CORK AND ITS MARKETS – JENNIFER EGAN

Dowcha bai!

Excuse my (woeful) attempt at Corkonian, I’m afraid I’m not a native!

While I ventured abroad for my last blog post, I’ve decided to stay closer to home this week and delve into Cork’s past to explore it’s history of food retail and it’s markets, specifically during the 19th and early 20th centuries which for Cork, was an interesting period indeed. For the purpose of this blog, I’m going to hone in on The English Market, Cork Butter Market, St. Peter’s Market and street sellers down along the, as it’s colloquially known, Coal Quay. This week’s task requires us to create a story through digital photographs which surprisingly started out a little difficult with very few online archives storing many photographs of Cork’s markets.

“Still images can be moving and moving images can be still. Both meet within soundscapes.” ~ Chien-Chi Chang

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The photograph of the Queen of England visiting The English Market took worldwide media by storm and became one of the most iconic photographs of the year. What was the reason for this? So what if Queen Lizzy visited the place I do some of my weekly shopping? This got me thinking of the importance of markets to Cork and it’s food-scene.

The economic prosperity of Cork grew in the 18th Century and was based primarily on the provisions trade; salted beef, pork, butter and the like were exported to the West Indies to provision the British navy. The unrivaled ability of Cork Harbour to shelter huge fleets was of course a major factor in the expansion of this type of trade. Cork Butter was internationally renowned and became the largest butter market in the world for its time because of this ability to export huge quantities of goods.

Image 1.1 Grand Parade entrance of The English Market with tram-line passing outside. This perhaps provided transportation for those frequenting the market with their load of shopping. Sourced from Cork City and County Archives’ current exhibit named Cork:Merchant Heritage.

As well as being able to ship stuff out, huge cargo ships had easy access into Cork’s Harbour. It allowed exotic food stuffs such as spices from the East to be imported and sold to the people of Cork, or at least to the more affluent. With this, saw the opening of The English Market in 1788 as a flagship municipal market located at the heart of the new CBD (central business district for those less geographically inclined).

Image 1.2 This photo captures a moment on any given day in The English Market back in the 19th Century. Photographer unknown. Sourced from The English Market’s archives.

This photo is very showing of the time as the majority of the people doing their shopping are in fact women and their children. Not only this, but they are very well dressed which perhaps is telling of their social class. Although the English Market was praised by many, it only served the prosperous. The less well off shopped in what was known as the Irish Market, St. Peter’s Market which had entrances on North Main Street and Cornmarket St. Food prices were more affordable here.

Image 1.3 St. Peter’s Market Street Front c. 1900. Sourced from Michael O’Leary Collection of Cork City Council Archives.

Above is the shop front of St. Peter’s Market (where today lies the Bodega) which was completed in 1843. It was, in a way, the centerpiece of Cork’s market revolution. It was designed by the renowned architect Alexander Deane and modeled on St John’s Market in Liverpool, the largest in the U.K. Its hundreds of stalls sold meat fish and vegetables to the Cork working class. The quality of the food was below par with its grander counterpart, however the medieval town dwellers who enclosed their settlements with defensive walls greatly depended on the market for their supply of food and other necessities.

Image 1.4 A bustling Coal Quay, 1904. See the difference of this bustling crowd compared to the desert St. Peter’s Market (no wonder it didn’t survive!) Sourced from The South of Ireland Illustrated with Descriptive Letterpress and Maps.

Image 1.5 Roadside Butter Market Vendors, Cork. c. 1900. Photographer unknown. Sourced from Cork City Libraries.

“The virtual porosity between the ‘covered street’ that was St Peter’s and the bustling real street outside down by Coal Quay (shown above) proved ultimately fatal to its prospects. It was never able to establish its own distinct, insulated identity as the English Market had done. While the latter continued to turn a healthy profit for the corporation, justifying continued expenditure on it and copperfastening its identity in the process, the Irish Market rapidly became a loss-maker. By early 1905  fifty-eight stalls in St Peter’s were vacant and its annual income of less than £500 was over £200 less than it had been the mid-1880s. Estimated expenditure on the market for 1906 was £600.” (http://www.englishmarket.ie, accessed on 01/11/2014)

In the mid 20th Century the remaining handful of stallholders in St Peter’s Market were given notice of eviction so to speak and were offered alternative pitches in The English Market. The Irish Market was no more. Present day Cork still enjoy weekly markets down by the Coal Quay and are invited to enjoy the creaminess of it’s once world famous butter at the Cork Butter Museum. The English Market is what cork is known for, it has been a symbol of the city since its opening welcoming both citizens and tourists alike to enjoy its very successful innovations and creations of artisan foods.

