About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Washington Press

ISBN-100295993324

ISBN-139780295993324

eBay Product ID (ePID)159829005

Product Key Features

Number of Pages336 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NamePumpkin : the Curious History of an American Icon

Publication Year2013

SubjectPlants / General, Specific Ingredients / Vegetables, Vegetables, Agriculture / General, History

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaNature, Cooking, Technology & Engineering, Gardening

AuthorCindy Ott

SeriesWeyerhaeuser Environmental Bks.

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.8 in

Item Weight15.2 Oz

Item Length8.7 in

Item Width5.7 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

Dewey Edition23

Reviews"From pumpkin beer and pumpkin pie to the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Linus's undying faith in the Great Pumpkin in the Peanuts comic strip, Cindy Ott cultivates the entire patch." - David Abrams , The Quivering Pen , October 2013, "Her analysis certainly leads to a deeper consideration of this simple vegetable and how it is that Americans may still consider the country a farming nation, although the number of farmers had declined dramatically. . ." - Rae Katherine Eighmey , Minnesota History, "That Ott has done her homework on the topic is evident throughout. . . .there is a wealth of historical context in each chapter, including extensive work on Pilgrims, sectionalism in the early republic, market capitalism, and agricultural history." - Andrew Duffin , Environmental History , January 2014, "Cindy Ott digs deeply and creatively in furrowing a few familiar and many elusive sources in this major contribution to American agricultural and sociocultural history." - Michael Kammen , The Journal of American History, Vol. 100(1) , 2013, "There is much treasure to be mined from this engaging work of nonfiction, so carve out some reading time, and enjoy a pumpkin-tastic narrative." - Jan Johnson , The Columbian, "Her analysis certainly leads to a deeper consideration of this simple vegetable and how it is that Americans may still consider the country a farming nation, although the number of farmers had declined dramatically. . ." -Rae Katherine Eighmey, Minnesota History "After smashing our illusions about the Pilgrims, Ott continues her pumpkin iconoclasm. The pumpkin as symbol comes full circle." --Nina C. Ayoub, The Chronicle of Higher Education "An extraordinary scholar and storyteller, Cindy Ott tracks the culture that altered the very nature of the pumpkin--and in doing so, tells us a revealing story about ourselves. Not to be missed." --Philip J. Deloria, author of Playing Indian

Grade FromCollege Graduate Student

Number of Volumes1 vol.

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal641.5

Table Of ContentForeword Not by Bread Alone / William Cronon Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Corn, Beans, and Just Another Squash 10,000 B.C.E. to 1600 2. "The Times Wherein Old Pompion Was a Saint" From Pumpkin Beer to Pumpkin Pie, 1600 to 1799 3. Thoreau Sits on a Pumpkin The Making of a Rural New England Icon, 1800 to 1860 4. "Wonderfully Grand and Colossal" The Pumpkin and the Nation, 1861 to 1899 5. Jack-o'-Lantern Smiles Americans Celebrate the Fall Harvest with Pumpkins, 1900 to 1945 6. Atlantic Giants to Jack-Be-Littles The Changing Nature of Pumpkins, 1946 to the Present 7. Pulling Up a Pig Sty to Put in a Pumpkin Patch The Changing Nature of American Rural Economies, 1946 to the Present Notes Bibliography Index

SynopsisWhy do so many Americans drive for miles each autumn to buy a vegetable that they are unlikely to eat? While most people around the world eat pumpkin throughout the year, North Americans reserve it for holiday pies and other desserts that celebrate the harvest season and the rural past. They decorate their houses with pumpkins every autumn and welcome Halloween trick-or-treaters with elaborately carved jack-o'-lanterns. Towns hold annual pumpkin festivals featuring giant pumpkins and carving contests, even though few have any historic ties to the crop. In this fascinating cultural and natural history, Cindy Ott tells the story of the pumpkin. Beginning with the myth of the first Thanksgiving, she shows how Americans have used the pumpkin to fulfull their desire to maintain connections to nature and to the family farm of lore, and, ironically, how small farms and rural communities have been revitalized in the process. And while the pumpkin has inspired American myths and traditions, the pumpkin itself has changed because of the ways people have perceived, valued, and used it. Pumpkin is a smart and lively study of the deep meanings hidden in common things and their power to make profound changes in the world around us., Why do so many Americans drive for miles each autumn to buy a vegetable that they are unlikely to eat? While most people around the world eat pumpkin throughout the year, North Americans reserve it for holiday pies and other desserts that celebrate the harvest season and the rural past. They decorate their houses with pumpkins every autumn and welcome Halloween trick-or-treaters with elaborately carved jack-o'-lanterns. Towns hold annual pumpkin festivals featuring giant pumpkins and carving contests, even though few have any historic ties to the crop. In this fascinating cultural and natural history, Cindy Ott tells the story of the pumpkin. Beginning with the myth of the first Thanksgiving, she shows how Americans have used the pumpkin to fulfull their desire to maintain connections to nature and to the family farm of lore, and, ironically, how small farms and rural communities have been revitalized in the process. And while the pumpkin has inspired American myths and traditions, the pumpkin itself has changed because of the ways people have perceived, valued, and used it. Pumpkin is a smart and lively study of the deep meanings hidden in common things and their power to make profound changes in the world around us. Visit the author's website for more information: http://www.pumpkincurioushistory.com/just-another-squash-12000-bce-to-1600.html

LC Classification NumberWEB