ABSTRACT
This chapter examines ways in which cultural managers in Western Europe exploit anniversaries as a technique for marketing traditions. The operation of cultural calendars in Europe lays a foundation for expounding differences between Europe and the United States. The cult of anniversaries enables officials to celebrate each year a changing roster of luminaries with whom citizens have learned to identify. The cult of anniversaries is not merely a convenience for schedulers, but also a weapon for advancing their goals. The cult of anniversaries has proliferated during the 1980s partly because in an era that has largely abandoned any religious calendar, people crave comparable rhythms of a secular sort. In Europe, anniversaries have become one of the chief means by which officials mobilize intellectuals to address matters of national and regional concern. However arbitrarily, anniversaries inject an element of predictability into medium-range and long-range planning.
