ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the discourses that both structured and emerged within the production of the Hall of Fame and its invented history to reconverge to animate the agrarian space of the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. Because "family values" is a politicized and ambiguous term, it should be a red flag to any ethnographer who hears it. Central to the process of engaging a tourist site is the purchase of souvenirs. Don Lansing claims that he first erected a souvenir stand because visitors to his field were continually mentioning that they would like to be able to take something home with them to better remember the experience. The Iowa farm town, founded in 1847 by several Bavarian and German families, has a population of about 4,000. It is called the "Farm Toy Capital of the World," largely because it is home to the Ertlfarm toy factory and several farm toy stores and a museum.