Halloween arrived in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century with the surge in immigration from the British Isles — especially Ireland. However, the folk holiday did not gain widespread attention until the late 1870s and 1880s when descriptive pieces containing both accounts of Halloween's long history increasingly appeared in some newspapers and periodicals. Over the next couple decades, these descriptive pieces became more prescriptive, instructing women how to throw a "proper" Halloween party; what food to serve, games to play, and atmosphere to evoke. By the turn of the twentieth century and up through the 1920s, the middle-to-upper class — specifically women — adopted the holiday all across the country and characterized it with parties, decorative displays, and the propagation of literature, imagery, and ephemera. Since Halloween had existed as an ethnic folk tradition in America for several decades, why and how did this particular group of Americans adopt — and adapt — Halloween to meet their needs? Which Halloween traditions did they retain and how did they shape the holiday for their own purposes? Finally, how did this particular celebration of Halloween reflect the interplay of certain values among these celebrants through literature, imagery, and ephemera? This study of Halloween asks what the celebration of holidays and rituals can tell us about the culture in which they are celebrated. By employing a method which gives equal weight to historical context, audience, and imagery, we gain valuable insight about the stratum of American society which made Halloween an American tradition. / Master of Arts / Until the late nineteenth century, Halloween in the United States amounted to barely anything more than a couple informational inches of column space in October newspapers. By the 1920s, however, full-page advice pieces for Halloween parties and advertisements for themed costumes, decorations, and food were not only in newspapers, but magazines and catalogs as well. Overwhelmingly thanks to white, middle-to-upper-class women, Halloween had transformed from a foreign, ethnic folk holiday of Ireland and the British Isles to an annual, widespread American tradition. These people embraced Halloween as an occasion to both celebrate the imagined simplicity of a shared ancestral past and take advantage of the modern industrial and commercial boom that would fuel the mass production of Halloween-themed goods and novelties. This thesis examines newspapers, magazines, postcards, and a line of holiday catalogs to show how the text and imagery of Halloween products successfully integrated conflicting values and secured the holiday a place in the American seasonal canon.

Ce travail s’intéresse à l’esthétique des objets et des choses dans l’oeuvre poétique de Derek Mahon. On constate en effet une véritable prolifération des objets dans ses poèmes, dont l’importance est telle qu’ils monopolisent la parole poétique au point de voler la parole au poète lui-même, et de devenir les sujets lyriques du poème, comme dans « The Apotheosis of Tins » ou « The Drawing Board ». Les objets deviennent la synecdoque du Je poétique, et reflètent les ambiguïtés de leur créateur, notamment vis-à-vis de l’Histoire et du conflit nord-irlandais, conflit qui selon les termes de Mahon lui-même, a eu pour conséquence de provoquer, dans son oeuvre, ce qu’il nomme une « aphasie coloniale ».Les objets seraient-ils alors pour le poète un moyen détourné d’exprimer une parole poétique qu’il se refuse à assumer ? Le recours à la parole des objets aurait alors une vertu thérapeutique, et permettrait au poète de surmonter le traumatisme du conflit nord-irlandais qu’incarnent les Troubles, ainsi que de se libérer de l’emprise de son milieu protestant nord-irlandais, afin d’élaborer une poétique des objets qui lui serait propre. En nous appuyant sur des ouvrages des material culture studies, nous verrons comment Mahon tente de s’extraire d’objets qui lui semblent trop « étiquettés ». Nous étudierons notamment le rapport de Mahon aux déchets ou disjecta, qui représentent la pierre angulaire de sa nouvelle classification poétique des objets. Il faut également distinguer chez Mahon les objets des choses, auxquelles il attribue une valeur différente. Nous tentons d’établir, à travers une perspective à la fois philosophique, esthétique et économique, comment Mahon choisit de ne pas faire coïncider la valeur économique et la valeur esthétique d’un objet, par un double procédé de réévaluation puis de recyclage poétique de l’objet en chose.C’est le statut problématique de l’objet et de la nouvelle dimension que Mahon lui attribue dans son oeuvre poétique que nous nous proposons d’étudier. / This thesis explores the aesthetics of objects and things in the poetic works of Derek Mahon. We cannot but be struck by the impressive array of objects in his poems, where they seem to literally monopolize the poetic voice, and almost steal the poet’s firmly established position. Objects in Mahon’s poetry become the true lyrical “I” of the poem, as in “The Apotheosis of Tins” or “The Drawing Board”. Objects are considered as the mouthpiece for the poet’s own preoccupations and ambiguities, especially apropos his attitude towards History and the Troubles in Northern Ireland (this conflict has even provoked on Mahon’s part what he calls a “colonial aphasia” syndrome).We might then assume that objects represent a disguised opportunity for the poet to express his own thoughts about the conflict, but also about other issues as well, economic as well as environmental. Speaking through objects might then enable the poet to overcome his trauma due to the conflict, as well as liberate himself from his own Protestant Northern Irish milieu, in order to conceive his own aesthetics of objects, and even an Aesthetics of Trash, as Hugh Haughton has called it. Thanks to some recent writings in the field of material culture studies, we will endeavour to study how Mahon is actually trying to escape in his poetry from “(Northern) Irish objects”, and how he finds in beckettian disjecta or rubbish the possibility of freedom, as well as the possibility of a new, post-human world. We will also seek to distinguish between objects and things, which Mahon values differently. We shall try to demonstrate, by using a philosophical, but also an economic and aesthetical perspective, how Mahon chooses to differentiate between the economic and the aesthetical value of an object, by reevaluating it before recycling it, opening the possibility of the transformation of the object into the thing.It is the problematical status of the object and the new dimension that Mahon allows it to take that we intend to study in this thesis.