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I guess that explains my question; I’m sorry I ever doubted the Queen’s decision to come visit!

Image 1.6 Queen with Pat O’Connell of K O’Connell Fish. Sourced from The English Market’s archives.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your perusal of my blog installment this week, despite it not being as exotic as the others’! Keep your eyes peeled for next week when I get the opportunity to showcase some of my own photography skills.

Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye…should I just stop trying to be so Cork while I’m ahead?

Jennifer | 112302041

Planning to read more offline? Download the ePub! Simples!

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Bibliography

General History of The English Market. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.englishmarket.ie/historygallery/thehistoryoftheenglishmarket/theemergenceanddevelopmentofmarketsincorkcity/. [Accessed on 01 November 2014]
Image 1.1 Cork City and County Archives’ online exhibition, Cork: Merchant Heritage.  [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.corkarchives.ie/merchantcity/home/retailheritage/. [Accessed on 01 November 2014]
Image 1.2 and Image 1.6 The English Market’s Online Archives [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.englishmarket.ie/historygallery/gallery/. [Accessed on 01 November 2014]
Image 1.3 Michael O’Leary’s Collection [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.corkpastandpresent.ie/mapsimages/corkphotographs/michaelolearycollection/. [Accessed on 01 November 2014]
Image 1.4 The South of Ireland Illustrated with Descriptive Letterpress and Maps.

Boston and ‘the spectacle’ – Katie O’Sullivan

Hey there!

Throughout the course of this week’s blog post I hope to present an informative interpretation of urban life in early 20^th Century Boston, Massachusetts.  Photography is intrinsic to our understanding of historical geography. Surveying the city in the early days of photography produced images used for educational or decorative purposes (Dennis 55). To the keen geographer in modernity however, they provide us with a record which we can analyse and interpret.

I will specifically be focusing on the idea of the spectacle and how spaces were provided for this using Franklin Park Zoo and Fenway Park as examples. Crowd engagement with celebrity has also proved to be a powerful political, cultural, economic and social tool and I will use Amelia Earhart and Babe Ruth to show this.

Map 1.1: A quick illustration I mapped out using Google Earth to show where Images 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 were taken. I have also roughly outlined Greater Boston.

You can click here for further online materials.

New York’s World Fair in 1935 opened with the slogan ”Dawn of a New Day” and encouraged visitors to embrace ”the world of tomorrow”. Exhibitions such as this were commonplace in the 19^th and 20^th centuries (starting in London’s Hyde Park) and these could be considered the beginnings of the spectacle on a large scale in the everyday urban environment.

Katie O’Sullivan | 112362596

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Boston. (Arthur Griffin c.1935-55)

Image 1.1: Housed in Griffin Museum of Photography. Series: Boston Winter A. Filed under: Gelatin Silver Prints (8 x 10 in.) This aerial shot gives a good impression of Boston at this time. Faneuil Hall is centered (the  building extends past the dome), giving due importance to the longtime meeting hall and marketplace ( est. 1742)

Brown bear takes a bath at Franklin Park Zoo. (Leslie Jones c. 1917-34)

Image 1.2: Housed in the Boston Public Library. Series: Animals: Franklin Park Zoo. Filed under: Glass negatives (4 x 5 in.) This is a terrific image showing how  animals forego their wild instinctive nature in favour of a passive human one when in captivity. It is also an interesting take on the idea of surveillance and who is really watching who, as the bear gazes directly out at us.

 

A zoo is at once, both a form of containment and display, inviting spectators to wander a 72-acre site, no matter the season. By putting wild animals in enclosures humankind has essentially reshaped nature (see Image 1.2). Even today, the zoo as a form of entertainment has not lost its popularity. It is easy to imagine how intimidating and exciting it was for children and adults to be so near to exotic animals they may never have otherwise encountered in 1912 when the Zoo opened. Zoos were also educational, teaching the general public about the geographical origins of the animals and their habitats, creating a more knowledgeable society.

