Boosters, Saracens, and Indians
Boosters, Saracens, and Indians
This chapter focuses on cereal architecture. It discusses the role of boosters in the promotion of the Midwest. Several case studies offer evidence of patterns of overlapping interests in land speculation, railroads, agriculture, and industrial development. The chapter explains that boosterism was based on the premise that any town could become an important urban center if its leading citizens did enough to promote its unique potential. It also examines the iconography of the corn palaces, beginning with their use of Moorish architectural forms to evoke a festive exoticism. The examination of corn-palace imagery introduces both the symbolic representation of American Indians and their active participation in the entertainments and parades.
Keywords: cereal architecture, boosters, railroads, land speculation, agriculture, boosterism, American Indians, corn palaces
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