LEADER 05524nam 22006134a 450 001 9910970633103321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a9780826262271 010 $a0826262279 035 $a(CKB)1000000000007531 035 $a(OCoLC)55663953 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10048198 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000250322 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11200692 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000250322 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10232136 035 $a(PQKB)10589805 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3570740 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3570740 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10048198 035 $a(OCoLC)888760302 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)musev2_85676 035 $a(Perlego)2949993 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000007531 100 $a19991101d2000 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe St. Louis Veiled Prophet celebration $epower on parade, 1877-1995 /$fThomas M. Spencer 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aColumbia $cUniversity of Missouri Press$d2000 215 $a1 online resource (222 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 08$a9780826212672 311 08$a0826212670 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aIntro -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Social Meaning of Public Spectacles in the Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century United States -- 1. Power on Parade: The Origins of the Veiled Prophet Celebration -- 2. A "Panorama of Progress": The Veiled Prophet Celebration, 1878-1899 -- 3. "His Mysterious Majesty": The Veiled Prophet Celebration, 1900-1942 -- 4. "More and More a Social Phenomenon": The Veiled Prophet Celebration, 1 946-1 965 -- 5. "Whacking the Elephant Where It Hurts": The Veiled Prophet Organization, ACTION, and Economic Justice in St. Louis, 1 965-1 980 -- 6. "An Activity the City Could Hang Its Hat On": The Veiled Prophet Celebration, 1981-1995 -- Conclusion: Whither VP? The Veiled Prophet Celebration and the Historiography of Public Celebrations in America -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. 330 8 $aThe Veiled Prophet organization has been a vital institution in St. Louis for more than a century. Founded in March 1878 by a group of prominent St. Louis businessmen, the organization was fashioned after the New Orleans Carnival society the Mystick Krewe of Comus. In The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration, Thomas Spencer explores the social and cultural functions of the organization's annual celebration-the Veiled Prophet parade and ball-and traces the shifts that occurred over the years in its cultural meaning and importance. Although scholars have researched the more pluralistic parades of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, very little has been done to examine the elite-dominated parades of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This study shows how pluralistic parades ceased to exist in St. Louis and why the upper echelon felt it was so important to end them. Spencer shows that the celebration originated as the business elite's response to the St. Louis general strike of 1877. Symbolically gaining control of the streets, the elites presented St. Louis history and American history by tracing the triumphs of great men-men who happened to be the Veiled Prophet members' ancestors. The parade, therefore, was intended to awe the masses toward passivity with its symbolic show of power. The members believed that they were helping to boost St. Louis economically and culturally by enticing visitors from the surrounding communities. They also felt that the parades provided the spectators with advice on morals and social issues and distracted them from less desirable behavior like drinking and carousing. From 1900 to 1965 the celebration continued to include educational and historical elements; thereafter, it began to resemble the commercialized leisure that was increasingly becoming a part of everyday life. The biggest change occurred in the period from 1965 to 1980, when the protests of civil rights groups led many St. Louisans to view the parade and ball as wasteful conspicuous consumption that was often subsidized with taxpayers' money. With membership dropping and the news media giving the organization little notice, it soon began to wither. In response, the leaders of the Veiled Prophet organization decided to have a "VP Fair" over the Fourth of July weekend. The 1990s brought even more changes, and the members began to view the celebration as a way to unite the St. Louis community, with all of its diversity, rather than as a chance to boost the city or teach cultural values. The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration is a valuable addition not only to the cultural history of Missouri and St. Louis but also to recent scholarship on urban culture, city politics, and the history of public celebrations in America. 517 3 $aSaint Louis Veiled Prophet celebration 606 $aParades$zMissouri$zSaint Louis$xHistory 607 $aSaint Louis (Mo.)$xHistory 607 $aSaint Louis (Mo.)$xSocial life and customs 615 0$aParades$xHistory. 676 $a394/.5/0977866 700 $aSpencer$b Thomas M$g(Thomas Morris),$f1967-$01813033 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910970633103321 996 $aThe St. Louis Veiled Prophet celebration$94368881 997 $aUNINA