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Thanks, Tom

"The Big-E"

New England States Exposition

This, my latest assignment has a point, if perhaps a slightly vague and accidental one. After four years of semi-bumming around (in between frantic bursts of  “productive” activity) doing stories or taking pictures of the most random things I could find, I realized that this simple curiosity was taking the form of something deeper and more personal. I wanted to study culture in some depth as I write, and to understand what makes any place I may be in tick. I wanted to eat the food, meet the people, do what they do for fun, listen to the same music, and go to the same parties.

 Basically, I wanted to pick up my camera and my laptop and document the ways different people around the world choose to live. When my latest trip to Central America got cut short I was upset I would not get to continue this research (if one can call having a good time research) , but soon realized that being in America did not mean that I was deprived of cultural activities I could report on. It was Britt who suggested that I should capture a huge slice of New England culture in one go and contact the Big-E to obtain a press pass with the aim of documenting the event. I agreed readily, and it was only when I finally received the necessary O.K that I realized I had NO idea what the Big-E actually was…

Meredith, Brit, and Christen  

I was slightly worried a few days later as I sat in the car next to Britt, with our friends Kristen and Meredith in the back. We were stuck in a line of traffic that stretched along the duel-carriage way passed the town of Springfield and massive road-side billboards showing men on undetermined ethnicity trying to sell carpets and life-insurance in such a sleazy manner that I decided they had to have been stolen from the 70’s. At this point, as our little road trip ground to seemingly decisive a halt as that of Hitler’s in Russia I still didn’t really know what the hell I was doing. The Big-E, defined by their rather precise website as “…” was a virtual mystery to me. Britt had told me that I could get maple-sugar sweets inside, and that was almost all. My friend Amanda had made me promise on fear of death to hunt down clam chowder and baked potatoes, and my teammate Murph had suggested that I’d have more fun if I went drunk. 

            With the advice people had given me still fresh in my mind we finished inching down the highway and after a chaotic, Bangkok-like adventure around swerving Mass-Hole (the name given to describe the peculiar set of behavioural instincts that make Massachusetts drivers attempt ritual suicide and the utter destruction of everything around them every five minutes as they swerve into oncoming traffic or shoot gaily past red lights) we arrived in the press car park and entered the Big E. 

Billboards on the Way There

I was lucky enough to be able to obtain a quick interview with Rita Moore, Information Manager, Educational Coordinator, Food Contest and all around Matriarch of the event. She kindly explained that in essence, the Big-E, or Eastern States Exposition, is a time for every state in New England to celebrate their individual customs, traditions and culture over two and a half weeks. Every state owns property at the event, and many different groups and societies are showcased. Rita was an amazing source on all things Big-E, as she has worked there for an incredible fourty-three years, since 1965, during which time the event has changed amazingly. During the 60’s before the rise of the internet, journalists flocked to the festival, and there was a special press room set aside for them, where they would all sit working on type-writers. Now, times have changed and most papers get their pictures and press releases direct from the Big-E without the reporters being there at all. Another development has been that in this age of suburban living and instant entertainment many “youngsters now have no clue what the farm animals are like, or what their uses are, or their value” and she seems to feel that the entertainment value of the show is second to a deeper, educational aspect.

Rita Moore

Talking to Rita, I was impressed by the pride she felt working for the “expo” for seventeen “fulfilled days” a year.” A tribute to the amount of time she has worked there is a quick antidote she was kind enough to share with me: “A young man came up one day, and he had his son with him, and he said [to his son’] ‘I just want you to see this lady, my mother and father used to bring me here when I was your age and she’s still here.”

 Outside one of the States Buildings

Once inside the festival I was overwhelmed by a thick mass of people that trudged slowly round a giant circle of shops, an experience probably akin to being thrown into the manic hubbub around Mecca. I shielded my camera as best as possible and pushed through. Everywhere there were food shops selling anything from fried dough to gourds, pulled pork to lobster sandwiches. Normally I am a snob where culinary America is concerned and shun many of the cultural cornerstones of U.S food much to my girlfriends annoyance (meatloaf, cheesy fries, fluff etc.) but I will say one thing. Americans DO festival food.

