis.” The Journal of Peasant Studies, 44 no. 4, 2017: 594-630. http://www.tandfonline.com/. a. Moore identifies four forms of “cheap nature” implicit in the rise of expansive capitalistic commodification which he defines as “labor-power, food, energy, and raw materials.” O. Flynn, Dennis, and Arturo Giraldez. Born with a “Silver Spoon”: The Origin of World Trade in 1571. Journal of World History, 6 no. 2 (1995): 201-222. http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals.aspx. Jorgenson, Andrew K., and Edward L. Kick L. “Introduction: Globalization and the Environment.” Journal of World-Systems Research, 9 no. 2 (2003): 195-203. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2003.243. O. Flynn, Dennis, and Arturo Giraldez. "Cycles of Silver: Global Economic Unity through the Mid-Eighteenth Century*." Journal Of World History 13, no. 2 (2002): 391. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5, 2017). a. “In the early 16th century the gold/silver ratio in China stood at 1:6, while in contrast the gold/silver ratio hovered around 1:12 in Europe.” b. “Within two years of Spain’s 1865 establishment of a port in the Philippines, which linked Chinese demand for silver directly to its major producer, China ended its prohibition on overseas trade.” Schell Jr., William. "Silver Symbiosis: ReOrienting Mexican Economic History." Hispanic American Historical Review 81, no. 1 (2001): 89. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5, 2017). Moore, Jason W. "‘Amsterdam is Standing on Norway’ Part II: The Global North Atlantic in the Ecological Revolution of the Long Seventeenth Century." Journal Of Agrarian Change 10, no. 2 (2010): 188-227. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2017). Menard, Andrew. "Striking a Line through the Great American Desert." Journal Of American Studies 45, no. 2 (2011): 267-280. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2017). Webb, Walter P. The Great Plain. London: Penguin Publishing Group, 1931. Duran, Xavier. "The First U.S. Transcontinental Railroad: Expected Profits and Government Intervention." Journal Of Economic History 73, no. 1 (2013): 177-200. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2017). Billington, Ray A. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier., 4th edition: New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1974. Decker, Christopher S., and David T. Flynn. "The Railroad's Impact on Land Values in the Upper Great Plains at the Closing of the Frontier." Historical Methods 40, no. 1 (2007): 28-38. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2017). Brown, Jeff. "Uniting the States: The First Transcontinental Railroad." Civil Engineering (08857024) 82, no. 7/8 (2012): 40-42. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2017). a. Signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on July 1, 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act launched the construction of a 1,776 mile long railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Work began on the eastern side of the railroad in Omaha, Nebraska in December 1863. Six years later, on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah, the final spike was driven into the railroad marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Western Heritage Museum. Byron Reed Exhibit Pamphlet. Omaha: 1985. “Byron Reed Passes Away.” Omaha Sunday World-Herald (Omaha), June 7, 1891, 5. a. Identified as an informant for a Union newspaper while behind Confederate lines in Kansas, Reed was lucky to evade capture, which could have come with dire consequences. Bryon Reed Company, Inc. The Story of Omaha. Omaha: 1956. Stewart, James I. "Migration to the Agricultural Frontier and Wealth Accumulation, 1860–1870." Explorations In Economic History 43, no. 4 (2006): 547-577. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2017). a. “Frontier migrants accumulated wealth at rates that were high and in excess of those in non-frontier areas…. increasing their wealth eightfold over the decade or twice as much as those who did not migrate.” Brown, Marion M. “Byron Reed the Man Behind the Treasure.” Sunday World-Herald Magazine of the Midlands. (Omaha), April 2, 1989. Arce-Burgoa, Osvaldo R. and Richard J. Goldfarb. “Metallogeny of Bolivia.” Society of Economic Geologists Newsletter, No. 79 (2009).http://www.dim.uchile.cl/~lsaavedr/archivos/joseline/pdf/Metallogeny%20of%20Bolivia.pdf a. “The Cerro Rico de Potosi polymetallic vein deposit, mined since the mid-1500s, is the world’s largest silver deposit. It has yielded 60,000 tons of silver making Bolivia the largest silver producer in the world for more than two centuries.” Shahriari, Sara. “Bolivia: Struggling to save the mountain that eats men.” Aljazeera America. May 8th, 2014. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/8/struggling-to-savethemountainthateatsmen.html. “Spain Spanish Colonial Reales.” Coin Quest. Accessed November 6th, 2017. http://coinquest.com/cgi-bin/cq/coins?main_coin=2334. “Maps.” Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission. Accessed November 6th, 2017. https://landmark.cityofomaha.org/maps. Relation A related resource Further Reading: 1) Jason Moore: <a href="https://jpe.ro/pdf.php?id=2892" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“This lofty mountain of silver could conquer the whole world.: Potosi and the political ecology of underdevelopment, 1545-1800. </a> 2) <a href="http://durhammuseum.