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Anthropology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

M.A. (Anthropology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

O presente trabalho tem o intuito de identificar e compreender as cadeias operatórias dos vestígios, cerâmicos e líticos, coletados nas escavações realizadas nos sítios Inhazinha e Rodrigues Furtado, localizados no município de Perdizes, região do Triângulo Mineiro, oeste do Estado de Minas Gerais, para se inferir sobre a manutenção de uma continuidade cultural, ou a ocorrência de mudança. Ambos os sítios são integrantes do Projeto Quebra Anzol, sendo que o sítio Inhazinha foi escavado na campanha de julho/agosto do ano de 1988, e apresenta datação de 1095±186 anos AP (TL FATEC/SP). O sítio Rodrigues Furtado: escavado em julho/agosto de 1992 e em julho de 2006, e apresenta datação de 500±50 anos AP (TL-FATEC/SP). A análise foi direcionada pela identificação das cadeias operatórias dos vestígios líticos e cerâmicos dos dois sítios, e dessa forma, compreender os processos tecnológicos da manufatura desses vestígios, do processo de procura, captação e transporte da matéria-prima ao descarte, que resultou no processo de formação do registro arqueológico. Para tal todas as etapas técnicas da manufatura desses materiais foram minuciosamente analisadas e comparadas de forma que possamos empreender um estudo sistemático capaz de clarificar os propósitos das sociedades pré-históricas. Este estudo tem o propósito de colaborar para a compreensão da ocupação pré-histórica do vale do alto Paranaíba, uma das regiões alvo do projeto Quebra-Anzol. / This present work\'s goal consists on the identification and comprehension of the operational chains of the vestiges, both ceramic and lithic, collected throughout the excavations conducted at the Inhazinha and Rodrigues Furtado archaeological sites in order to build inferences regarding the maintenance of a cultural continuity or the change occurrance. The sites are located at the municipal district of Perdizes, within the Triângulo Mineiro region, west from the Minas Gerais State and both figure as part of the Quebra-Anzol Project. The Inhazinha site\'s excavation was held throughout the July/August campaign during the year of 1988 and its dating is stated upon 1095±186 years BP (TL FATEC/SP). The Rodrigues Furtado site\'s excavation period consisted on July/August of 1992 and also July 2006; and the site\'s dating is set upon 500±50 years BP (TL FATEC/SP). The analysis is conducted by the identification of the lithic and ceramic vestiges\' operational chains from both sites. Furthermore, it is our intent to, in this manner, comprehend the technological processes of these vestiges\' manufacture along with its search process, gathering, transportation and, last, discard of raw material - resulting on the formation process of the archaeological register. Therefore, all technical stages of these materials\' manufacture are to be scrupulously analysed and compared in a way to enable a systematic study able to clarify the purposes of the pre-hystorical societies. This study\'s purpose lies upon the collaboration for the comprehension of the Vale do Alto Paranaíba pre-hystorical occupation, which consists as one of the target areas of the \"Quebra-Anzol\" Project.