 

 

  Amelia Earhart at East Boston Airport in Ford Trimotor (Leslie Jones c. July 1920**)

Image 1.3: Housed in the Boston Public Library. Series: Aviation: Boardman, Earhart & Grayson. Filed under: Glass negatives (4 x 5 in.) Before the aeroplane became a common mode of transport across the globe, one can only imagine the ‘wow’ factor at seeing someone fly; fast and high. It should be noted that  there is a relatively heavy security presence around the crowd and a group of Native Americans at the top left; showing how Amelia was held in high esteem by a diverse range of people; men and women alike.

 

I came across countless photos of new technology and transport methods in the archives. However, I chose this particular one (see Image 1.3)  as it demonstrates the celebrity combined with air transport. It is ironic that Jervis states ‘such machines [aeroplanes were] characteristically coded as masculine’ (1998, p. 213). Following on from this, we discussed how the role of women has changed over the centuries in lectures this week. This makes Amelia Earhart all the more special as she too became an icon, a female aviator enshrouded in success and mystery, disappearing 10 years after this visit to the grounds that later became Logan Airport.

 

 

 

 Babe Ruth autographing at Fenway. (Leslie Jones c. 1934) 

Image 1.4: Housed in the Boston Public Library. Series: Baseball. Filed under: Glass negatives (4 x 5 in.) As a fan of rugby myself, I can relate to the youths in this image who yearn for a souvenir that can last a lifetime. This relationship is intrinsic as an autograph on a ball or jersey can be handed down in family history with the accompanying story  ”I remember when I met Babe Ruth after that spectacular game …” as well as being of sentimental or even economic value.

 

Without the infrastructure of a park or stadium in which to practice and play competitively, baseball may never have taken off as a national sport. Fenway Park is iconic and the oldest Major League Baseball (MLB) park still in use (see Image 1.4). 1903 brought with it the first world series in the MLB as the Boston Americans (renamed the Red Sox in 1907) beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. Their early successes generated a large fan-base. It’s interesting to note that the fans Babe Ruth is attending to in the image are male. This shows the gender division in sports at the time.

 

 

 

 

State House fireworks. (Leslie Jones c. 4th July  1932)

Image 1.5: Housed in the Boston Public Library. Series: Boston: Public Buildings. Filed under: Glass negatives (4 x 5 in.) This image is the very pinnacle of  how most people would regard ‘the spectacle’; a fireworks show. However, there are politics of prestige and power involved in the organisation of such displays. This one for instance is held near the State House.

  Jervis defines the spectacle as ‘an extravagant visual entertainment… [which] dramatizes and projects the passivity of experience, its dependence on canons of representation through which its meaning is shaped and defined’ (1998, p. 344).

To conclude, the growth of celebrity and success in sport kept the public in good spirits. Meanwhile an increase in outdoor family activities, celebrating Independence Day and trips to the Zoo helped reduce potential dissention. These public events, whereby people were regulated through spectating, became a kind of safety valve, a common conclusion among political historians. The diverse range of spectacles pictured above, acted as an underhanded method of regulating Bostonians and will last infinitely through the medium of photography.

That’s all for this week,

Katie O.

 

** The archival record date for Image 1.3 is incorrect as this was before Amelia became well known and admired, it is more likely to have been c. 1927-28

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 Bibliography.

See History | Sports and Leisure at <http://www.cityofboston.gov/visitors/about/trivia.asp&gt;

Dennis, R 2008, Cities in modernity, Cambridge University Press, UK.

Jervis, J 1998, Exploring the Modern, Blackwell Publishing, UK.

Saint Petersburg, Russia – Aoife Cotter

” Dobro pažálovat’ “

Hello and welcome to the week’s last blog post; I hope you all have thoroughly enjoyed perusing through this week’s batch of posts!

Last week I examined the regeneration of London after The Great Fire of 1666, this week I have decided to explore the main thoroughfare of the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia; circa the early 20^th century. I hope the post will give you a better understanding of main street urban infrastructure as an important public space during this period.

Aoife Cotter | 112495138

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Today, Saint Petersburg is filled with rich history and culture, an unusual feat for such a young city of just three hundred years old. The city itself is built upon the banks of the Neva River. Founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great (1682-1721) as his capital; the city remained the capital of the Russian Empire until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

In the late 19th century, Saint Petersburg was thriving. As capital, it was home to state officials, the military garrison and the imperial court. Its unique and dramatic architecture was the equal of any other European city of the time. Buildings such as the Winter Palace now known as the State Hermitage Museum, were representative of a lavish and thriving capital. Saint Petersburg was fast becoming a capitalist city. The effects of industrialization were evident as foreign and national factories grew rapidly within the city’s environs and banks and various other companies made Saint Petersburg their home.

