Meanwhile Randolph St. Cosmo, though out of uniform, was still on duty.
* * * * * * * * * *
Like the way Michal Landon is always out of uniform in Highway to Heaven but he's still always on duty. Or the opposite of the way One Day at a Time's Dwayne Schneider is always in uniform but never seems to be on duty.
"Long as we have this windfall, let's go get us some root beer, and some of that 'Cracker Jack,' too. Say, what do you know! We're here! We're at the Fair!"
* * * * * * * * * *
"root beer"
I wonder what root beer tasted like in 1893? Root beer became a national phenomenon in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, commercialized by Charles Hires, most famous up until that point for having two plural names. Hires began bottling it in 1893 so maybe that's the root beer Miles is excited to drink.
Don't misunderstand me and think I'm saying Charles Hires invented root beer. Obviously the white man stole the idea of root beer from Native Americans because isn't that one of the running themes of Miles and Lindsay's experience at the Fair? American colonists arrived on the shores of America and were, "I need a drink! What can we ferment here on these shores?!" And the Native Americans were all, "These sassafras roots are pretty good! And healthy too!" Then the colonists were all, "Give us that!" The Native Americans were all, "Hey, chill out! Plenty to go around, my limited number of weird white dudes from the sea! Let's be cool!" And the colonists were all, "Are you looking at me funny?! Why I outta. . . !" And then . . . WHAMMO! . . . root beer!
You now know why I never got better than a C- on my oral reports.
Anyway, I still don't know what root beer might have tasted like in 1893. But then, I don't even know how to describe the flavor of root beer in 2021! If somebody asked what it tasted like, I would have to say, "It tastes like root beer." So maybe I shouldn't stress about it too much, seeing as how there are so many different ways to make root beer.
"Cracker Jack"
The snack that would eventually become Cracker Jack was possibly sold at the Chicago World's Fair by a pair of brothers who had come up with the concept of molasses on popped corn with peanuts. But if it was (and it's probable the idea of it being sold there is simply a marketing retcon) it was almost certainly not named Cracker Jack but probably just sold as "Candied Popcorn and Peanuts." So, yes, Miles and Lindsay could have partook of a molasses covered popped corn kernel with peanuts at the Fair which later became Cracker Jack. But would Miles have called them "Cracker Jack"? Pynchon places the name in quotes to suggest that it's not the officially designated name of the snack item, maybe just the way people refer to that particular treat. Perhaps it was already taking off to such an extent that people were simply describing it as a "crackerjack snack" to their buddies. But the name wasn't trademarked until 1896. So did Pynchon get this wrong?
The only answer to that is "Did young boys in airships travel around the world on secret missions in 1893?" Pynchon's novels live in a hazy environment of historical accuracy, urban legend, pop culture, mass marketing, and speculative fiction. In other words, it makes a good story and a nice reference to have Miles suggest trying some 'Cracker Jack.' It's like a director having to have a kid wearing a Walkman in an 80s film.
"Say, what do you know! We're here! We're at the Fair!"
All the wild stuff happening around them and Miles doesn't really feel like he's at the Fair until he contemplates the enjoyable snacks of which they're going to partake. I fucking get it, Miles. You're my boy!
"Come on, Lindsay," Miles flourishing the banknote they had acquired so unexpectedly.
* * * * * * * * * *
Lindsay has had all the power up until now, simply because of his rank and his attitude. But Miles suddenly has money and the power dynamic has changed! Miles is in charge now, fool!
Presently they had come within view of the searchlight beams sweeping the skies from the roof of the immense Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building—a miniature city, nested within the city-within-a-city which was the Fair itself—and began to see caped Columbian Guards on patrol, a reassuring sight, to Lindsay at least.
* * * * * * * * * *
"the searchlight beams sweeping the skies"
This statement, along with the later reminder that this is a city within a city within a city—cities all the way down—is a reminder of Matthew 5:14 (which is also a reminder that all references ultimately go all the way back to The Bible—it's Bible quotes all the way down!) and the "shining light" of "the city on a hill." I could also say it's a reference to Ronald Reagan or John Winthrop but since they were ultimately referencing The Bible, it's only speculation that Pynchon is referencing them but safe to assume he's referencing The Bible.
