Custom «The Role of Exhibition in the Creation of Place» Essay Paper Sample

Early exhibitions played a very important roe in determining how different places looked like and in some way it can be said that part of their intention was targeting not only to encourage attendance within the place but most importantly to revitalize the image of that particular place for better delivery of services, efficiency in production, improved hygiene among other things. Exhibition can be looked at as very important tools for creation of awareness through demonstration of work that attracts the attention of other parties. For instance a look at the Meatpacking story, explains how the activity used to be done in a crude manner but later transformed to better means of production within the area. It can therefore be affirmed that the role of exhibition is generally to improve the conditions of a place for better service delivery and efficiency (Wade, 1).

The way livestock is raised, how technology changes and the demand from the urban market are factors that have over the past years influenced the preparation for pork and beef consumption by human beings. During the civil war up until the 1920s, Chicago was known by many as the largest enter when it came to meat packing. It was acknowledged as the headquarters when it came to that industry. Among the Europeans, commercial butchering was start6ed when the population in the town began to grow. There was no modernized form of preservations and the beef that was present had to be sold while it was still fresh (Larsen, 20). The packaging was not great as the meat was covered in salt and piled into barrels made of wood. Since no adequate disposal method was being used, the blood and the bones were thrown into the nearest water body. The city government in its own interests ensured these operations were done in the outskirts of the city.

Wade (1) asserts that after the revolutionary war, the Americans took their slaughtered products over the Appalachians. Thus, the volume of Ohio River Valley went on the rise. He meat packers in Cincinnati devised ways of curing the pork so that it can be shipped toward the Mississippi river. Also, instead of the lard being thrown away, they made soap and candle. As a result of this efforts, Cincinnati became the pioneers of the meat processing, specifically pork.

The layout of the town of Cincinnati and its environs greatly contributed to its success. When viewed from its layout, the exhibition of where the roads, drainage, railways and the packaging houses were to be situated helped greatly in dealing with the hygiene problem. The railroads were laid down in a manner such that the city of Chicago was connected to where the farmers who had the livestock were located. This was at Midwestern hinterland. The rail roads also connected the Chicago city tot the busy and large markets in the East Coast (Daman, 1).

The exhibition in terms of the display of the commercial products also improved and this pushed up the sales. The Union army catered for the pork that had already been processed and also the transportation of the live cattle. They supported the packing houses on the Chicago River branches. A union stock yard was built to cater for the inconveniences caused by driving the cattle through the city. These stock yards were accessible to the transit companies that had also been set up, and the railroads formed the network.

A lot of transformation happened to Chicago meat industry between 1865 and when the stock yards were set up. The refrigeration of the meat products improved as by the year 1900, mechanical refrigeration boosted the industry. The extensions of the network for the roads enabled trade to be done outside Chicago to its neighbors (Warren, 1).

In the greater more recent half of the 19^th century, the rail roads made the meat packing procedure more centralized to the railroad. The plan to layout the town of Chicago turned out to be a success as the exhibition of its blueprint played out. The town had been arranged in such a manner that it was easier for all the producers to link up with the central part of the town. This enabled the traders to conduct their business in a welcoming environment and as a result, the business was boosted.

In the present years, a lot has changed as a result of the way products were being exhibited in packaging and also the way the networks have been set up. Trucks and major busy highways have taken over the transporting industry. Young animals are now sold in preference to the mature animals too. Large refrigerator trucks are now used to transport the products over the highways to the supermarkets. The business in the older stock yards that used the rail road crumbled in the1960s and the Chicago Union Stock Yard was closed down in 1970.

In the 19^th century, both the processes of urbanization and industrialization reach their zenith. Meat packing in the United States of America has had a long bastion of progressive unionism brought about by activism in the grass root, interplant and interregional solidarity. The whole idea tells us more about the sense of place and may lead to the social pecking order which was likely to subvert the labor unity but encourage the important role played by employees from different backgrounds to aid in the flow of production.

With the idea of stable labor and the power to run more enterprises whereby the rich get richer at the expense of the poor (Daman, 1). By providing immigrants with employment opportunities that solely met the requirements of a family, lying to people by selling commodities that are of low quality at quality prices, and severe working hours; owners of big enterprises to the merit of the poor with no remorse. It thus came the time for journalist such as Upton Sinclair to picture the severe conditions to the attention of the general public by launching a reform movement called progressivism.