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15426coll8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Durham; Byron Reed Items</a> 3) <a href="http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/living/durham-museums-byron-reed-collection-a-rare-peek-at-omahas-treasure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bryon Reed Collection </a> Agriculture Byron Reed Commodity Frontier Currency Deforestation Globalization Mining Production Real Estate Silver Spanish Colonialism https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/569bca3839f0f9b412dd3ee208dee76f.jpg d3425b8231515e3e1331747ed06abc82 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/d1d07b585c8572f268c6bac35367a62d.jpg 5016715c390bb07b455d21b22350920e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wentworth, William. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Photo Archive Description An account of the resource Westinghouse 1417 No. 22nd St. Omaha, 18 June 1938. Woman standing near refrigerator. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Commercial use or distribution of the image is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder. Please contact The Durham Museum for permission to use the digital image. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Consumer Revolutions Subject The topic of the resource Global Capitalism <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4758/39538672694_da9d00eca7_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> Butter-Nut Coffee Advertisement, Durham Photo Archive Description An account of the resource Globalization has brought the world to our doorstep. Expanding networks of trade bring goods from every corner of the world to our homes in Omaha. Although many of us associate globalization with the very recent past, those connections have a long history. This section of the exhibit takes us from the early history of globalization to the present and shows how our consumer decisions transformed economic and environmental relationships around the world. The first era of globalization dawned in the late sixteenth century when the Spanish Empire created the first global currency. The Spanish used gold and silver mined by indigenous peoples in Bolivia to trade for goods in China. Silver coins greased the wheels of early globalization and connected American mines, to tea fields in China, to the markets of Europe. Expanding wealth and power eventually opened up foreign landscapes to American use as well. By the nineteenth century, consumer networks allowed families in Omaha to consume tropical goods like coffee. Today, multinational corporations like ConAgra dominate food production. They use resources from every type of environment and ship their products globally. Consumer revolutions accelerated after the Second World War. Home appliances like televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines promised convenience and an increased quality of life, but new technologies sometimes produced unexpected environmental consequences. These objects remind us that modern consumerism was part of a long history of globalization that transformed global environments. Many of us still use objects like these on a daily basis. As you look through this section, ask yourself how many goods you have used or consumed today are connected in some way to foreign landscapes. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Servel Electrolux Gas Refrigerator Subject The topic of the resource In 1979, Jimmy Carter said that "human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.” Consumer appliances like the refrigerator changed American domestic life in the twentieth century. The consequences of this consumer revolution had profound and unexpected environmental impacts. The Servel corporation was one of the few companies making gas powered refrigerators in the 1930s. By the 1950s, most companies were using refrigerating chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs were cheap, effective, and non-toxic. In 1974, two scientists discovered that CFCs deplete the earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer in the atmosphere blocks harmful UV rays from reaching the earth. Too much UV radiation results in consequences for humans, plants and marine life. Once scientists discovered the harmful effects of CFCs, the Montreal Protocol imposed a ban on their use in 1986. This refrigerator is a reminder of paths not taken and the unexpected consequences of miracle technologies. Description An account of the resource Everyday objects are often overlooked when discussing environmental change. However, these objects hold profound impacts on our environment and when looking at our environment should be extensively researched. The new wave of consumerism and the development of new appliances contributed significantly to anthropogenic change worldwide and specifically in Omaha. The object of our project is a 1933 Servel Inc. gas powered refrigerator. It may seem like a benign, everyday object, but this consumer appliance represents a profound shift in global environmental history. One of the consequences of that revolution, and the use of artificial coolants more specifically, was their impact on the ozone layer. Our refrigerator represented a change in consumer culture, a new desire to store food, the convenience made possible by refrigerating technology. These changes occurred in Omaha and much of the developed world, but its environmental consequences were global. The first refrigerators sold for domestic and home use were sold in 1911 by General Electric Company and 1913 an invention by Fred Wolf (Heldman, 2003). They were prohibitively expensive for families, however, and even the most wealthy people would have to make a significant investment in order to access one. Additionally, these refrigerators were costly to maintain, did not preserve food efficiently, and required significant space in the home. The Electric World journal said in 1942 “people as yet are skeptical as to the feasibility of electric refrigeration in the home” (Electrical World, 1924). This