Patterns of Consumer Activity in early Lincoln, Nebraska

Ayla Volante Author

04/05/2021 Added

11 Plays

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A brief overview of the mission of the UNL Campus Archaeology Project and it's current research about consumer habits in Lincoln from the early 1900s.

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[00:00:01.080]Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining me.
[00:00:03.360]Today, I'll be sharing some of the research
[00:00:05.670]that I've done through the UNL Campus Archaeology Project,
[00:00:09.240]advised by Dr. Athanassopoulos,
[00:00:11.140]pertaining to the patterns of consumer habits
[00:00:13.330]in Lincoln, Nebraska in the late 1800s to early 1900s
[00:00:18.150]To start, I would like to give some background on the work
[00:00:20.730]of the UNL Campus Archeology Project.
[00:00:23.380]This project has been behind several on-campus excavations
[00:00:26.880]throughout the past couple of decades.
[00:00:29.350]Excavations of historical artifacts
[00:00:31.350]were from a former neighborhood near the Kaufman Dormitory,
[00:00:34.440]a cistern under the Student Union,
[00:00:36.740]and the Ross Film Theater, which can be seen on this map.
[00:00:39.930]Recently, in 2019, the UNL Campus Archaeology project
[00:00:43.540]did a salvage archeology excavation
[00:00:46.260]near the Capitol building,
[00:00:47.400]known as the Capitol Wellfield site,
[00:00:49.070]in an attempt to save artifacts
[00:00:50.690]from an old Lincoln neighborhood
[00:00:51.960]before they were destroyed by construction.
[00:00:54.820]These four collections amount to over 3000 artifacts,
[00:00:57.970]ranging from glassware,
[00:00:59.240]like medicinal bottles and canning jars,
[00:01:01.280]to ceramic ware, like tea and dining sets.
[00:01:04.130]There are also some silverware, toothbrushes,
[00:01:06.820]and smoking pipes,
[00:01:08.060]as well as final remains in the collections.
[00:01:10.780]These artifacts are analyzed alongside archived materials,
[00:01:14.580]like newspapers,
[00:01:15.570]and made into exhibits on the platform known as Omeka A.
[00:01:20.750]Omeka S is an open source digital platform
[00:01:23.600]used museums and scholarly collections
[00:01:25.740]to document and display information.
[00:01:28.150]Previous to Omeka S,
[00:01:29.450]we were using multiple sites to house our data,
[00:01:31.710]which was not ideal in regard
[00:01:33.190]to the longevity of the project that we desired.
[00:01:36.720]Starting in 2020,
[00:01:38.070]the Campus Archeology Project began to work
[00:01:40.450]with the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities,
[00:01:43.250]the CDRH, to convert all of our archeological records,
[00:01:46.390]like artifact dimensions,
[00:01:48.140]as well as exhibits and historical resources
[00:01:50.360]to the single platform.
[00:01:52.110]They helped with standardizing the process,
[00:01:54.040]and we were able to transfer 1,482 complete artifact entries
[00:01:58.290]from different sites.
[00:02:00.520]The CDRH has assisted us in creating a survey
[00:02:03.340]that can be geared towards a wide range of viewers
[00:02:05.420]of different backgrounds and interest levels,
[00:02:07.420]an important aspect of experiential learning.
[00:02:12.080]This year's focus of the UNL Campus Archaeology Project
[00:02:15.430]is on material culture of Lincoln
[00:02:17.150]and how it is influenced by diverse backgrounds,
[00:02:19.350]like gender,
[00:02:20.183]during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
[00:02:23.070]Basically, the study of daily life
[00:02:24.790]and how it was different throughout various demographics.
[00:02:29.360]During this time period,
[00:02:30.440]Lincoln looked much different than it does today.
[00:02:32.890]Houses were spread out among open land,
[00:02:34.890]and people traveled mostly in horse-drawn carriages,
[00:02:37.400]as cars were a luxury that many could not afford.
[00:02:41.130]Characteristic of the era,
[00:02:42.640]which took great influence from the British Victorian age,
[00:02:45.400]women had a domestic role
[00:02:46.830]while men worked, often as day laborers.
[00:02:51.540]Because women were largely in charge
[00:02:53.270]of maintaining the house,
[00:02:54.530]they held a lot of purchasing power,
[00:02:56.240]and this can be seen in the archeological record
[00:02:58.430]that the project has collected.
[00:03:00.910]Among these artifacts, plain whiteware
[00:03:03.000]is especially popular,
[00:03:04.500]as seen in the top row of the images.
[00:03:07.540]Purchasing, however, wasn't just influenced
[00:03:09.500]by consumer preference.
[00:03:11.020]It was also affected by the availability
[00:03:13.080]and proximity of the market.
[00:03:15.930]In looking at the different neighborhoods