He therefore did it by writing concerning ills such as corruption of individualism, by enlightening the middle to upper class to the sufferings of the daily life of the poor people. Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" through its main character known as Jugris, who was viewed as an immigrant in the booming industry accompanied by widespread bribery. The Jungle contains several instances of how immigrants were treated and the bad attitude towards them that led the United into progressivism (Sinclair, 40).

The jungle is one of the most renowned American novels that have ever been written and many people relate the novel to with the federal legislation that it aggravated. Americans became afraid of the terrible sanitation under which the packaging of meat went through. The lies contained in the labels written in tinned meat further horrified the Americans. The revelation that rotten meat were being sold to people without taking into account the health of the citizens of America further infuriated them. Citizens bought and consumed meat containing ground remains, sometimes unfortunate bodies of workers who fell into the machines during grinding process. During the time "The Jungle was written the dramatic drop of meat sales was witnessed. The cry from the general public led to the Pure Food Drug Act being passed in 1906 less than a year before the novel was published. Most people might think that Sinclair wrote the novel because he was interested to incite the American government in order regulate the sanitation of meat packaging firm which was not the case anyway. And Sinclair tells us that "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach" (Sinclair, 24).

Sinclair further indicates in the book that the process of meat inspection before packaging was not appropriately followed. Immigrants were not only to deal with the problems on the home front but also went to work and endure "hell on earth". Through the Jungle, American was given a reality dose. This is because many people who worked in unsanitary factories lived in bad health conditions. Not only did these bad working conditions affected the poor immigrants but also the performance of the meat packing industries (The Field Museum, 1).

I am of the opinion that Sinclair's perception concerning the "American Dream" is true because as the industrialization and urbanization went on the city of Chicago became recognized as one of the most productive states. The whole process opened ways to various other economical activities such as selling of grain and cattle. Also, Chicago later became more technologically developed as a result of huge human capital levels and that is an indication of industrialization which Chicago is today.

Exhibition demonstrates a sense of prosperity within a place. The Meatpacking industry in Chicago is a good example demonstrating this where it had long relied on traditional methods of slaughtering, meat preservation and waste management but later after the revolutionary war, it is very apparent that the number of livestock increased significantly. The better methods of pork curing is a sign of prosperity, better still innovations were witnessed where as opposed to the past, the wastes (lard components) could be used to make candles and soap (Wade, 1).

Another element of prosperity is brought out by the fact that part of the Chicago's victory in the civil can be attributed to the fact that the Midwestern farmers had also ventured into livestock production as a result of the improved services in the meat industry. The railroad later became an element of sustaining the prosperity that was witnessed within the region as it linked Chicago to other large markets within the East Coast (Briley, 1).

During the 1800s many city's around the world, experienced construction of exhibitions. Part of the major role played by them was showcasing goods that different countries around the world had to offer. For instance, in London, there was the construction of Crystal Palace that was done in international style. Crystal Palace however had a great significance in image creation of Britain as the country itself was ahead in innovation of the structures. This leads a strong affirmed that exhibitions creates a national identity especially when a given country initiates unique ideas while planning them. Other exhibitions that were witnessed within the same period include Universal Exposition in Paris that entailed amusement, showcase of goods and amusement. In 1876, there was the Philadelphia Exhibition while in 1879 and 1893; there was Sydney and Chicago Exhibitions respectively (Larsen, 50). In all these cities, as much as exhibitions were being used for showcasing wares, they were also being used for an important objective of promoting not only the city's identity but the country's as a whole too.

To sum up the whole discussion, it can be strongly affirmed that the role of exhibition is generally to improve the conditions of a place for better service delivery and efficiency. This is very apparent as witnessed in several cases within this article. In the Meatpacking, Chicago is seen to have greatly benefited from exhibitions in terms of better ways of butchering, meat processing, preservation, waste management and general hygiene of the place. This was also realized in other cities such as London (Crystal Palace), Sydney, Paris among others. They could be used to showcase products and also gave the cities an identity. Exhibition also played an important role in demonstrating a sense of prosperity within places.