Remember the Mobro—“Managing Urban Wastes” at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry

Abstract

REMEMBER THE MOBRO—“MANAGING URBAN WASTES” AT THE CHICAGO MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY SUELLEN HOY When the exhibit “Managing Urban Wastes” opened in November 1986 at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, who would have thought that four months later a single tugboat-drawn barge out of New York would capture the attention of the nation? Yet it did. A homeless scow, in search of a place to unload 3,100 tons of baled refuse, traveled down the Atlantic Coast and across the Gulfof Mexico only to be rejected by six states and three countries. This “garbage without a country” immediately became material for comedians and newspeople, and a New Yorker cartoon caught the mood by picturing two rats aboard the Mobro remarking, one to the other: “In your wildest dreams, did you ever think you’d one day be cruising the Gulf of Mexico?”1 But as the odyssey continued, the nation turned serious. The garbage scow became a Paul Revere sounding “an alarm about an imminent threat to American life posed by the vast tonnage of waste the nation produces.” And, warned the New York Times editorial: “It dare not be forgotten.”2 While individuals responsible for managing urban wastes hope Americans are more conscious of the garbage problem because of the barge, they fear that many will soon forget. Among those who handle waste, it is common knowledge that the most popular policy has long been out of sight, out of mind. This view is well reflected in the words of a woman responding to a question about a proposed recycling program: “Why do we need to change anything? I put my garbage out on the sidewalk and they take it away.”3 The Museum of Science Dr. Hoy is with the Department of American Studies, University of Notre Dame. •Russell Baker, “So Far to Ithaca,” New York Times, April 28, 1987, p. 31; New Yorker, May 11, 1987, p. 33. 2Editorial, “A Garbage Scow as Paul Revere,” New York Times, May 23, 1987. 3Philip Shabecoff, “With No Room to Dump, U.S. Faces a Garbage Crisis,” New York Times, June 29, 1987, p. 11.© 1988 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/88/2902-0007$01.00 271 272 Suelten Hoy and Industry exhibit addresses this woman and others like her by demonstrating in a variety of ways the central problem in the man­ agement of solid wastes—everything has to go somewhere. “Managing Urban Wastes” is in one of Chicago’s most frequently visited museums. Located in the reconstructed Palace of Fine Arts Building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the Museum of Science and Industry bills itself as “the world’s largest and most pop­ ular center of contemporary science and technology.” It may very well be. What seemsforever true (the impression comes from a number of visits over a thirty-year period) is that the place is always lively. The activity and the movement emanate from the museum’s engaging electronic exhibits as well as from the enthusiastic crowds who visit. Not only is it open every day of the year, there are no admission or parking fees. So, in order to make a point to a large audience, Waste Management, Inc., of Oak Brook, Illinois, donated $600,000 to the museum for a permanent exhibit of 2,500 square feet. “Managing Urban Wastes” can be found on the path to the mu­ seum’s main temporary exhibition not far from the front entrance. Divided into six sections, it begins with the “History of Urban Wastes.” Through fifteen panels of photographs and drawings that trace prac­ tices in handling urban wastes in ancient, preindustrial, industrial, and modern times, viewers become visually acquainted with an old problem. They are introduced to several important technologies and individuals who demonstrated how a clean environment leads to a healthier one. An audiotape briefly, but colorfully, describes some major developments in this long struggle. An audiovisual presentation shows how archaeologists are studying garbage to discover how Amer­ icans have lived and what they have valued over time. As a University of Arizona archaeologist observes: “The American dream is alive...