ABSTRACT
Nationalism, aimed particularly against the competitive German ethnic group living in the Czech lands, was a fundamental factor in the life of Czech society at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This influence was also strongly visible in the food-processing industry and in advertising relating to this sector. Many key figures of the National Revival movement had a background in the emerging environment of processing agricultural products (such as the millers, brewers and butchers); for example, the composer Bedřich Smetana whose father was a brewer, while the father of another distinguished musician. Antonín Dvořák, was a butcher and innkeeper. The emerging Czech self-awareness also had a profound impact on the establishment of modern food-processing plants. The significance of national aspects in food processing can be illustrated by the strategy of one of the most dynamic food-processing factories in the Czech lands at that time: A. Maršner's Prvni česká továrna na orientálské cukrovinky a čokoládu na Královských Vinohradech (First Czech Factory for Oriental Sweets and Chocolate in Královské Vinohrady), 1 whose extensive advertising campaign was based on extreme patriotism. There were many others to follow suit which was evident from the presentation of the Czech food-processing sector at one of the most representative economic events at the end of the nineteenth century – the Anniversary Land Exhibition, organized in Prague in 1891. This anniversary exhibition was a milestone event in the second half of the nineteenth century; symbolically it should have followed up a similar exhibition organized a hundred years before, in 1791. Even though the exhibition ought to have presented exhibitors from the Czech lands regardless of nationality, German-speaking entrepreneurs withdrew from the project and the exhibition thus turned into a monumental demonstration of the emerging power of Czech business. In terms of food production, it was important that the exhibition was not ignored by representatives of the nationally neutral aristocracy whose food-processing operations (for example dairy shops) still played a major role in food production. The modified balance of the exhibitors strengthened the national aspect of the event, which was obvious from the promotional presentation of many participants. Those who neglected the national aspect or even predominantly identified themselves with the German-speaking environment were under heavy pressure from the strongly nationalistic media including the official exhibition daily Praha, edited by Jan Herben. 2 Today, this periodical remains the most prominent source of information on the presentation of food production at the exhibition.
