Swigger 4-5

unchecked capitalism vs. preservation

• most tourist attractions need visitor fees to pay the bills
• unless the government or some larger organization funds
• but you still probably need to justify by visitor numbers
• unchecked capitalism: lots of businesses looking for a way to make a profit--often you end up with lots of tacky tourist attractions that make people less want to visit
• government can step in and regulate or take over or introduce zoning (to solve the problem of the commons). Preservation is usually done by the government
  
• local businesses teamed up to make a place more attractive--businesses can realize that too much development is doing harm and agree to limits
  
• or businesses may sell quality, cleanliness, "natural"
  

• note that it is a private non-profit
• intention is not to make money for the owners
• people can make charitable contributions to you and get a tax break (this requires that you don't advocate for a political party or candidate)
  
• but you have to pay the bills so you need revenue
  
• is the goal education or entertainment?

• museums argued for support to teach American values in the Cold War
• idea that democracy and capitalism led to progress in science and technology
• Museum of History and Technology (now the Museum of American History) added to the Smithsonian
• mid 1960s rise of African-American and women's history
• Greenfield Village already had some focus on the life of ordinary people
  
• will meeting new professional standards increase or decrease visitor revenue?

Two evaluations commissioned

• what to do about it not being a real place?
• make it about Ford

Donald Shelley was the first professional director, from 1954 to 1976

• art historian 
• in 1962 became vice president of the American Association of Museums (now the American Alliance of Museums)
• stuck to Ford's vision; added a small town doctor's office

Lack of attention to the racism of Dearborn
http://racialdotmap.demographics.coopercenter.org/
or look up 48126 on http://www.justicemap.org/

Notice how hard Swigger is working to find any evidence of thinking about racial issues in who the audience is--it was there but not talked about explicitly?

How to bring in more visitors?

• move the narrative up to current visitors' childhoods?
• new restaurants
• add a turn of the century amusement park

“It seems that visitors expected to see an authentic version of America, but not an unpleasant one.” (Swigger 135)
eg. visitors complained about horse manure

Marketing surveys of the audience suggest an effort to reach out to the kind of people who came already

• expecting a consumerist attitude from visitors (p. 126)
• visitors liked the homes best (not the technology!)
• Focus on pleasing the visitors they had

What was interesting in the visitor surveys?

• nationalism, nostalgia, so they wanted people to feel happy
• people compared it with Disney
• visitors didn't say much about Ford
• changes in what nostalgia meant
  

what is authenticity?
balance of education and entertainment