reality presented a difficulty for their widespread adoption. In response to these obstacles, engineers and refrigeration companies like Servel and Frigidaire began to attempt to mass produce refrigerators, shrink the size of their components, and advertise the feasibility of using a fridge in the home. One advertisement from 1930, markets the refrigerator by addressing all of these potential pitfalls. “Frigidaire is an electric refrigerator available to every electrically wired home. Frigidaire maintains constant, crisp, dry cold—preventing food decay, and the development of menacing bacteria” (Buziak, 2011). This ad explains that these are easy to set up and maintain because they can be simply plugged in. Additionally, the ad asserts that the air stays cool enough in order to combat decay and bacteria growth. The technology was relatively novel and definitely new to the average middle income American. Some companies, such as Frigidaire, capitalized on these early innovations. These ads attempted to explain this new technology, made possible through science, in order to promote the adoption of their product in the home (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/39" title="Figure 1" target="_self">Figure 1</a>). These new inventions paved the way for the consumer culture began to spread during this time. The Durham Museum collection hosts a 1933 Servel Inc. gas powered refrigerator. It represents a new accessibility to mass consumer goods in the late 1920s -1940s. The advertisement presented below is of our refrigerator. In contrast to their competitors such as General Electric and Frigidaire, Servel was much less widely used. It was “a small fish in a big pond.” Servel never held more than an 8 to 10 percent share of the home refrigerator market. Servel made refrigerators until 1956 but was unable to compete with competitors who relied on compression for their refrigerators (Anderson, 1953). Servel was the only company that used “only gas-powered ammonia absorption technology. (Rees, 2015). Both the absorption and compressor refrigerators rely on heat and then the evaporation of a refrigerant to provide the cooling effect. Compression machines would often use electricity to provide the heating effect and absorption machines relied on some other outside heat source like fire. The absorption technology of our refrigerator relies on three phases for cooling. First, the gas fueled flame evaporates ammonia in a low partial pressure environment. This process extracts heat from its surroundings. Second, the gaseous refrigerant is absorbed by another liquid like a salt solution. Third, the liquid is heated causing the refrigerant to evaporate. The refrigerant passes through a heat exchanger and condenses. The process of evaporation provides the cooling effect. Servel’s story implies a reason why compression refrigerators eventually beat out absorption refrigerators. The manufacturers who produced compression machines used different resources to cool their machines. Servel’s ammonia absorption refrigerator eventually fell waned in appeal in favor of the more efficient compression machines, which, by the 1930s commonly used a new chemical coolant CFCs. During the early 1930s, there were two primary types of refrigeration, gas powered and electric. The gas-powered units boasted a design that was meant to be more fitting of a rural lifestyle due to the fact it did not need electricity to function. Through a series of heating and cooling processes, ammonia gas would be used to pull heat out of the fridge, and in turn cool its contents. This process, aside from the emissions given off by burning the gas, had a small impact on the environment. However, its popular counterpart, the electric fridge, used a more damaging process. Relying on many of the same techniques of as the gas fridge, the electric fridge relies on a compressor to do its heating. It also uses a refrigerant rather than ammonia gas. Refrigerants, most commonly Freon, are a group of gasses that exhibit certain qualities that are helpful in the compression and condensing process of an electric fridge. As cities became more urbanized, and the technology for refrigerators got better, the market for them boomed. “By the 1920s, the household refrigerator was an essential piece of kitchen furniture. In 1921, 5,000 mechanical refrigerators were manufactured in the US. Ten years later that number grew past one million and just six years later, nearly six million.” (Krasner-Khait, 2000) CFCs, Freon, or Chlorofluorocarbons were commonly used by Servel’s competitors, specifically General Electric, in their compression machines. The gas-powered ammonia flame, that Servel used, would oftentimes result in fires and high exposure to toxic ammonia. CFCs are not toxic to humans and do not require flames to fuel them. Therefore, CFC machines were more appealing to consumers. The development of Freon led to the development of safer, smaller, lighter, and cheaper refrigerators. These competitors that used compression machines would use a compressor powered by electricity to increase pressure on Freon. The gas produced by this pressure then condensed to a liquid by cooling in a heat exchanger. At this point, the liquid is passed through a valve to the evaporator. The liquid then evaporates and absorbs heat from the area where food is kept. The Freon then returns to the compressor to repeat the process. The accessibility to refrigerators in general created a change in the domestic lives of Omahans and Americans. This image from the Wentworth collection from The Durham Museum digital archive shows a woman in Omaha standing next to her electric refrigerator in 1938 (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/38" title="Figure 2" target="_self">Figure 2</a>). This