The Architecture of Longing: Objects, Affect, and the Poetics of Home in Twentieth-Century American Literature and Culture by Annah Elizabeth MacKenzie A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (American Culture) in the University of Michigan 2014 Doctoral Committee: Professor Magdalena Zaborowska, Co-Chair Professor June Howard, Co-Chair Associate Professor Kristin Hass Associate Professor Matthew Briones, University of Chicago For my father, Paul A. MacKenzie 1942-2003 Ich möchte Sie, so gut ich es kann, bitten, Geduld zu haben gegen alles Ungelöste in Ihrem Herzen und zu versuchen, die Fragen selbst liebzuhaben wie verschlossene Stuben und wie Bücher, die in einer sehr fremden Sprache geschrieben sind. Forschen Sie jetzt nicht nach den Antworten, die Ihnen nicht gegeben werden können, weil Sie sie nicht leben könnten. Und es handelt sich darum, alles zu leben. Leben Sie jetzt die Fragen. Vielleicht leben Sie dann allmählich, ohne es zu merken, eines fernen Tages in die Antwort hinein. Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. -Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet ii Acknowledgements I would especially like to thank the members of my committee—Magdalena Zaborowska, June Howard, Kristin Hass, and Matthew Briones—for their unwavering support and invaluable guidance at every stage of this project. Magdalena Zaborowska, so generous with her time and in sharing her extraordinary knowledge, has read numerous drafts of this project and pushed me to sharpen my thinking with each revision. I am also grateful for June Howard’s close readings and insightful criticism. I’ve never encountered a mind like June Howard’s, and throughout our many classes, meetings, and discussions, her commitment to holding me and my work to a very high standard has been both a challenge and an incredible gift. Kristin Hass, who was my first advisor at the University of Michigan and a vital member of my qualifying exam committee, also merits my sincere appreciation for helping me to navigate numerous stages in the completion of this project and the pursuing of the doctoral degree. I am also deeply indebted to Matthew Briones for the insight, encouragement, and friendship he has given me at many critical moments during my graduate studies. Along with these members of my committee, I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to those scholars and professors, at the University of Michigan and beyond, who have nurtured my intellectual curiosity and continue to inspire me: Paul Anderson, Gregory Dowd, Penny Von-Eschen, Nadine Naber, Amy Carroll, Matthew Countryman, Nadine Hubbs, Anne Herrmann, Louis Cicciarelli, Melissa Monroe, Brian Karafin, and Naeem Inayatullah. The department of American Culture at the University of Michigan has been very good to me. I know I share with everyone affiliated with the program an immense appreciation for Graduate Student Coordinator, Marlene Moore, who cares deeply for graduate students and is perhaps our most indispensible resource. Thank you as well to the entire administrative staff: Judy Gray, Mary Freeman, Tabby Rohn, Tammy Zill. I am also thankful for the wonderful support I received during my time as the 2011-2012 Field Fellow at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. Special thanks to Cynthia Field, Chrysanthe Broikos, Sarah Leavitt, Deborah Sorensen, Cathy Frankel, and the entire Exhibitions and Collections department for generously sharing with me their knowledge, resources, and guidance. Finally, I would never, ever, have survived the move to the Midwest or completed this dissertation without the encouragement and love of the family of friends I have gained along the way. I am so lucky. Much love to Colleen Woods, Urmila Venkatesh, Paul Farber, Sara Crider, Matt Blanton, Brenna Greer, Matt Briones, Afia Ofori-Mensa, Megan Biddinger, Alice Gates, Tayana Hardin, Margot Finn, Cookie Woolner, Andre Cavalcante, Robert Bell, Isabel Milan, Jesse Carr, Katie Lennard, Liz Harmon, Mejdulene Shomali, Jennifer Guerra and Brian Short. And my deepest thanks to my mama and sister, Christine and Kate MacKenzie, for seeing all the good things in me and in the world—even, and especially, at those times when I can’t. I owe everything to you both. iii Table of Contents Dedication . ii Acknowledgements . iii List of Figures . v Chapter 1. Introduction: The Architecture of Longing . 1 2. Nostalgia in the Dream City: Reconstructing the Heartland in Sister Carrie and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . 