Another intriguing reference in AtD: state picnics

[Mark Kohut]

 I think the state picnics potato-salad recipe section of AtD is one of the
deepest visions of the best America, the
vision and meaning of America......

On Mon, Dec 16, 2024 at 3:01 AM Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
wrote:

> “Never having felt like that he was a citizen of any state in particular,
> Merle just tended to show up at any state picnic he happened to hear about…
>
> <generous & rather mouth-watering description of the Iowa state picnic at
> Sycamore Grove park>
>
> …Lew found Merle discussing potato-salad recipes with a bunch of Iowans.”
>
>
> State picnic?
>
>
> https://ericbrightwell.com/2022/09/15/southland-parks-los-angeless-state-society-picnics/
>
> “From the *1900s* through the *1970s*, large numbers of migrants to *Los
> Angeles* gathered in themed picnics organized around their states of origin
> known as State Society Picnics or just State Picnics …
>
> “One *Iowa State Society Picnic* in *Long Beach
> <https://ericbrightwell.com/tag/long-beach/>* attracted as many as 150,000
> attendees — more people than the population of any city in *Iowa
> <https://ericbrightwell.com/tag/iowa/>* at that time. As popular as they
> once were, they seem to be all but forgotten today.”
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>