Bufalo Bill in Bologna: The Americanization of the World, 1869-1922

Abstract

As the word is currently used, “globalization” is often seen as a new trend that characterizes our present. The same holds true for “Americanization,” which is usually understood as a phenomenon of the second half of the twentieth century. Yet, since the 1990s historians have repeatedly pointed out that both globalization and the related concept of Americanization have a history that dates back much longer. In the case of Americanization, modern scholarship has demonstrated that the period of the 1920s was the first climax of this trend. But when exactly did it begin? Did World War I mark the start of Americanization? Robert W. Rydell and Rob Kroes set out to study those questions by analyzing the birth and early spread of U.S.-style mass culture in a period long neglected by scholarship on Americanization. Both are scholars of great renown and are well qualified to deal with the topic, with Rydell being a specialist on world's fairs and Kroes on the reception of Americanization in Europe. Their discussion starts with an insightful analysis of the concept of mass culture and its reception by the public. They emphasize the agency of the women and men on the receiving end of influences from the United States and conclude that mass culture can indeed become a “weapon of the weak” (p. 5). In their empirical investigations Rydell and Kroes define the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 as a major turning point for the rise of mass culture within the United States. Theater, Wild West shows, the circus, books, photos, and department stores spread nationwide from that point onward and contributed to the redefinition of national identity after the Civil War. Thus, Rydell and Kroes argue, the “Americanization of the World began at home” (p. 62).