With Bible in One Hand and Battle-Axe in the Other: Carry A. Nation as Religious Performer and Self-Promoter

Abstract

Why do high school history books mention Carry Nation and not other women (and there were many) who marched into saloons with hatchets, pokers, Bibles, and off-key accordians? And why is it that these history textbooks caricature her as a masculinized and menopausal megalomaniac rather than as a religiously inspired reformer who gave voice to the hopes of thousands of people longing for an alcohol-free promised land? The answer to the first question lies in Nation's own genius at self-promotion and her remarkably media-genic personality. She had undeniable charisma and a certain brilliance in making the most out of it. The answer to the second question lies in the even greater success of entrepreneurs who manipulated her public appeal to their own profit-making advantage by luridly packaging her personality and Crusade with brassy embellishments and blatant untruths. The commercial culture she sought to manipulate, in the end, got the best of her: retailers, reporters, and her so-called managers twisted her image to fit their own desires to turn a quick profit.

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