The Mercado de Tacón in Havana, Cuba, was designed by Rayneri y Sorrentino and built between 1874 and 1879.
Wild game vendor Milton Joseph Jr. prepares for market day at Washington Market in New York City (1957). His stand featured everything from reindeer meat to wild turkeys from Wisconsin.
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Trading Places
Public Markets
by Helen Tangires
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY; 2008
338pp.; hardcover; more than 800 b&w images; $75
ISBN 978-0-393-73167-5
Reviewed by Lynne Lavelle
Since Greek agoras and Roman forums, the buying and selling of meat and produce has drawn people to civic centers and promoted social interaction. At the heart of this exchange lies the public market, as old as cities themselves and the subject of Public Markets by Helen Tangires, the latest in the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks in Architecture, Design & Engineering series. Tangires, a regular contributor to books and journals on urban foodways, has compiled a fascinating collection of more than 800 black-and-white photographs, posters, maps, plans and artwork that bring to life the preparation, excitement and characters of market day around the globe from the late-19th century onward.
Historically, markets were situated at natural points of convergence for city dwellers and vendors – in civic centers close to roads or waterways – and identified by pillars, posts, crosses or other landmarks. Competition was avoided by designating certain streets to certain commodities, or different markets to different wards or neighborhoods; some Islamic markets, known as bazaars or souks, became cities in themselves, and encompassed public facilities such as baths and inns.
Public Markets contains examples of all of the above and more, organized in ten chapters: "The Open Air Marketplace," "Street Markets," "Street Vendors," "Markets in Public Buildings," "Market Sheds," "Enclosed Market Houses," "Central Markets," "Wholesale Terminal Markets," "Fulton Fish Market" and "Market Day." Each begins with a description of the features, laws and regulations that define the market type, many of which have changed little over the centuries. However, it is the photos that evoke the sights, atmosphere and sounds, aided by the detail given and the fact that the subjects themselves are often identified. Among them is a young bread vendor in Algeria (1860-1890) carrying a loaf on her head, pilgrims buying food from peddlers outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (1913), and a watermelon vendor calling from the back of a truck to the high-rise blocks of Harlem, New York City (1896).
The history of markets in the U.S. is explained in some depth, mainly in the context of social and technological advances and the increased regulation they facilitated. Though the rise of supermarkets and industrial forms of food production have had a negative impact on public markets in the U.S., they survive in all forms and arguably, they stand to grow more popular as long as the public has access to them.
Consumers, aware of the environmental costs of transporting food by land, sea and air, are increasingly drawn to local produce and the face-to-face interaction that public markets provide. As Tangires says: "These buildings and spaces are valued not only because they serve as healthy alternatives to supermarkets and other outlets of mass-marketed and highly processed food, but also because of their unique spirit and character – qualities that no other form of food retailing has yet been able to match."
While the number of "farmers’ markets" operating regularly throughout the country is growing exponentially, larger markets have been on the decline since the 1960s. From an architectural standpoint at least, they are still a valued component of the urban landscape. More than 100 market buildings, squares and districts have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places since the recognition of Fanueil Hall Market in Boston, MA, in 1966 and some, such as Pike Place in Seattle, WA, and Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, PA, still serve their original function.
However, many – New York City’s South Street Seaport for example – do not, having been transformed into specialty shopping areas, restaurant hubs or caricatures of what they once were. Amid the images of smiling faces on market day, Public Markets argues that saving the form alone is not enough. This belief has little to do with nostalgia and everything to do with the predicament we currently find ourselves in.
According to Tangires, "The dangerous consequences of global food marketing and distribution, evident in numerous product recalls, hygiene scandals and the threat of global pandemics, give credence to the benefits of local and regional markets. Since the public market tradition has privileged direct marketing for centuries, it holds promise for sustaining agricultural, biodiversity, and a healthy relationship among urban and rural populations, economies and production." For the consumers who will decide their fate, Public Markets serves as a fine reminder of what they stand to lose. TB
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