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Economics and Commodities: Chicle
The debut of the humble stick of chewing gum in the United States had a significant impact for Maya chicle harvesters living in Eastern Yucatán, what is today the state of Quintana Roo (and location of international tourist destinations like Cancún and Tulum). According to historian Adrienne Kates, historic Maya autonomy (ability to live outside the control of the Mexican state) was bolstered by the chicle export industry. Maya communities further asserted their sovereignty by using chicle revenues to purchase weapons from neighboring British Honduras (modern day Belize). Decentralized production (like rubber tapping in Amazonian Brazil) and environmental factors blunted the force of foreign capital in this instance while also holding the Mexican state at bay.
Images searchable through the U.S. Library of Congress (four of which are directly linked below) depict chewing gum at different links in the commodity chain: from latex tapping to manufacture and sale. Like in any such chain, it is striking the diversity of people, places, and environments through which chicle passed to become a stick of Adams or Wrigley Chewing Gum. Yet Maya chicle tappers find themselves in a different situation today. An article published by the environmentalist Sierra Club linked below details how chicle producers, now out competed by synthetic rubber, have attempted to reposition themselves as the organic or natural option – a niche market that provides but some of the advantages of the early chicle sector.
“American Chicle Co. plant, Long Island City, N.Y. General exterior view; chewing gum manufacture, inspection and wrapping; employees’ cafeteria. Also, chicle workers in Mexico bleeding the trees, etc.” Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)-Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005679530/
Martha Pskowski, “Making Gum in the Mayan Rainforest” Sierra Club (January 11, 2018)
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/making-gum-mayan-rainforest
Economics and Commodities: The Department Store
The creation of the department store in Latin America as a site of modern consumption allowed for new expressions of elite status and taste. These expressions often embraced foreign influence, particularly French and Italian motifs, a pattern also seen in other rising cities around the world, such as Cairo and Istanbul. In Rio de Janeiro French merchants had dominated high end commerce since the early days of independence, and branches of high end stores like Harrods notwithstanding, stores in Argentina and Brazil carried French and Italian styles. Immigrants played an important role in building local retail enterprises. The Chilean commercial conglomerate Falabella began as a modest tailor shop in Santiago, eventually expanding to become one of the largest retail firms in South America.
The architectural and interior design aspects of department stores also gave shape to these elite expressions. The archival images linked below show ways that specialized stores in Rio de Janeiro attempted to capture wrought iron designs that evoked Paris and the Eiffel Tower. Other aspects, such as the merchandise displays, evoke the experience of modern shopping in an era often compared to Rio’s own “Belle Epoque” era. Influence could work both ways though. In the 1930s, the North American industrial textile designer Ruth Reeves traveled to Guatemala and created a series of textiles strongly influenced by Mayan weavings she encountered there. According to historian Lisa Munro, North American department store Macy’s displayed these “traditional” designs and works alongside modern art, generating curiosity and interest among particularly middle class female shoppers. Archival images of an exhibit from the Cleveland Museum of Art give examples of this appropriation of Mayan patterns as they might have appeared on the walls of Macy’s.
“Rio de Janeiro-A Torre Eiffel” Biblioteca Nacional Rio de Janeiro-Acervo Digital (1)
http://objdigital.bn.br/objdigital2/acervo_digital/div_iconografia/icon367565_567/icon367567.jpg
“Rio de Janeiro-A Torre Eiffel” Biblioteca Nacional Rio de Janeiro-Acervo Digital (2)
http://objdigital.bn.br/objdigital2/acervo_digital/div_iconografia/icon367565_567/icon367566.jpg
“Gallery IX-Exhibit of Guatemalan Textiles” (1936) Cleveland Museum of Art Archives Digital Collection