Overview

Originally published in 2003. In Public Markets and Civic Culture in Nineteenth-Century America Helen Tangires examines the role of the public marketplace—social and architectural—as a key site in the development of civic culture in America. More than simply places for buying and selling food, Tangires explains, municipally owned and operated markets were the common ground where citizens and government struggled to define the shared values of the community. Public markets were vital to civic policy and reflected the profound belief in the moral economy—the effort on the part of the municipality to maintain the social and political health of its community by regulating the ethics of trade in the urban marketplace for food. Tangires begins with the social, architectural, and regulatory components of the public market in the early republic, when cities embraced this ancient system of urban food distribution. By midcentury, the legalization of butcher shops in New York City and the incorporation of market house companies in Pennsylvania challenged the system and hastened the deregulation of this public service. Some cities demolished their marketing facilities or loosened restrictions on the food trades in an effort to deal with the privatization movement. However, several decades of experience with dispersed retailers, suburban slaughterhouses, and food transported by railroad proved disastrous to the public welfare, prompting cities and federal agencies to reclaim this urban civic space.

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9781421437422

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Reviews

This well-illustrated book raises the intriguing possibility that municipal markets worked more like the neoclassical ideal than the unregulated markets ideologues hail. -Keith D. Revell, Journal of American History An important and useful introduction to an understudied fixture in the history of urban economic life, governance and landscape. -Joshua Lupkin, Journal of the Early Republic Tangires uses a wealth of sources in this fascinating study of a topic only recently getting the attention it deserves . . . Highly recommended. -Choice Tangire's work represents a major contribution to the understanding of social life in American cities. -Richard G. Miller, History: Reviews of New Books The intriguing tale Tangires tells concerns, chiefly, the eclipse of the public market in the interest of the evolution of both private shops and megastores. -Margaretta M. Lovell, Common-Place For the first time we have in this book a historical overview of the public market place in America. -Michal Sernoff, Urban Morphology Fills a gap in the literature of early urban retailing. -Terrence H. Witkowski, Winterthur Portfolio Public Markets and Civil Cultures undoubtedly stands as the definitive study of the American public market. -Martin J. Hershock, Historian Public Markets and Civic Culture brings to light the importance of markets in nineteenth-century urban life. -Brian K. Geiger, Material Culture By giving the public market its due as a space that defined the civic interests of urban America, Tangires steps onto provocative historical and methodological terrain. The book demonstrates that even in its most embattled circumstances, the public market embodied in microcosm an ideal of good government that showed-and continues to show-remarkable resilience and adaptability in the name of the commonweal. -Linda Aleci, Franklin and Marshall College

This well-illustrated book raises the intriguing possibility that municipal markets worked more like the neoclassical ideal than the unregulated markets ideologues hail. -- Keith D. Revell * Journal of American History * An important and useful introduction to an understudied fixture in the history of urban economic life, governance and landscape. -- Joshua Lupkin * Journal of the Early Republic * Tangires uses a wealth of sources in this fascinating study of a topic only recently getting the attention it deserves . . . Highly recommended. * Choice * Tangire's work represents a major contribution to the understanding of social life in American cities. -- Richard G. Miller * History: Reviews of New Books * The intriguing tale Tangires tells concerns, chiefly, the eclipse of the public market in the interest of the evolution of both private shops and megastores. -- Margaretta M. Lovell * Common-Place * For the first time we have in this book a historical overview of the public market place in America. -- Michal Sernoff * Urban Morphology * Fills a gap in the literature of early urban retailing. -- Terrence H. Witkowski * Winterthur Portfolio * Public Markets and Civil Cultures undoubtedly stands as the definitive study of the American public market. -- Martin J. Hershock * Historian * Public Markets and Civic Culture brings to light the importance of markets in nineteenth-century urban life. -- Brian K. Geiger * Material Culture *

Public Markets and Civil Cultures undoubtedly stands as the definitive study of the American public market. --Martin J. Hershock Historian The intriguing tale Tangires tells concerns, chiefly, the eclipse of the public market in the interest of the evolution of both private shops and megastores. --Margaretta M. Lovell Common-Place An important and useful introduction to an understudied fixture in the history of urban economic life, governance and landscape. --Joshua Lupkin Journal of the Early Republic Public Markets and Civic Culture brings to light the importance of markets in nineteenth-century urban life. --Brian K. Geiger Material Culture Fills a gap in the literature of early urban retailing. --Terrence H. Witkowski Winterthur Portfolio For the first time we have in this book a historical overview of the public market place in America. --Michal Sernoff Urban Morphology Tangire's work represents a major contribution to the understanding of social life in American cities. --Richard G. Miller History: Reviews of New Books Tangires uses a wealth of sources in this fascinating study of a topic only recently getting the attention it deserves... Highly recommended. --Choice This well-illustrated book raises the intriguing possibility that municipal markets worked more like the neoclassical ideal than the unregulated markets ideologues hail. --Keith D. Revell Journal of American History

Author Information

Helen Tangires is Administrator of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

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