image connects Omaha to this new culture of consumerism and in turn to anthropogenic change. The development of these cheaper, smaller, and “nontoxic” contributed to the continuous growth of the refrigerator. Furthermore, with the development of affordable, efficient refrigerators Americans were now able to store food regardless of weather. “ In recent decades, cold chains have propagated and lengthened, moving more goods and including more countries” (Rees, 2015). Consequently, refrigeration connected the United States globally and domestically. As seen, the refrigerator began to gain popularity in the United States and globally, but not without environmental consequences. Our Servel “Electrolux” refrigerator contributed to these changes, however new electric refrigerators that used artificial coolants began to displace them by the 1950s. These more “modern” consumer appliances were supposed to be longer lasting and more safe for the consumer. Dependability, and reliability were the mainstays in refrigeration advertisement (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/40" title="FIgure 3" target="_self">Figure 3</a>). In the advertisement shown below in the 1933 San Antonio ad, Majestic says, “the refrigerating unit is made with such precision, and of such dependable, well tasted parts that it can safely be SEALED within a steel dome.” (Novak, 2012) Safety was a mainstay in electric refrigerator advertisements. On the surface level this seems obvious because they replaced toxic ammonia gas, with non-flammable, nontoxic, non-corrosive, and highly non-reactive gases. On the other hand, the transition from gas powered fridges like out Servel Electrolux to seemingly “safer” modern option presented new dangers, this time on a global scale. Thomas Midgley, an American Chemist, synthesized chlorofluorocarbons in 1928. They seemed a miracle refrigerant. CFCs were much safer to inhale, and much less volatile. Marketed as “Freon” by the DuPont corporation, CFC proliferated following the second world war as consumer demand increased. In addition to refrigerators, CFCs were used in many household items, bug sprays, paints, hair conditioners, and other health care products are just a few examples of their extensive usage. They provided an inexpensive solution to the desire for air conditioning in an increasingly modern society. CFC use peaked at annual sales of about a billion dollars, and more than one million metric tons of CFCs produced. (Elkins, 2005) Mario Molina, a PhD researcher at the University of California Irvine was the first to make the shocking discovery about the environmental impact of CFCs. Molina found, that CFCs when reacting with UV radiation in the atmosphere, would destroy an oxygen compound called ozone (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/41" title="Figure 4" target="_self">Figure 4</a>). He predicted that they could deplete the ozone layer at a staggering 7 percent over 60 years putting us in real peril. (ESDE) Globally, this was troubling news, the depletion of the ozone layer meant a number of things. First and foremost for humans, the increased amount of UVB radiation can cause certain types of cancer, and result in the early development of cataracts. Furthermore, there are consequences for plant life, marine life, and the biochemical system as a whole. Plants more quickly develop disease, marine animals see a decreased ability to reproduce therefore throwing off the food chain. It also inhibits the growth and movement of phytoplankton. (EPA, 2016) Many of these of these consequences have cascading effects, for example, an ecosystem that previously was lush with plant life may see a small reduction. Animals that depend on those plants were then left with either not enough food and their numbers diminish, or they are forced to decimate the plant population to an unrecoverable point. As a result of these findings, people finally started to realize that their actions could have environmental impact on a global scale. Mario Molina said, “It doesn’t matter where CFCs are emitted. It is a global problem. What is important is that it led to an international agreement that solved the problem.”(American Chemical Society) And that is exactly what happened. In 1986, the Montreal Protocol banned their use. Since then, we have seen an overwhelming amount of evidence that the ozone layer is rebuilding itself and that we are well on our way to fixing the damage we have done. Currently companies use HCFCs, mostly HFC-134a which is as effective as Freon, but does not have the detrimental effect on the environment. Overall, the story of our Servel Incorporated Electrolux refrigerator proves that everyday objects do play a role in environmental change. The development of these CFCs were more efficient, non-toxic to humans, and seemingly improved everyday life. However, this new technology led to a potentially disastrous environmental repercussion. Not only do new developing technologies have unexpected consequences as seen by our refrigerator, but so do the decisions consumers, companies, corporations, governments, and people make. It is important to consider the consequences that new convenient technologies may have on the environment. The story of CFCs and their effects on our home is a teaching point about what improvements must be made. Sufficient research and testing is essential in ensuring that we maintain the natural processes of our planet, and we don’t continue along the path we find ourselves on in the Anthropocene. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Eric Heffelfinger Fletcher Guinn Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived American Chemical Society National Historic Chemical Landmarks. The Vitamin B Complex. http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/cfcs-ozone.html Anderson, Jr. Oscar Edward, Refrigeration in America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953), 105. "Bottled air from all over the world tells story of ozone-Depleting gases and their connection to climate change", NOAA Climate.Gov, 18 May 2015, www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-tech/bottled-air-all-over-world-tells-story-ozone-depleting-gases-and-their. Buziak, Ed, “What a Difference Frigidaire Made!” Alamy.com, 25 June 2011, l7.alamy.com/zooms/c6a55dfde88f4f56a2e53d322cf0edb2/1920-1930-advert-for-frigidaire-refrigerator-from-english-homes-gardens-ep8jrn.jpg. Department of Energy, "Mario Molina, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and Ozone Depletion.” www.osti.gov/accomplishments/molina.html. Electrical World 36 ( July 1924):28. Electrolux. “ELECTROLUX Gives You Everything You Expect…AND MORE!” Periodpaper.com, cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1021/8371/products/SEP3_018.jpg? v=1493262408 Elkins, James W. “ESRL Global Monitoring Division - Halocarbons and other Atmospheric Trace Species.” NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, NOAA, 1 Oct. 2005, www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/hats/publictn/elkins/cfcs.html. Environmental Protection Agency, “Health and Environmental Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion.” 28 Dec. 2016, www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion. Heldman, Dennis R. “Extruder Power Requirements .” Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering, Marcel Dekker, 2003, pp. 305–305. Krasner-Khait, Barbara, “The Impact of Refrigeration” History Magazine (February/March 2000), https://history-magazine.com/refrig.html Novak, Matt. “The Great Depression and the Rise of the Refrigerator,” Pacific Standard Magazine. Oct 9, 2012. Rees, Jonathan. Refrigeration nation a history of ice, appliances, and enterprise in America. “Shopify.com.” Shopify.com, cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1021/8371/products/SEP3_018.jpg?v=1493262408. Wentworth, William. Westinghouse 1417 No. 22nd St. Omaha, 18 June 1938. Westinghouse 1417 No. 22nd St. Omaha, 18 June 1938. CFC Consumer Revolution Montreal Protocol Ozone Depletion Refrigerator https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/b4941ff5bde45dd5b6cbb7843fb42459.JPG b49a843759ac182188dcf25bae7f7e48 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/ac74a129fb9e69405aa678a8aec8188f.JPG 19b762702ee7f74166e7346439ccb16e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 3 Description An account of the resource Gas roasted coffee can. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Photo Courtesy of Trevor Schlecht and Zach Tapia Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Consumer Revolutions Subject The topic of the resource Global Capitalism <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4758/39538672694_da9d00eca7_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> Butter-Nut Coffee Advertisement, Durham Photo Archive Description An account of the resource Globalization has brought the world to our doorstep. Expanding networks of trade bring goods from every corner of the world to our homes in Omaha. Although many of us associate globalization with the very recent past, those connections have a long history. This section of the exhibit takes us from the early history of globalization to the present and shows how our consumer decisions transformed economic and environmental relationships around the world. The first era of globalization dawned in the late sixteenth century when the Spanish Empire created the first global currency. The Spanish used gold and silver mined by indigenous peoples in Bolivia to trade for goods in China. Silver coins greased the wheels of early globalization and connected American mines, to tea fields in China, to the markets of Europe. Expanding wealth and power eventually opened up foreign landscapes to American use as well. By the nineteenth century, consumer networks allowed families in Omaha to consume tropical goods like coffee. Today, multinational corporations like ConAgra dominate food production. They use resources from every type of environment and ship their products globally. Consumer revolutions accelerated after the Second World War. Home appliances like televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines promised convenience and an increased quality of life, but new technologies sometimes produced unexpected environmental consequences. These objects remind us that modern consumerism was part of a long history of globalization that transformed global environments. Many of us still use objects like these on a daily basis. As you look through this section, ask yourself how many goods you have used or consumed today are connected in some way to foreign landscapes. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coffee Cans Subject The topic of the resource Omaha businessmen William Paxton and Benjamin Gallagher started gas-roasting coffee in 1887. Their factory stood across the street from the current location of The Durham Museum on 10th and Jones. The pair launched Butter-Nut Coffee in 1916 and employed hundreds of Omahans. Although a local hit for decades, the coffee beans used by the “Butter-Nut” brand were anything but local. The coffee beans grew thousands of miles away. Butter-Nut farmed their beans on plantations in 18 different tropical countries. These plantations used either sun or shade-grown coffee. Sun-grown coffee is grown in the sun, whereas shade grown coffee grows under the canopy of trees. Large businesses, like Butter-Nut, preferred sun-grown coffee, which requires massive deforestation. This led to habitat loss, sometimes putting species