The exhibits on display in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building are meant to provide knowledge of technologies and ideas that will lead the people of the world into a better future. It is an example to be broadcast to the masses and, being that it's a Biblical reference, apparently to save them. It is the way forward while the exhibits surrounding the building, especially those in the darkest and least lighted alleys, are the past. This is the future center of the world and it's as white and as male as every white male always knew it would be (because exhibits by women were forced into their own building and African Americans weren't really represented at any level of planning for the Fair and its exhibitions).
"the immense Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building"
Yes, I know that a lot of temporary structures from World's Fairs wound up becoming permanent structures (like the Eifel Tower and the Space Needle (not to mention many temporary buildings to house people and tourists which became permanent apartment buildings)). And this building might have become permanent as well if it hadn't burned. But the idea was that every building at a World's Fair was theoretically temporary. And yet they were still built this magnificently and grand. Impressive.
"see caped Columbian Guards on patrol, a reassuring sight, to Lindsay at least"
And if the reader still doesn't understand just how xenophobically myopic the entire enterprise ultimately is, we see Lindsay finding comfort in guards representing Columbus patrolling the streets of the Fair. Police have always been a reassuring sight to those people who know exactly who the police are policing.
This celebration of the advancement of white males (specifically the non-poor ones) can also be read in the insular nature of the description in this sentence: the cities inset within other cities. This is the way toward exclusion. The only way to whittle down a city to fit within another city is by exclusion which is on full display here at the Fair. First off, people must pay fifty cents to enter. So you've now excluded the poor, almost certainly immigrants. You then exclude further by keeping the non-white exhibits to the periphery of the inner city, making another city toward center, the White City to be specific. And even in this interior city, you can exclude further, right down to a single building which exclusively housed white male exhibits. Imagining this movement further, "beyond the zero," one might say, you can see the trajectory continue until the final, smallest city becomes "a white male, preferably American."
While the Chicago World's Fair might have been celebrated as a coming together of cultures and people from across the globe, ultimately it simply becomes a statement of white male authority.
"Sometimes," Miles with a strangely apprehensive note in his voice, "these peculiar feelings will surround me, Lindsay . . . like the electricity coming on—as if I can see everything just as clear as day, how . . . how everything fits together, connects. It doesn't last long, though. Pretty soon I'm just back to tripping over my feet again."
* * * * * * * * * *
Miles Blundell is either demonstrating psychic power or he's simply become a metaphor for the times he's living in. What he's describing is less like intuition or ESP and more like the inspiration that comes upon a person who suddenly sees the universe in a way never imagined before and changes our understanding of it forever. In a way, Pynchon has chosen the year 1893 as that moment for America (and probably the entire world, seeing as how he begins at the Chicago World's Fair. But even that is probably a microcosm of his overarching theme: the world but in the context of America's historical view and perception of it) because it's kind of this "Miles Blundell sees the secret of Three-card Monte" moment. Things are changing rapidly thanks to advances in our understanding of the world and electricity is coming on strong. Soon we will see where the curse of Scotland is really hiding and it will change our understanding forever.
Or maybe Miles Blundell is just on LSD and he's peaking pretty hard here. It's amazing how much you understand everything on acid! Although when you come down, you either lose the ability to see the connections or, sober, you actually see more clearly and realize you on LSD was a fucking idiot. I once understood how the number three connected everything; I once understood how idiotic the buttons on remote controls were; I once figured out that I had been living in hell for over one thousand years (hell being the parking lot of a strip club) while Jupiter was following me; I once learned that standing at a urinal in a club with your dick out and not being sure if you needed to pee or not while only slightly hearing the beat of the music at the periphery of your senses was one of the most comfortable places I've ever been.
You learn a lot of stuff that doesn't help you in life while on acid!
"like the electricity coming on"
I forgot that earlier I suspected Miles Blundell might be epileptic. This is more evidence for that theory.