34 3. “The Sheer Genius of the Electric Chandelier”: The Lamp and the Promise of Home in Steven Millhauser’s Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer. 82 4. From Screen to Shining Screen: The Wizard of Oz in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction . .139 5. “A Country’s Attic”: The Story of Stuff at the National Building Museum’s 2012 House & Home Exhibition . .200 6. Conclusion: Of Rainbows and Polka Dots: Exposing and Rebuilding Home in Oz and Detroit . .251 Bibliography . 266 iv List of Figures 1.1 Christina’s World, 1947, Andrew Wyeth, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. 4 2.1 “The Log Cabin: A Favorite Patriotic Ballad,” 1840, The Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Special Collections. .46 2.2 “The Hunter’s Cabin,” 1893, Photograph, published in The Dream City: A Portfolio of Photographic Views of the World’s Columbian Exposition, N.D. Thompson Publishing Company (Photographer Unknown) . 50 2.3 “These people are all made of delicate china,” 1900, W.W. Denslow, Pen and ink illustration, New York Public Library, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art. 71 2.4 The Wizard of Oz, 1939, Screenshot, MGM Productions. 81 3.1 General Electric’s Dynamo, 1894, Photograph, Photographs of the World’s Fair (Chicago: The Werner Co.) . .89 3.2 Egypt, 1922, Maxfield Parrish, Color Litho for Edison Mazda Co., American Illustrators Gallery, New York. 119 3.3 Lamp Seller of Baghdad, 1923, Maxfield Parrish, Color Litho for Edison Mazda Co., American Illustrators Gallery, New York. 120 3.4 The Most Important Place in the World, 2007, Ikea Advertisement. .125 3.5 Happiness, 2011, Ikea Advertisement (UK). .125 3.6 His Only Rival, 1910, General Electric Advertisement, Color Lithograph (Printed by Ketterlinus, Philadelphia). 135 3.7 “A Little Fabric Makes a Big Difference,” 2006, Ikea Sweden, Forsman & Bodenfors, (Photographer Unknown). 136 v 3.8 “Ikea Améliore Votre Quotidien,” 2010, Ikea Paris (Photographer Unknown). 137 3.9 “Good Design Makes the Everyday a Little Better,” 2006, New York, Ikea Campaign, (Photographer Unknown). 138 3.10 “Ikea 4.5 Museum,” 2006, Tokyo, Adk Asatsu DK Agency, (Photographer Unknown). 138 4.1 The Wizard of Oz, 1939, Screenshot, MGM Productions . 155 4.2 “Typical American Boy at the Fair,” 1940, New York Times. .165 4.3 The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair, 1939, Westinghouse Advertisement. .167 4.4 “TV adds so much to family happiness,” 1951, Life Magazine, John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. .178 4.5 “The Greatest Joys are Shared,” 1950, Norman Rockwell, Harpers Magazinen John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. .179 4.6 “Home Team,” Saturday Evening Post, 1950, John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 180 4.7 The Wizard of Oz, 1939, Screenshot, MGM Productions. .186 4.8 The Wiz, 1978, New York Magazine. .192 4.9 The Wiz, 1978, Screenshot, Universal Pictures. 195 5.1 National Building Museum Exterior, NMB & Capitol Building in the background. Photograph by F.T. Eyre, courtesy National Building Museum. 207 5.2 National Building Museum Interior. The majestic Corinthian columns in the Great Hall. Photograph by Hoachlander Davis Photography, courtesy National Building Museum. .207 vi 5.3 Introductory Gallery of House & Home Exhibit, 2012, National Building Museum. Photo by museum staff. 210 5.4 “Trainwreck Houseboat,” Sausalito CA. National Building Museum, Photograph by Andrew Garn. .210 5.5 “Julia Brooks’ Wedding,” 1947, Washington D.C., Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Photograph by Addison N. Scurlock. 210 5.6 House & Home exhibit section, 2012, National Building Museum, Photograph by Allan Sprecher. 212 5.7 Object Wall, National Building Museum, 2012, Photograph by Lee Stalsworth, Fine Art Through Photography, LLC. 213 5.8 House & Home installation images, 2012, National Building Museum, Photograph by Allan Sprecher. 229 5.9 Object Stills From House & Home Collection, National Building Museum, Photographs by museum staff. 229 5.10 Historical Timeline, House & Home exhibit section, 2012, National Building Museum, Photograph by museum staff. 236 5.11 “House on Walden Street,” 2008, Photograph by Andrew Moore, also published in Detroit Disassembled (Akron Art Museum, 2010), Courtesy Andrew Moore. 247 6.1 Polka Dot House, 2013, Detroit MI (Photograph by author). 256 6.2 The Heidelberg Project’s Pink Car, 2013, Detroit, MI (Photograph by author). ..