1 6Th International Public Market Conference
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1 6th International Public Market Conference Washington, DC, October 28-31, 2005 PUBLIC MARKETS AND THE CITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Helen Tangires© The premise of this year’s conference theme is that great markets make great cities, and vice versa. In my talk this morning, basically “Market History 101,” I hope to demonstrate that this phenomenon has a long history. Since antiquity, cities throughout the world have established markets to provide shelter for buyers and sellers and to protect and promote the trade in fresh food. We will look briefly at the history of public markets in Europe, and then zoom in on the development of market types in Washington and Baltimore, as examples of the fact that public markets were critical to the city's self image and visible indicators of a healthy and well- regulated economy. Judging the city’s performance, of course, was the market shopper, who could always see, hear, taste, and smell whether or not government was doing its job. The power of public markets to contribute positively to a city’s image must be understood in the context of the long urban tradition in Europe. For centuries, local government established market laws and constructed special buildings and spaces that demonstrated its commitment to protect citizens from spoiled food, high prices, food shortages, and merchandise that did not meet standard weight or measure. Sales of perishable goods were carried on openly, at specified times, so that anyone passing by may judge the quality of goods and witness transactions. The building type that clearly displayed openness was the market cross, which numbered over 800 in England and Wales by the seventeenth century. The market cross featured some symbol of authority, such as a flag, royal crest, bell tower, or clock, to remind citizens that marketing would be regulated and supervised. Most vendors were strictly confined to sell at the market cross or other designated place in order to facilitate food inspection and enforcement of market laws. Licensing and regulation also extended to vendors whose ambulatory privileges allowed them to sell door-to-door to the sick, elderly, or handicapped. Street vendors walked a fine line between entrepreneurship and public service. When the market bells rang, these public servants began a performance that was carefully calculated to inform the community that business and government were working together to ensure the common good. Sixteenth century Dutch market scenes remind us that even a snowy day would not hinder the important task of provisioning the city. The visible hand of government is evident in the placement of vendors in and around the municipal market sheds. Butchers had exclusive use of the sheds and suspended their meat from the eaves in order to maintain freshness and to facilitate inspection. Fish sales, on the other hand, were conducted out in the open and, away from the meat, with some fish sold live, from tanks. And dutiful vendors brave the cold and long hours on their feet—a sight not much different from today. Contrary to modern notions of cleanliness and hygiene, the open-air sheds and food exposed to the elements represented positive qualities in a market--where transactions could be witnessed easily and where the food itself was literally open for public inspection. Food marketing was a public act--carefully orchestrated by local officials and the city's food purveyors who were eager to achieve their mutual goal of provisioning the city. Vendors also demonstrated their pride and commitment to the city by participating in 2 local fairs and festivals. For example, butchers displayed food hyperboles, such as giant sausages, at festival time. A 19th-century illustrator had fun with the sausage makers of Königsberg in a fantastic image in which butchers parade a giant sausage outside of the city gates and are depicted again, below, cutting it up for public consumption. The marketplace served not only the daily shopper or the occasional patron at festival time but also the weary traveler. As portrayed in this 18th century Italian scene, a spaghetti vendor sets up shop at the end stall of a portside market house, where newly arrived immigrants satisfy their hunger in a welcoming environment. Because of the market’s central location, access to roads and waterways, and open, flexible plan, it was well positioned to satisfy a diverse community, all under one roof. The close relationship between the city and its public markets also took shape, in the combined town hall and market—a building type that still exists throughout Europe and the United States. Boston's Faneuil Hall for example, built in 1742, followed the English practice of building an open, arcaded market on the ground floor, with municipal offices on the upper floor. By combining the two functions—market and town hall—into one building, the town economized on construction costs and kept marketing off the streets. Combined markets and town halls, with minor variations in style and ornament, were built in cities from Rhode Island to South Carolina and many of them still standing. Clockwise from upper left are the markets of Newport, Fayetteville, Charleston, and Cheraw. Boston’s market soon outgrew its quarters on the ground floor of the town hall, prompting Mayor Josiah Quincy to commit one million dollars—an unprecedented public investment in markets--for a series of massive stone buildings dedicated exclusively to food marketing and distribution. Observers hailed the granite market house, approximately 500 by 36 feet, as the largest and most elegant in the world. More common than massive stone market houses, however, were the simple free- standing sheds that stood in the middle of a street or public square, such as Houston’s City Market and the York public market in Pennsylvania. These sheds owed their popularity to the fact that they provided minimal protection from the elements for the least cost, they did not require an architect, and they were quick to build. Moreover, builders could use the familiar modular bay system employed in other structures, such as barns and churches, to achieve the desired building length. Yet even for these relatively simple structures, the city was dedicated to quality of construction, as we learn from documents such as an affidavit from 1802 that confirms that the Pittsburgh city council hired someone to measure the new market house for compliance with specifications in the contract. A drawing for a market house in Mobile, Alabama, dated 1823, notes a simple free standing shed, but the city’s contract demanded solid brick piers, side aisles supported by sturdy wooden columns, a paved brick floor, a gable roof with cypress or pine shingles, and a stylish curved plaster ceiling. The concentration of food retailers under one roof had many advantages. Vendors could keep an eye on their competition; the municipal clerk could oversee the market; and customers could choose among several different merchants. The market house also created the conditions for synergism, the merchandising phenomenon that occurs when vendors benefit from selling in proximity to one another. 3 An unknown artist chose the courthouse and surrounding markets as the subject of this city portrait of Pittsburgh. Across the street from the courthouse stands the impressive horse- shoe shaped market shed on what appears to be a busy market day. This scene conveys the importance of the marketplace to the economic health and self-image of the city. Markets have long had the reputation for being the place where visitors could observe the entire city in miniature. Describing the New Orleans market in his journal of 1819, the American architect, Henry Benjamin Latrobe wrote that “Along the Levee, as far as the eye could reach to the West, and to the Market House to the East were ranged two rows of Market people, some having stalls or tables with a Tilt or awning of Canvass, but the Majority having their wares lying on the ground, perhaps on a piece of canvas, or a parcel of Palmetto leaves.” Latrobe continued with graphic descriptions of the racial and ethnic diversity of the vendors, as well as their colorful costumes and songs. A traveler to Philadelphia in the late 18th century noted that High Street Market was a place of perfect equality, where one could find people from all walks of life--the young and the old, the rich and the poor. The City of Philadelphia was also known for its numerous African-American women who sat in the market houses and at the corners selling pepperpot. This soup was made chiefly from tripe, ox-feet, and other inexpensive cuts of meat, heavily seasoned and spiced. These women supplemented the family income by selling the soup from vacant stalls when the market was closed. Considered a public service, the pepperpot vendor was praised not only for her entertainment and familiar cry, but also for providing a hearty meal for a few cents to the poor. New York City officials also recognized that street vendors were critical to the city's self image. The sights and sounds of these vendors filled the city's vast network of streets and neighborhoods--as proudly displayed on this scarf from 1814. Placed in the center of the composition is City Hall, surrounded by 14 vignettes of various street vendors and their associated cries. Typically for sale were quick hot snacks such as baked pears and hot corn, delicate items, such as strawberries, and items too heavy or bulky for the average person to carry home, such as sand for construction or cat tails for bedding. Butchers, by far, were the most powerful vendors in the city markets, in part because of the history and nature of their trade.