Food and produce

 While in the U.K we still find it acceptable to attend an event and, when lunchtime comes, stand in a barely moving queue for two hours in the poring rain only to be given a burger patty the consistency of cardboard. In the U.S this would not be considered acceptable and so when I went to eat I confess that I stood stock still for ten minutes looking at about twenty different stalls, trying to make up my mind between clam chowder, pulled pork, baked potatoes, Mexican food, fried dough, various different roasting meats and who knows that else. In the end Britt was forced to lead me firmly by the hand like a nurse escorting a mental patient and shove a huge greasy pulled pork sandwich into my grasp. 

One of the things that seemed to be renowned was the state exposition areas, basically large houses individually owned by the individual New England State in question, (that would be New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut for any Brits reading this) and guarded by their own state police, sort of like mini embassies. They sold whatever it was that the state was famous for, and I was amused to see (but not brave enough to photograph) the fact that Vermont had a whole section devoted to flannel lumberjack clothes.

Guarding the Mass. State Building

Later, I explored further afield among towering, gaudily painted carnival floats that looked like gods from some strange, 80’s bad-taste cult. 

Slightly Random Carnival Floats

I saw people with small children waiting in long lines outside of really grubby trailers advertising such amazing entertainment as “PORKY, THE GIANT PIG” for a dollar. Some inner twelve-year old within me was interested, so I used my accent to slip past the very nice little gypsy-like lady but was not very impressed when I stood in front of a heavy metal screen through which I could just glimpse what seemed to be a slightly fat pig, asleep. I’d hoped for some sort of Pigzilla, looking at me through bars with evil intent in its red eyes before being tranquilizer darted and cattle prodded several times, and if I hadn’t blagged my way in I would have been upset.

Porky, the Worlds Most Disappointing Pig

Animals seemed to be a prominent theme at the exposition and I was particularly impressed by some of the more legitimate areas in the fair. There were beautifully looked after Clydesdale horses that made me nostalgic of home, confused looking emu’s and one of the only, slightly worrying things I found was an unconscious kangaroo that I think must have been drugged. There were Lemurs, Elephants, bears and a “giant” snake that would have been a let down had I been conned into seeing it. Below are some pictures of the best:

Animals at the Big-E

A very posh looking camel

Brit, Lama Hunting

Evil looking Lemur 

Hundreds of Evil Looking Lemurs 

 LAMA!

There were also a group of five magnificent sea lions and I was lucky enough to grab a quick interview with their head trainer, Jessica Zimmer, about what its like going to the Big-E with animals, and why it’s so important. The article posted below was for consideration in the school paper:

As fall approaches the East Coast, many New Englanders flock to the Big-E, the largest fair in new England, where among the carnival rides, variety stalls and many eateries they may find themselves looking at what appears to be a large swimming-pool tank full of seals.

On closer inspection the graceful and rather dog-like Spark, Zoey, Kim and Alicia are actually sea lions, an entirely different breed though they look similar, with thin fur, long sleek otter-like heads, and long thick whiskers over a mouth filled with sharp teeth. They are gentle, rising out of the water to look around inquisitively before diving down again, keen people-watchers who will avoid anyone with strange coloured hair or heavy piercing. Casually a young woman appears and stands by the tank, looking down. Instantly two inquisitive heads shoot up from the tangy saltwater, one nestling in the woman’s hair, the other resting on top of her head. She laughs, and smiles for the camera.

            The woman playing with the two sea lions, Trainer Jessica Zimmer has been working with the animals for more than two years. She says that her primary aim is to teach sea lion awareness and conservation to people “who have never seen a sea lion” and remarks that in some areas, “you’ll actually get people who will call them dolphins.” They have come to perform at the Big-E, a crowded festival full of rides, stalls and exhibits with an attendance rate of roughly 150,000 a day.