at risk for extinction. Declines in tropical ecosystems and species diversity are part of the Anthropocene. Not only does coffee start our day, it changes the places where it is grown. Description An account of the resource Thomas Jefferson called it “the drink of the civilized world,” it has been cultivated since the fifteenth century, and there is a very good chance you started your day with it. It is consumed recreationally, to promote wakefulness and productivity, and often just for the taste. Today, coffee is the most popular beverage in the world, with 400 billion cups consumed annually. (Morris, 2013) Grown in the “Bean Belt-” the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn - and shipped globally, coffee can be found in our stores, our homes, and in the factories that process beans. It is no surprise why coffee is popular. It’s flavors... the cultural significance… its mild addictiveness… but how it achieved such prominence is a fascinating story that connects the rise of cities with different environments. It is a tale of the Anthropocene. We are surrounded by evidence of that story, whether in the form of coffee cans on our shelves or the immense fields of coffee beans in distant countries. You drink that story with every sip of coffee. The Butter-Nut Coffee can represents Omaha’s place in that story. The commodity chain developed over the last 150 years to bring coffee into our homes and businesses speaks to dramatic changes the coffee industry has had on the global environment. Coffee traveled long and far to end up in the roasters that supplied Butter-Nut Coffee. The bean was first described in writing to be a beneficial crop as early as 1000 CE by Avicenna of Bukhara (in modern-day Uzbekistan), and scholars have found evidence of widespread coffee drinking during the mid-15th century after it found its way to Mecca. From there, coffee traveled along trade routes and became an instant hit wherever it was available. Cafes became popular places to meet in 17th century Europe, and the beans were already being exported to America by 1668. (Luttinger and Dicum, 2006) A crop with such a global popularity does not enter our lives unnoticed. “Only a handful of consumer goods have fueled the passions of the public as much as coffee. [It] has inspired battlefields of economics, human rights, politics, and religion” while becoming a part of our everyday lives thanks to the chemical composition responsible for its habit-forming properties and enjoyable taste. (Luttinger and Dicum, 2006) By the early 18th century, obsession with coffee expanded to the US. Coffee consumption was on par with tea domestically until the 1880s, when an influx of immigrants hoping to have the economic ability to purchase coffee began to settle in the US. (Morris, 2013) It was not a specific taste for coffee that the immigrants sought, but rather, they yearned for the financial agency to obtain coffee - something that could be done in America, as argued by coffee historian Jonathan Morris, PhD. Around this time, various manufacturers of coffee began to notice an uptick in demand of an already popular product and acted accordingly, importing increasing amounts of beans from source countries like Brazil. (Figure 1) Speaking on the early dramatic rise of coffee consumption in America, notable coffee historian Steven Topik describes how “consumption ballooned from under one pound [per capita] at independence to nine pounds in 1882,” leading to the US consuming one-fifth of the world’s coffee at this time. (Topik, 2013) Paxton & Gallagher as suppliers would ultimately create a coffee powerhouse in the Midwest during this popularity surge - and would be the first producer to sell coffee in tin cans, as opposed to loose beans, in the state of Nebraska. (Landale, 1945) The story of coffee in Omaha began long after it was found that coffee beans could be stewed into an energizing elixir. Omaha businessmen William Paxton and Benjamin Gallagher enjoyed success across several industries and rose to prominence in the late nineteenth century thanks to their investments and ties to other prominent capitalist families like the Creightons. (NSHS, 2010) In 1879, the pair established a trading post that enjoyed success along the rail lines they helped to build, and by 1887 they were roasting beans for distribution on 10th and Jones streets in Omaha. (OWH. 1994)(Figure 2) The unique process used gas instead of coal to roast the imported green coffee faster, reducing the detrimental effects of prolonged heat exposure while still achieving the desired characteristics in an effort to preserve the freshness and flavor of the coffee. (OWH, 1915) Paxton & Gallagher used their method as a unique selling point, bragging to audiences about how they spare no expense to produce the best product. “Gas roasting means something,” says an ad in an April 1915 printing of the Omaha-World Herald. “The Omaha Gas Company will tell you that we are the biggest gas consumers in the city. You can use your own judgment, for we certainly would not pay them over $500.00 a month for gas to roast our coffee if we could do it by using coal for $50.00 a month.” (OWH, 1915) This advertisement reveals to us the efforts that Paxton and Gallagher made in creating their product, while also showcasing their immense gas consumption. This braggadocio with respect to energy consumption is a trait of the Anthropocene, as it demonstrates the ideal of producing as much product as possible with little thought to possible impacts. Beans first arrived via railroads and were stored onsite. (OCCJ, 1936) After being fed through pneumatic tubes in 120 pound increments, the beans were dumped into one of several sixty-foot-long roasters. (The Spice Mill, 1911) After twenty minutes of roasting, the