ASFS 2012: Booze and Chews: The Cultural Politics of Civility and Intoxication

The first panel that I attended at the 2012 ASFS annual conference explored the intersection of civility and  "chewing" or of "boozing." Both the physical acts of chewing and drinking alcohol are practices that, in several cultures, are "ambiguous" (meaning both the action and the stuff).

CHEW
Ken Albala, University of the Pacific, explores the habit of chewing gum in America. He sees the practice stemming from a necessity (eating) but also a physiological outlet for dealing with anxiety, aggression, and even boredom. The word masticate, or chewing one's cud, originates from the mastic tree, from the island of Chios, whose sap the Ancient Greeks chewed. In the Americas, the tree Manikara chicle, served the same purpose, and was inspiration for the well-known brand, Chiclets. In Maine, the sap that was chewed was from the spruce tree and was consumed, in part, to ward off scurvy, as it contains Vitamin C. However, in the 19th century, chewing gum was equated with either backwardness or a practice of suspect characters! Albala plans on investigating this phenomenon further. We did, however, get to try some of the chicle that Albala made from the spruce sap. It ends up being a terrible business plan, however, as the chewing sap seems to last indefinitely as does its flavor (even if you stow it under a table for a while and pop it back in your mouth later)....

PLEASURE, PRUDENCE AND PAAN: NEGOTIATING CIVILITIES IN THE GLOBAL METROPOLIS

Jaclyn Rohel, graduate student at NYU, followed with a fascinating paper on the the often contested cultural clash of chewing paan, a combination of betal leaves with spices, pastes, and sometimes tobacco, on the streets of London. This practice, from south Asia, is used to freshen breath, as a digestive, and is a social practice, by which the spitting of the juice becomes a form of communication by which to measure levels of intoxication. The juice, which stains the sidewalk red, has become a focus of aesthetics in London, where officials have begun "Don't Spit Paan" campaigns, becoming quite prevalent as a prelude to the London Olympics. Rohel argues that the discourse is a negotiation of post-colonialism, anti-social behavior, and changing spatial and personal ideals.

UNITED STATES vs. FIFTY BARRELS OF WHISKEY
Sierra Clark, graduate student at NYU delves into the issue of whiskey in the 1906 Food and Drug Act. Specifically, she examines the debate of what made whiskey "pure" vs. those which were seen as "imitation." The subtext of these court cases, she argues, considers larger issues of health and technology against a backdrop of social anxieties of immigration and urbanization. By framing tradition (both production and consumption) as a narrative of "frontier," "civility," and "heroic" the pro-whiskey camp also set an alternative to prohibition.

BATTLING SALOONS AND SPEAKEASIES: ANTI-PROHIBITIONIST AND THE CHANGING MEANING OF INTOXICATION

Lisa Jacobson, Professor of History UCSB, considers how supporters, who backed amending the Volstead Act (Prohibition), framed their argument, in the 1932/33 congressional hearings by using a multi-pronged strategy. By suggesting that low alcohol wine and beer be legalized, they used new scientific findings to suggest that the low-alcohol products were distinctly different from those beverages that encouraged public drunkenness. Furthermore, they employed economic arguments, in that legalizing these beverages would cripple the bootlegging business. Finally, the supporters looked to Europe, seen as the epicenter of cultural respectability, as examples of how beer and wine could be consumed with civilized aplomb.