Material culture is an understudied aspect of social life in Appalachian Studies, the multi- disciplinary investigation of social life in the Appalachian region. Historically, material culture in the region has been largely studied for its semiotic properties, decoded as a tangible symbol of “a region apart,” lagging behind the rest of America in terms of moral, mental, economic, and social development. Critical material studies from archaeology and other disciplines paint a different picture, however, and construct a region as American as any other. This study utilizes discourse analysis of material rhetoric about Appalachia and archaeological and oral historical data from two twentieth-century company- owned coal mining towns in Letcher County, Kentucky. It argues that contrary to persistent stereotypes about Appalachia as a backwards place, residents were firmly embedded in the market economy and enacted modern identities through their engagement with fellow citizens and material objects. This intersectional study uses theories of practice to explore how entanglement with mass-produced goods, notably home furnishing and wellness products, constituted residents’ identities as modern consumers along with the rest of the nation during the golden age of Appalachia’s industrialism. Appalachian women and their families embraced consumer goods, whose influx intensified during the Industrial Age, entangling their constitution as modern householders with these everyday goods through daily practice. Contrary to stereotypes about Appalachian atavism and isolation, Appalachian consumers eagerly engaged with mass-produced goods and new ideals about scientific health and house-holding along with their counterparts across the progressive United States.

O presente trabalho tem o intuito de identificar e compreender as cadeias operatórias dos vestígios, cerâmicos e líticos, coletados nas escavações realizadas nos sítios Inhazinha e Rodrigues Furtado, localizados no município de Perdizes, região do Triângulo Mineiro, oeste do Estado de Minas Gerais, para se inferir sobre a manutenção de uma continuidade cultural, ou a ocorrência de mudança. Ambos os sítios são integrantes do Projeto Quebra Anzol, sendo que o sítio Inhazinha foi escavado na campanha de julho/agosto do ano de 1988, e apresenta datação de 1095±186 anos AP (TL FATEC/SP). O sítio Rodrigues Furtado: escavado em julho/agosto de 1992 e em julho de 2006, e apresenta datação de 500±50 anos AP (TL-FATEC/SP). A análise foi direcionada pela identificação das cadeias operatórias dos vestígios líticos e cerâmicos dos dois sítios, e dessa forma, compreender os processos tecnológicos da manufatura desses vestígios, do processo de procura, captação e transporte da matéria-prima ao descarte, que resultou no processo de formação do registro arqueológico. Para tal todas as etapas técnicas da manufatura desses materiais foram minuciosamente analisadas e comparadas de forma que possamos empreender um estudo sistemático capaz de clarificar os propósitos das sociedades pré-históricas. Este estudo tem o propósito de colaborar para a compreensão da ocupação pré-histórica do vale do alto Paranaíba, uma das regiões alvo do projeto Quebra-Anzol. / This present work\'s goal consists on the identification and comprehension of the operational chains of the vestiges, both ceramic and lithic, collected throughout the excavations conducted at the Inhazinha and Rodrigues Furtado archaeological sites in order to build inferences regarding the maintenance of a cultural continuity or the change occurrance. The sites are located at the municipal district of Perdizes, within the Triângulo Mineiro region, west from the Minas Gerais State and both figure as part of the Quebra-Anzol Project. The Inhazinha site\'s excavation was held throughout the July/August campaign during the year of 1988 and its dating is stated upon 1095±186 years BP (TL FATEC/SP). The Rodrigues Furtado site\'s excavation period consisted on July/August of 1992 and also July 2006; and the site\'s dating is set upon 500±50 years BP (TL FATEC/SP). The analysis is conducted by the identification of the lithic and ceramic vestiges\' operational chains from both sites. Furthermore, it is our intent to, in this manner, comprehend the technological processes of these vestiges\' manufacture along with its search process, gathering, transportation and, last, discard of raw material - resulting on the formation process of the archaeological register. Therefore, all technical stages of these materials\' manufacture are to be scrupulously analysed and compared in a way to enable a systematic study able to clarify the purposes of the pre-hystorical societies. This study\'s purpose lies upon the collaboration for the comprehension of the Vale do Alto Paranaíba pre-hystorical occupation, which consists as one of the target areas of the \"Quebra-Anzol\" Project.

The materials of war, defined as what soldiers carry into battle and off the battlefield, have much to offer as a means of identifying and analyzing the culture of those combatants. The Vietnam War is extremely rich in culture when considered against the changing political and social climate of the United States during the 1960s and 70s. Determining the meaning of the materials carried by Vietnam War soldiers can help identify why a soldier is fighting, what the soldier’s fears are, explain certain actions or inactions in a given situation, or describe the values and moral beliefs that governed that soldier’s conduct. “Carry,” as a word, often refers to something physical that can be seen, touched, smelled, or heard, but there is also the mental material, which does not exist in the physical space, that soldiers collect in their experiences prior to, during, and after battle. War changes the individual soldier, and by analyzing what he or she took (both physical and mental), attempts at self-preservation or defense mechanisms to harden the body and mind from the harsh realities of war are revealed. In the same respect, what the soldiers brought home is also a means of preservation; preserving those memories of their experiences adds validity and meaning to their experiences. An approach employing aspects of psychology, sociology, and cultural theory demonstrates that any cookie-cutter answer or characterization of Vietnam veterans is unstable at best, and that a much more complex picture develops from a multidisciplinary analysis of the soldiers who fought the war in Vietnam.