roasted and ground blend of coffee was then packaged in two pound red coffee cans vacuum-packed to preserve taste - a new development for coffee in the early 20th century that gave Paxton & Gallagher a marketable advantage. (The Spice Mill, 1911) These cans were emblazoned with “PAXTON GAS ROASTED COFFEE,” much like the first coffee can artifact from The Durham Museum, which can lead one to reasonably conclude that this can was created around 1915. (Figure 3) This can lands a spot in The Durham thanks to the large role that Paxton & Gallagher had in shaping the Omaha economy through their roastery, among other ventures. Their coffee brand would only grow for most of the 20th century. Shortly after the production of this can, Paxton & Gallagher launched the Butter-Nut line of foods, which included coffee. Named after a tree nut, this rebranding was an attempt to describe their sweet-smelling product and launch a successful effort that would increase its reach to other states. The number of employees at the roastery on 10th street grew with increased demand, doubling in size to 150 between 1939 and 1942. (Landale, 1945) Butter-Nut directly impacted the economic scene in Omaha by employing a steady, local workforce. As demand for coffee increased and Butter-Nut’s sales grew, competitors began eyeing the corporation. In 1958 the coffee line was bought by Clark and Gilbert Swanson, and was then acquired by Coca-Cola in 1964 thanks to a stock transition worth $30 million. (Coca-Cola, 1969) It is during this time under Coke that the second coffee can was produced - likely in the late 1960s.(Figure 4) Its design changes reflect ideals of modernization that were driven by the commercial consolidations that produced the can. With company structures changing through acquisitions and time, the can designs were periodically updated to appeal to consumers. In 1989, Butter-Nut was sold to an investor working for Maryland Club Foods, and later that year was finally sold to Procter & Gamble, where a Butter-Nut variant of Folger’s was produced. (United Press International, 1989) The flavor was discontinued and Folger’s was sold to Smucker’s, which accounts for 69% of today’s coffee sales along with the remaining “Big Five” coffee producers. (Morris, 2013) Butter-Nut Coffee distinguished itself from the competing brands of its time through its unique taste and aroma. As its popularity grew exponentially, the Butter-Nut Coffee swiftly established itself as a common household brand and found its way into millions of homes across the Midwest. Butter-Nut faced two primary obstacles that blocked the growing company’s path in maximizing their profit margins, both of which were derived from the biological nature of the coffee bean itself. One limitation is the fact that coffee beans will only grow in tropical climates that exist in certain geographical locations. The collective growing sites of coffee around the world is known as the coffee belt which, “spans the globe along the equator, with cultivation in Central and South America; the Caribbean; Africa; the Middle East; and Asia. Brazil is now the world’s largest coffee-producing country.” (Scott, 2015) (Figure 5) While Butter-Nut could process and distribute its product in North America, they had to import the coffee beans, “from the 18 producing countries in Central America, South America, and Africa.” (OWH, 1959) The second obstacle the company encountered was the unpredictable events affecting coffee yields from Butter-Nut’s eighteen producing countries. The motivation to overcome this challenge is due to the rising demand and the consumer’s expectation of the product’s quality which both had to be met in order to maintain the company’s gain in capital. This is evident in the Seventy Fifth Anniversary Cook Book, produced by the Paxton and Gallagher company in 1939. (Figure 6) When describing the origin of their coffee they state that maintaining adequate amounts of their product, “accurate knowledge of the world’s supply, day by day, month by month in and month out, from season to season, and year to year in spite of crop failures, revolutions, and other unpredictable occurrences.” (Paxton and Gallagher, 1939)They go on to say, “In the Butter-Nut Coffee you drink today there is sure to be coffee grown thousands of miles apart and from all, or almost all, of the eighteen countries that supply us. Next day, or a week from now, still another combination is necessary the distinctive flavor of Butter-Nut Coffee for you.” (Paxton and Gallagher, 1939) This reveals that the climate sensitivity of the coffee bean, the ever-increasing demand, and quality expectations of the consumer for the product forced Butter-Nut to uptake resources from around the globe. The Butter-Nut Coffee commodity chain expanding into these foreign locations exemplifies how the coffee industry have dramatic environmental impacts on a global scale. The methods of cultivations represent the strongest influential factors that contributed to the coffee industry’s environmental effects. These methods vary in the intensity of deforestation which is directly linked to a change in the biodiversity and the release of carbon emissions into the earth’s atmosphere. The most profound differences between cultivation practices are apparent in the system management of the coffee farm landscapes. (Morris, 2013) Coffee farming locations around the globe vary in the how they control production, giving rise to a broad collection of landscapes. The coffee fields that are considered rustic denotes plantations that are completely covered with natural tree species that shroud the coffee plants in shade. Sun grown coffee represents the opposite side of the spectrum where there are little to no trees are present in the area of