Christmas at the Arcade: Public Spectacle, Consumer Capitalism, and the American Childhood

Abstract

Christmas at the ArcadePublic Spectacle, Consumer Capitalism, and the American Childhood Ryan H. Reed (bio) The Dayton Arcade, like the rest of downtown Dayton, transformed into a dreamworld during Christmastime. Fantastic characters from tales of old marched down West Third Street, while the soft glow of lights, bright decorations, and the excitement of a reindeer pen at the courthouse led hundreds of Daytonians through a wonderland of Christmas cheer, and perhaps more importantly, Christmas presents. The Dayton Arcade remade itself during the holiday season, investing in print advertisements, decor, and ritual. Through this process, Arcade retailers created a hotbed for a new holiday commercial exchange that hinged on the parent-child gift-giving relationship. For many Daytonians, the parent-child relationship, reflected in the spatial and commercial holiday transformation of the Arcade, had already become an important element of childhood in America. The commercialization of Christmas stretches back to the nineteenth century. At that time, the rise of American middle-class culture fundamentally reshaped the holiday. Historian Stephen Nissenbaum argued in his history of Christmas, "Christmas itself had played a role in bringing about both the consumer revolution and the 'domestic revolution' that created the modern family."1 After the 1850s, Christmas celebration was radically transformed by middle-class values. A key component involved the commercialization of the holiday. In affixing the gift-giving relationship to the parent and child, new Christmas traditions, rooted in fantasy and wonder, [End Page 129] shaped the memory and identity of American children and adults. As many who personally experienced the Dayton Arcade at Christmas attest, this transformation generated powerful attachments to the space of the Arcade as a source of wonderment and joy. The evolution of the Christmas holiday is manifested in the Arcade's history. The Arcade opened in 1904 at a time when there was a marked increase in the commercialization of the Christmas holiday. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, Christmas celebrations differed greatly from what people recognize today. The Christmas holiday had its origins in medieval end-of-the-year celebrations. One such was Saturnalia, the Roman end-of-year festival. Other such celebrations included the visitation of Odin, the Festival of Lights, and the winter solstice. In medieval communities, end-of-the-year celebrations were characterized by "excess, carnality, and … 'social inversion.'"2 These types of practices were common throughout the world in agricultural societies. As Christian culture began to extend its sway over Northern Europe in the later Middle Ages and early modern era, the Christian holiday of the birth of Christ was grafted onto these local traditions. Visitors to the Arcade at the time of the first celebrations of Christmas would have experienced the frivolity of local European end-of-the-year celebrations akin to an "unrestrained carnival" or a "December Mardi Gras."3 At the end of the harvest, agricultural communities came together to commemorate a long year of work and shared in a common spirit of merriment and goodwill toward their fellow person. Peasants sought to suspend the course of everyday life through comedic representations of their rulers, sometimes grotesque or chaotic costuming, and extraordinary gaiety. Most especially, they targeted commonly understood hierarchies; they pretended (if only for a night) to become the local baron, and in turn, the baron became a peasant. The tradition of wassailing, typical among the lower classes of Europe from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, was characterized by poor revelers demanding gifts from more prosperous villagers and nobles upon threat of violence. When coupled with heavy consumption of alcohol, wassailing may have created a great deal of discomfort for the wealthier members of these agricultural societies. However, participation was largely voluntary. After all, the inversion of social roles meant that aristocrats were also exempt from their duties. The tradition served [End Page 130] as a peaceful way to address simmering frustrations revolving around inequality in societies that nonetheless possessed strong notions of mutual obligation. In treating the revelers, the prosperous and noble-born in the community acknowledged their dependence upon others in the community and their commitment to the collective whole. The pagan roots of Christmas were well known to the Puritans of New England. For...