Map 1.1 – Johann Baptiste Hommann’s map of Saint Petersburg circa 1720.
This map depicts the development of the city which was created fifteen years earlier.

The Nevsky Prospect was created at Peter the Great’s behest as the boulevard which would be the main artery to the ancient city of Novgorod but quite quickly became the main street of the city, a city named in honor of Saint Peter. The street itself was named after a 13th century war hero, Alexander Nevsky. Saint Petersburg’s main shops and businesses are located on and around this grand thoroughfare. The Nevsky Prospect, from humble beginnings, has now become Peter’s lasting legacy to the city’s physical infrastructure and its people.

Image 1.1 – The Nevsky Prospect, 1912. This digitalized photograph clearly illustrates the bustling main street and demonstrates Saint Petersburg’s citizens’ use of the Nevsky Prospect in their daily lives.

The Nevsky Prospect continued to evolve throughout the years. In the early years of the 20th Century, the addition of a public light infrastructure and improvements to accessibility, such as new bridges over Neva River, made the Nevsky Prospect a more inviting and accessible public space. In addition to the Winter Palace, the Prospect is home to some outstanding architectural and imposing buildings such as the Kazan Cathedral, the Gostiny Dvor building and The Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood which was completed in 1907.

Image 1.2 – A vintage postcard from 1906 illustrates a view of the Winter Palace from the corner of the Nevsky Prospect. This image represents just one of many architectural and historical sites which are situated on the Prospect.

These landmarks enhance the overall experience of the Prospect, they complement the existing buildings of the street  which are uniform in nature.

“In the words of the poet Piotr Viazemsky, “slender, regular, aligned, symmetrical, single-colored…””

Image 1. 3 – The Nevsky Prospect; circa 1910. This image clearly illustrates the Prospects success and popularity as a main street in the early 20th century and demonstrates the uniformity of the streetscape architecture.

Today, the Nevsky Prospect still exists; it is the city’s central shopping street and the hub of the city’s entertainment and nightlife. It still possesses the same function, it did in the centuries before; acting as a place of promenade for citizens and tourists alike.

“‘Public space’’ is the space where individuals see and are seen by others as
they engage in public affairs” – (James Mensch, 2007)

While the Nevsky Prospect is not a public place of recreation, it is a public space of importance and innovation as a functioning main street. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, it was the city’s central hub of activity, a space that allowed business and trades to thrive. Its significance and success as a crucial urban structure is supported by historic photographic evidence, some of which is included above.

Image 1.4 – The Nevsky Prospect circa the early 1990’s. This image is yet again another representation of the avenues success in the early 20th century.

Image 1.5 – The Nevsky Prospect; modern day. Its function in society has not changed since its foundation.

While, the other contributors to this blog have examined various other processes which occurred in cities throughout the 19th and 20th century.  I firmly believe in the importance of public space. The utilization of public spaces has been established for centuries and many historic public spaces continue to act as hubs of activity in today’s society. The Nevsky Prospect is a perfect example of such a functional public space; it provides both a platform and focus for the city’s daily operations and interactions and facilitates its citizens and tourists alike.

And with that concluding sentence, I bring this week’s blog posts to a close.

Be sure to stay tuned for next week’s blog!

From Russia with love,

Aoife

Bibliography

The Facts of Saint Petersburg – Available at: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/quick-facts.asp[Accessed 21st October 2014]

Saint Petersburg History – Available at: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/history/introduction.asp [Accessed 21^st October 2014]

Saint Petersburg History – Available at: http://saint-petersburg-russia.org/st-petersburg-19th-century [Accessed 21^st October 2014]

Nevsky History – Available at:http://nskrip1.blogspot.ie/2012/11/the-history-of-nevsky-prospect-in-st.html [Accessed 21^st October 2014]

1720 Map – Available at: http://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/31239/Topographische_Vorstellung_der_Neuen_Russischen_HauptResidenz_und/Homann.html [Accessed 21^st October 1014]

“Public Space” James Mensch 2007-03-01o Continental Philosophy Review

Available at: http://0-link.springer.com.library.ucc.ie/article/10.1007/s11007-006-9038-x [Accessed 21st October 2014]