cultivation. Due to their small size, coffee plants store very little carbon. Plantations consisting of sun grown coffee, where the fields have almost no trees, create an ecosystem in which very low amounts of carbon are being taken out of the atmosphere by vegetation. One possible way to lower coffee’s carbon footprint, “is to store more carbon in the trees on the farm.” (Morris, 2013) Therefore, shade grown coffee’s use of trees on the landscape offers environmental benefits by lowering the global levels of atmospheric carbon. Of the 18 coffee producing countries utilized by Butter-Nut, many were in Central America. In the article, “Paxton and Gallagher Company’s Coffee Train”, Mexico is listed as one of their main coffee producing countries. (Paxton & Gallagher's Company Coffee Train, 1901) Much research has been conducted comparing the shade and sun grown coffee’s influence on biodiversity in Mexico, which can make implications on Butter-Nut’s environmental impacts in the region. In his article Robert Rice comments on the landscapes of shade grown coffee and its effects on biodiversity stating, “It is the managed shade covered, essentially a biodiversity managed by the farmer, that in turn allows promotion and presence of an associated biodiversity.” (Morris, 2013) He goes on to refer to a study conducted in Chiapas, Mexico that compared biodiversity between the two coffee managing systems. The authors of the study concluded that “it is imperative to highlight the ecological function of shade farms, not only in providing refuge for native tree fauna, but also in preserving connectivity and gene flow processes essential for reforestation by native tree species.” (Morris, 2013) Where habitat fragmentation can have inhibitory effects of species population growth, the studies provide evidence that more shade-grown coffee farms can be beneficial to the maintaining of species diversity among the surrounding native forests as well. The evidence for the effects of agroforestry systems and may be helpful in understanding how Butter-Nut coffee influenced its coffee producing regions. There tend to be trends that relate the size of the coffee farms and the management systems they utilize. Rice states that larger farms tend to use sun grown coffee because “less tending of the shade trees means that more time can be spent on tending to the coffee bushes.” (Morris, 2013) According to these trends, Butter-Nut, being a large company and producing massive amounts of coffee to meet the public demand, would have used sun grown coffee. Therefore, it is likely Butter-Nut coffee contributed to the loss of biodiversity, an increase in coffee’s carbon footprint, and habitat fragmentation. Clearly, analysis of Omaha’s Butter-Nut Coffee commodity chain reveals the coffee industry’s dramatic effects on the global environment, which are proportional to the historical changes in consumption and production of the product. Coffee drinkers and, in the case of Butter-Nut, Omahans specifically, have been participating in an intricate process that has gained complexity over time. The story of commodification and consumption requires players that desire a product. Our examination of the process in which Butter-Nut acquired beans, imported them, and processed the final product shows how cities can have far-reaching effects on the global environment by requiring resources from increasingly further places. Coffee is a clear example of how high demand for a product changes the environment where it is produced, while creating a complex and competitive market for the final product. This is demonstrated by coffee growing fields in the tropics, and brands like Paxton & Gallagher’s line of Butter-Nut Coffee. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Baker, Peter S. “Coffee as a Global System.” Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry, (2013) 26-29 "Butter Nut Coffee Roasted Far From Growing Fields." Omaha Chamber of Commerce Journal, May 1936, 4-5. Coca-Cola Company Foods Division. "The Coffee Processing Story at the Butter Nut Coffee Plant." News release, Houston, TX, May 1969. The Coca-Cola Company. "Coffee-Roasting Equipment of Paxton & Gallagher." The Spice Mill, Vol. 34 No. 1, January 1911, 359. "Ex-Butter-Nut Workers Brew Omaha Reunion." Omaha World-Herald , October 8 , 1994. Landale, Ted . "Coffee Business Cures Its Own Wartime Headache ." Omaha World-Herald , January 21 , 1945. Landale, Ted . "Oldest or Youngest ." Omaha World-Herald , March 1 , 1959. Luttinger, Nina, and Gregory Dicum. The Coffee Book: Anatomy of an Industry from crop to the last drop. New York: New Press, 2006. "Maryland Club Foods completes coffee acquisition." United Press International, February 1, 1989. Michon, Scott. "Climate and Coffee." Climate.gov. June 19, 2015. Accessed November 7, 2017. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-and/climate-coffee. Morris, Jonathan. “Coffee, a Condensed History”. Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry. Maryland: Rowman and Littleton, 2013. 215-224. "Notable Nebraskans." Nebraska State Historical Society. June 3, 2010. "Paxton & Gallagher's Company Coffee Train." September 1 , 1901. Paxton and Gallagher Co. Seventy Fifth Anniversary Cook Book. Paxton and Gallagher, 1939 Rice, Robert. “Shade Coffee Farms and Biodiversity.” Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry, (2013) 42-49 "To Our Dealers ." Omaha World-Herald , April 24 , 1915. Topik, Steven. “Why Americans Drink Coffee”. Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry. Maryland: Rowman and Littleton, 2013. 234-244. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Trevor Schlecht Zach Tapia Bean Belt Benjamin Gallagher Biodiversity Loss Butter-Nut Coffee Commodity Chain Creighton Deforestation Paxton & Gallagher