[00:03:17.520]represented by the different collections,
[00:03:20.420]generally, the Ross Theater artifacts
[00:03:22.240]would have been more expensive
[00:03:23.470]because of the economic status of those that lived there.
[00:03:26.740]It is thought that families may have had
[00:03:28.640]two tea and dinner sets of varying values
[00:03:30.920]that would be used for daily life and special occasions.
[00:03:34.700]Designs of the fancier set were commonly Oriental
[00:03:37.420]or floral transfer prints or hand-painted,
[00:03:39.790]sometimes with gold luster rims.
[00:03:43.430]Here are two of our artifacts
[00:03:44.720]showing the influence of Oriental designs
[00:03:46.750]that were likely picked out by women
[00:03:48.330]since they are household commodities.
[00:03:52.240]This advertisement confirms this,
[00:03:54.020]as it targets men who buy tobacco
[00:03:55.830]and would use the Japanese silk pin cushion
[00:03:57.970]as a gift that the ad claims would please their wives.
[00:04:01.770]Imports of ceramics became very popular
[00:04:03.980]in the late 19th century,
[00:04:05.300]with the first Centennial International Exposition
[00:04:07.790]occurring in 1876 in Philadelphia.
[00:04:11.140]This convention featured ceramics from many countries,
[00:04:13.610]including the Asian countries of China and Japan.
[00:04:16.690]Not only did consumers become interested
[00:04:18.790]in these Oriental styles,
[00:04:20.340]but American manufacturers took inspiration
[00:04:22.500]from the design as well.
[00:04:24.140]This earthenware teapot shows a figure
[00:04:26.510]known in Japanese culture as a Hotei,
[00:04:28.930]or Chinese culture as Buddha.
[00:04:31.340]This figure can be seen among other artifacts
[00:04:33.700]in the collection, showing its popularity at the time.
[00:04:38.280]Another aspect of daily life
[00:04:39.940]is the treatment of ailments,
[00:04:41.380]which we can see in the preservation of medicinal.
[00:04:43.650]For example, Lydia E Pinkham's Vegetable Compound.
[00:04:48.100]These bottles are useful to our research
[00:04:49.930]because we can determine the manufacturer
[00:04:52.080]through the embossment
[00:04:53.070]and look at historical records for advertisements.
[00:04:56.240]Pinkham's vegetable Compound
[00:04:57.700]was advertised to women to relieve them
[00:04:59.380]of cramps and reproductive elements.
[00:05:01.830]Information gained from medicinal bottles
[00:05:03.571]represent the daily life of their consumers,
[00:05:06.900]especially women.
[00:05:08.650]Many of our collection's medicinal bottles
[00:05:10.710]are part of the Kauffman collection
[00:05:12.260]due to its proximity to an infirmary,
[00:05:14.530]with some of the features of the site
[00:05:16.130]being direct trash pits of the hospital.
[00:05:19.010]However, there are items in our collections
[00:05:21.220]that represent male consumerism as well.
[00:05:23.560]One of these artifacts is this mustache cup.
[00:05:26.740]Due to Victorian influence in America, mustaches,
[00:05:29.640]like this one seen on Frank Grant,
[00:05:31.240]the mayor of Lincoln from 1895 to 1899, were very popular.
[00:05:35.730]Drinking tea was a social activity shared by all,
[00:05:38.090]so special teacups were created to combat
[00:05:40.220]the problem of mustache wax melting in one's cup of tea.
[00:05:44.780]This is a great example of how products
[00:05:46.660]that would normally be advertised to women,
[00:05:48.340]due to their role at home,
[00:05:49.420]could be marketed to men.
[00:05:51.440]The UNL Campus Archeology Project
[00:05:53.380]documents Lincoln's history
[00:05:54.680]and provides experiential learning through student research.
[00:05:57.970]The research that our team conducts offers insight
[00:06:00.440]into the social and domestic life of early Lincoln.
[00:06:04.190]Sharing our results with the public
[00:06:06.000]through a digital archive and exhibits
[00:06:07.900]is part of our responsibility
[00:06:09.740]and an extension of experiential learning.
[00:06:13.390]Finally, I would like to thank
[00:06:14.730]the UNL anthropology departments
[00:06:16.620]from the school of Global Integrative Studies
[00:06:18.640]for their support of the UNL Campus Archeology Team,
[00:06:22.100]the UNL FYRE and UCARE programs
[00:06:24.010]for giving me the opportunity to partake in this research,
[00:06:27.790]the CDRH for assisting us in creating our Omeka S interface,
[00:06:32.890]the Nebraska State Museum
[00:06:34.060]who has ownership of the artifacts,
[00:06:35.950]and finally, past campus archeology students
[00:06:38.720]Olivia Thomsen and Cole Juckette
[00:06:40.500]for their contributions to the project.
[00:06:43.220]Thank you.

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Patterns of Consumer Activity in early Lincoln, Nebraska

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