World Expo

Through them, the Davis Milling Company created a revised history that made the South into a Garden of Eden built on the backs of happy, faithful slaves.

Many visitors to the World Expo booth received a lapel pin featuring Nancy Green depicted as a bandanaed mammy with a toothy grin, above which the slogan read, Eyes in town, honey.

The button was nothing but a product.

In the words of M.M. Manning, at a time in the product's history when Aunt Jemima's smile did not necessarily elicit brand recognition, the buttons promoted the idea of a beaming mammy more than they did pancakes.

Historian Arthur Marquette celebrated the notion that Aunt Jemima's presence at the World Expo emancipated the white American housewife from her slavery in the kitchen, stating, quote, Together, the three generations of Negro women who have personified Aunt Jemima represent vividly the emancipation of the American housewife from the drudgery of virtual slavery in the kitchen, unquote.

Before the magazine age and the post-World War I advertising boom, black images were an integral part of ad design in North America and Western Europe.

To create a visual image of an elite ideal standard of living, advertising illustrators increasingly included maids or other domestic servants in their scenes.

What separates this show from a more traditional model contest in that regard, and which shows are you drawing inspiration from?

Well, I've been to many shows, World Expo being probably the largest show, actually in the world, I think, the largest figure show.

As you know, that's probably, that's moved around every three years of the different host city.

It's been in Europe for some time.

Yes, I think they do the same thing.

Shepard Payne kind of originated that type of scoring system.

And I actually spoke to him going back to World Expo in Switzerland.

I met him and talked to him about exactly this, judging and scoring systems.

And essentially between like 1870s and 1942, uh, was, was kind of when this was, all these excavations happening.

1942 specifically because that was the World Expo in Rome-

Oh

... and they were going to unveil this at the World Expo.

Which I'm saying World Expo, Italians call it the Universal Expo.

But then when you look up Universal Expo, it's the World Expo.

So it's either the World Expo or the Universal Expo.

I'm not sure if the Italians thought somebody else was coming-

And, uh, Jimmy Pattison, one of the most, uh, generous of, uh, philanthropists and businesspeople in the British Columbia history, donating millions to hospitals.

In 1986 when the, uh, uh, famous world fair coming to BC, the BC, uh, e- e- Expo, the World Expo, it was floundering, it looks like it was going to, to die on the vine and be a huge international embarrassment.

He headed it up.

He headed up the management of it for the grand total of $1 a year, and managed to turn it around and it produced a fabulous show, not just for British Columbia and the world.

This is the Meaty Meats booth.

So we're located in World Expo now.

We're moving areas.

This is Lagoon Bridge also located.

Where was this food booth located?

This is the WSQK food booth at Ward Expo.

World Expo, okay.

So over by Men in Black.

Guineaca blows your bleeding mind away.

Two, three even, it's the context, because this is shown at the World Expo, the World Fair, 1930-whatever, 1937, and so people know the Spanish Civil War is going on, and that is a statement, and that's one of the reasons that Picasso can't really come back to Spain whilst you know who's in charge.

So that is art as a statement, and although it may not look what's going on here, at At the time it makes, and that is why it's such a statement, so well known.

Over to you.

So can I just say we've been kind of poo-pooing elements of this or whatever.

I, I do think that there is something poetic about, uh, Minnesota being the first place that might host a World's Fair, World Expo in the United States, uh, for the first time in 40-plus years.

And the fact that it's around agriculture, we're like an agricultural state, and that's a huge-

Yeah