This study examines the object biographies of musical instruments and the function of age in the cultural and material history of the lute. It follows the central question of why old instruments were valued more greatly than new ones and what measures had to be executed to adapt the objects to the ever-changing musical style. It traces the lute in its several cultural functions from the 17th to the 19th century: as a musical instrument, as a symbol, as a commodity, and as an object that had to be adapted, repaired, and altered by several generations of lute makers. This interdisciplinary approach uses a broad spectrum of sources from treatises, lute manuals, forewords in printed lute music, and depictions of lutes in literature, poetry, and visual arts to construct a narrative of the appreciation of old musical instruments. It investigates the material changes that were necessary to ensure their continued use by a profound study of more than 100 instruments in public and private collections. The different business models and prices in the trade of lutes are compared and connected to the common knowledge about old instruments and their brand characteristics among lute players. This study employs methods from musicology, organology, material culture studies, acoustics, economics, art history, technology, and digital humanities. This multivalent approach enhances the understanding of the general dynamics of commodities as status symbols, object biographies, and functional objects and connects them to the material and cultural history of objects using the lute as a case study. / Die Studie untersucht die Objektbiografien von Musikinstrumenten und die Funktion des Alters für die kulturelle und materielle Geschichte von Lauteninstrumenten. Sie geht der zentralen Frage nach, warum alte Instrumente höher geschätzt wurden als neue und welche Maßnahmen ergriffen werden mussten, um die Objekte an den sich ständig verändernden Musikstil anzupassen. Sie verfolgt die Laute in ihren verschiedenen kulturellen Funktionen vom 17. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert: als Musikinstrument, als Symbol, als Gebrauchsgegenstand und als Objekt, das von mehreren Generationen von Lautenbauern angepasst, repariert und verändert werden musste. Der interdisziplinäre Ansatz nutzt ein breites Spektrum von Quellen wie Traktate, Lautenhandbücher, Vorworte in gedruckter Lautenmusik und Darstellungen von Lauten in Literatur, Poesie und bildender Kunst, um die Geschichte der Wertschätzung alter Musikinstrumente nachzuverfolgen. Anhand einer eingehenden Untersuchung von mehr als 100 Instrumenten in öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen werden die Eingriffe untersucht, die notwendig waren, um ihre weitere Nutzung zu gewährleisten. Die unterschiedlichen Geschäftsmodelle und Preise im Handel mit Lauten werden verglichen und mit dem Wissensvorrat unter Lautenisten über alte Instrumente und deren Markencharakteristiken in Verbindung gebracht. Die Studie verwendet Methoden aus der Musikwissenschaft, der Organologie, der materiellen Kulturwissenschaft, der Akustik, der Ökonomie, der Kunstgeschichte, der Instrumentenbautechnologie und der Digital Humanities. Der multivalente Ansatz verbessert das Verständnis der allgemeinen Dynamik von Waren als Statussymbole, von Objektbiografien funktionaler Objekte und verbindet sie mit der materiellen und kulturellen Geschichte der Objekte am Beispiel der Laute.

Sexually themed objects from ancient Greece and Rome have been present in debates about our relationship with the past and with sexuality since they were first brought to modern attention in large numbers in the Enlightenment period. However, modern engagement with this type of material has very often been characterised as problematic. This thesis pushes beyond the story of reactionary censorship of ancient depictions of sex to demonstrate how these images were meaningfully engaged with across intellectual life in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Britain and America. It makes a significant and timely contribution to our existing knowledge of a key historical period for the development of the modern understanding of sexuality and cultural representations of it, and the central role that antiquity played in negotiating this fundamental aspect of modernity. Crucially, this work demonstrates how sexual antiquities functioned as symbols of pre-Christian sexual, social and political mores, with which to think through, and to challenge, contemporary cultural constructions around sexuality, religion, gender roles and the development of culture itself. It presents evidence of the widespread and prolific acquisition of sexually themed artefacts throughout private and institutional collecting culture. This deliberate seeking out of ancient images of sex is shown to have been motivated by debates on the universal human connection between sex and religion, as part of wider constructions of notions such as ‘culture’ and ‘primitivism’, with Classical material maintaining a central position in these ideas, despite research into increasingly diverse cultures, past and present. The purposeful engagement with sexual imagery from antiquity is also revealed as having acted as a valuable new source of knowledge about ancient sexual life between men which gave new impetus to the negotiation, defence, celebration and promotion of homoerotic desire in contemporary turn of the twentieth century, Western society.