The best example of Greek exceptionalism in North America is the endless fascination with all things Classical Greek. The chose attention American intellectuals paid to the question of how much they owed European thinkers vs. how independent they were of such influences was in force during the 1879s throughout the 1880s when Greek sojourners first began to come to the new world in ever larger numbers. Of those things Americans accepted without question from Western European culture was a love for all things Greek. Ancient Greece that is, with some special reading of the Church Fathers for those education and/or inclinations included religious interests. Among the Americans, Greek and Latin were mandatory for all those that sought a first rate education. Many humorous tales are told in Greek America, to this day, about meetings between a classically trained American who sought to strike up a conversation with a newly arrived Greek.
American newspaper accounts of the post-Civil War era are filled with sappy references to Pan, his wood nymphs and Greek shepherds all frolicking about the Olympian mountainsides. That many of the newly arrived Greek workers had been shepherds before their arrival to American shores saw gradual inclusion in all manner of news accounts.
The recent popularity of food products identified as Greek but manufactured by international conglomerates raises interesting historical and cultural questions. For the moment these food products are of three distinct sorts: first products and companies once owned by Greeks or Greek-Americans that were purchased by the larger food manufacturers and second those that are given the prefix “Greek.” Greek yogurt, cheeses (e.g. feta and mizithra), and gyros are currently the three most produced that are based on foods understood by Americans to be Greek in origin. The second variety of Greek food products are those that may or may not be based on traditional Greek foods or recipes such as hummus, pita bread and pizza. The point here is that many Americans and/or food companies, once again, claim that these foods are traditionally Greek in origin. While American or internationally owned companies currently sell Greek olive oil, olives, capers and a wide array of peppers this has always been the case and so no other claims are being made about them by these distributors.
When Greeks first began arriving to American shores they brought many of their traditional trades, skills and foods with them. Documentation exists on Greeks and goats (and sheep) in North America since before the American Civil War. In the 1870s-1880s, with the arrival of large numbers of Greek immigrants to American shores, news reports and advertisements only increase documenting the leading involvement of these new arrivals with goats and sheep and the products related to these animals. So why don’t we hear of these Greeks, their companies and their production of Greek foods? Far from just a stray handful of individual shepherds making cheese or yogurt by the end of World War I, at the very latest, Greeks have an extremely prominent and much publicized role as not only shepherds of extremely large herds but as the owners/operators of dairy factories across the nation. Having said that once we begin to look back into the decades of the 1860s up until the very early 1900s there is something of a historical and cultural divide. While Greek yogurt is now all the rage during that period when Greek immigrants began to establish themselves as leading figures in the products related to sheep and goat production—they have now something of lost historical figures.
Without question, European goats had been introduced into the Western Hemisphere by the Spanish. But more was at play when in the New York Times December 1859 edition we read: “Cashmere Goats – an importation of these valuable animals has been made by Hon. W. H. Stiles, and after a tedious voyage has arrived safely…having been accompanied by a Greek, who is still with them as an attendant, all the way from Smyrna. This is the second importation of the pure breed of Cashmere goats ever made into this country; the first having been made by Mr. Davis, who sold them to Richard Peters of Atlanta from which importation of all crosses and half-breeds in this country have sprung.” The back story here is that this breeding program had been difficult so the presence of this unnamed Greek suggests that Mr. Stiles realized he needed someone who knew how to properly care for these animals. And cashmere wool was extremely valuable and the American breeders and herdsmen all wanted to expand the American share of this market.
Again, just to get a Greek-American historical perspective on this introduction of cashmere goats. It was on May 14, 1856, when the United States Army unloaded thirty-four camels at Indianola, TX. On February 10, 1857, the USS Supply returned with a herd of yet another forty-one camels. Onboard the USS Supply were nine men and a boy, predominately Greeks who were hired by the U.S. Army to serve as handlers of these camels. The skill and knowledge of Greeks related to new animals being introduced into America was clearly understood by individuals of the day.
While the first Greek shepherd in American accounts renames nameless that is not the case with next Hellene in this story. In 1871, “W. Eutichides…and the goats he imported were from his father’s flock. The animals which survived the disease (e.g. Asiatic scab, a skin disease) were poor grades and failed to bring the prices that he expected to get. Whatever the number may have been in this importation, there is evidence of record that they were kept for a time at Owings Mills, MD, near Baltimore.”
This statement appears in an article published in the Country Gentleman of February 4, 1875, signed by the initials “M.S.C.” This writer says he purchased two of these goats, paying $125 each for them. He gives more of his experience, as follows: “Soon after I had purchased my pair of goats, Mr. Eutichides proposed that I should take his whole imported flock to keep on my farm on shares. We came to an agreement, and the whole flock numbering, I think, about one hundred and seventy-two head, was brought here [Rapidan Station, Va.] in midsummer, looking very badly.” This movement was attended by all manner of misfortunes, which was probably due to the Asiatic scab already mentioned, and the correspondent requested Mr. Eutichides to take them away. This he did, taking them to a farm owned by himself in Appomattox, Va. Here they probably remained until their shipment to California, where they were sold at auction at disastrous prices. Eutichides became discouraged and soon after returned to Thessaly to engage in farming.”
- Eutichides is mentioned in every history that outlines the introduction of cashmere goats to the United States. This means United States government reports and documents, manuals for raising goats and sheep that provides a history section, history books, magazines devoted exclusively to raising goats and sheep and even county fair accounts.
So, why did we not hear of “Greek cashmere sweaters” growing up as we do of now about “Greek yogurt?” Is history merely an agreed upon tale told by the ruling elite? Do Greeks have to agree with historical accounts that dismiss their contributions to our society?
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