The four sealions with Jessica are just some of the animals owned and looked after by Squalus, a private company out of South Florida set up to provide beached Sealions with a new home. In return, the animals perform tricks and stunts for large crowds and take part in demonstrations, which teach Sea lion awareness. With the current issues America has with conservation, education is a key issue, and Jessica’s role in teaching recycling and conservation “is not just for the animals” but for people as well. She finds that often times the best way to reach parents is through their kids. As the Big-E runs through its 17 days, the sea lions will perform in front of thousands of people. Though most who attend the fair are there for the other, grander entertainments such as the roller-coasters and huge amounts of shops there is a good chance that many people will still find time to visit the sea lions, and maybe learn something in the process.

Finally , overwhelmed by the hubbub of the Big-E, we pushed our way to the exit, just as the feature parade was getting started. Lines of bag pipers (Britt was not very impressed, having been Scottish’d out the previous weekend by the Highland Games), crowds of people with trumpets and cars full of veterans inched their way past as we made it to the car and fought our way back to the main road. 

The March Past/Parade

Below are a few pictures that didn't seem to fit anywhere else and which illustrate a little bit of the Eastern States Exposition. 

Further Photos 

Editor’s Letter

10th Oct. 2009

 I have never been pretentious enough to write a Editor’s Letter before but as I’m in the midst of changing the direction of the blog for a few months at least, it’s probably necessary. I’ve recently decided to start writing a series of planned features on modern culture in America. I want to capture the good, the bad, and the utterly bizarre that make this country into the virtual paella it has become, and experience it as I go. I want to meet the citizens of New Orleans as they struggle every day to rebuild the houses destroyed literally years ago and the volunteers that work tirelessly to help the entire country’s poor and hungry. I want to be chased down streets by the KKK, Black Panthers, Scientologists and even Amish. I want to be on the first American tank into a foreign land, and beside the first man or woman who shoulders a sign and marches in response to that tank. In short, I want to know what it feels like to be American, whatever that may mean and to dispel or clarify some of the very clear stereotypes much of the world seem to have about the U.S of A.

As those who have lived/visited the U.S should know, Americans are a people who seem to wilfully play of their stereotypes, for better or for worse. Often, unfortunately it seems that this tendency is negative and I find myself almost constantly amazed by such sights as shops that sell copious amounts of flannel shirts and Miller Highlife baseball caps or people that really do seem to eat fast food for every meal and wilfully defend the idea that this practice is sensible. After seeing confederate flags daubed onto the cabs of rusty pick-up trucks, and condemned-looking inner city slums that looked like they were straight out of televisions The Wire, I found that I was in desperate need of something positive that would even the scales and remind me more of the America I have grown to love rather than the one I find myself often times loathing. The election of President Obama helped greatly with this and I could see the point in Michelle Obama’s controversial remark about being proud to be an American for the first time.

            Still, the new president aside, I needed something American that I could latch onto culturally. I needed to be appeased, to have an experience in the U.S that was vivid and happy enough that I would keep my American Passport in full view when buying beers, and even join in singing the Star Spangled Banner whilst wearing a Redsox baseball cap if ever that was required. I needed to be Positively Americanized. To accomplish this I took the opportunity of a few hours in the day where I was bored and unoccupied, and trawled the Internet looking for interesting opportunities that I could document.

With the above in mind, most of the articles that you will find on the Blog in the near future will focus on general United States awesomeness, from an experience bat-hunting in the woods, to time spent watching the New Hampshire Highland Games, and the Big-E festival. Hopefully they will be joined by an interview with the owner of the world’s most powerful trebuchet, an experience at the largest display of lit-pumpkins, several sports events and more. There will be an occasional more negative entry on law enforcement, poverty or the drug trade to give some sense of comparison, and my only hope is that you the reader will find both sides interesting, informative and entertaining to read.

Thanks, Tom