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FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Elisa Innerhofer
Harald Pechlaner
Elena Borin Editors

Entrepreneurship
in Culture and
Creative Industries
Perspectives from Companies and
Regions
FGF Studies in Small Business
and Entrepreneurship

Editors-in-Chief
Joern H. Block
University of Trier, Heide, Germany
Andreas Kuckertz
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

Editorial Board
Dietmar Grichnik
University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Friederike Welter
University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
Peter Witt
University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13382
Elisa Innerhofer • Harald Pechlaner • Elena Borin
Editors

Entrepreneurship in Culture
and Creative Industries
Perspectives from Companies and Regions
Editors
Elisa Innerhofer Harald Pechlaner
Center for Advanced Studies Chair of Tourism
Eurac Research Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Bolzano-Bozen, Italy Eichstätt, Germany

Elena Borin
Burgundy School of Business
ESC Dijon Bourgogne
Dijon, France

ISSN 2364-6918 ISSN 2364-6926 (electronic)


FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship
ISBN 978-3-319-65505-5 ISBN 978-3-319-65506-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-65506-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017955821

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature


The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Harald Pechlaner, Elisa Innerhofer, and Elena Borin

Part I Combining Creative Industries and Business Issues


Culture-Based Products: Integrating Cultural and Commercial
Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chiara Isadora Artico and Michele Tamma
Entrepreneurial Behavior and Financing Structures in the German
Creative Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Elmar D. Konrad
Financial Sustainability of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises
in the Cultural and Creative Sector: The Role of Funding . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Elena Borin, Fabio Donato, and Christine Sinapi
Entrepreneurial Storytelling as Narrative Practice in Project
and Organizational Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Birgitta Borghoff
The Paradox Between Individual Professionalization and Dependence
on Social Contexts and Professional Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Bastian Lange
Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Stefan Schulte-Holthaus

v
vi Contents

Part II The Value of Creative Industries for Change and Development


Entrepreneurial Education in Arts Universities: Facilitating
the Change to the Entrepreneurial Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Kristina Kuznetsova-Bogdanovits, Anna-Maria Ranczakowska-Ljutjuk,
and Kaari Kiitsak-Prikk
The New Socio-Cultural Entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Gesa Birnkraut
From Edge to Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Shoshanah B.D. Goldberg-Miller and Rene Kooyman
Cultural Entrepreneurship in the Context of Spillovers
Within the Cultural and Creative Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Lyudmila Petrova
Enhancing the Potential of Cultural Entrepreneurship: Connecting
Regional Development and Performance of Cultural
Firms in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Andrej Srakar and Marilena Vecco
When Culture Meets Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Harald Pechlaner and Elisa Innerhofer

Part III Creative Industries in the Context of Regional


and Destination Development
Cultural Entrepreneurship and Rural Development: Case Study
of Pirot, Serbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Hristina Mikić
Case Study: Don’t Say Street Art, Just Say Fanzara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Rosa Currás and Maria Escriva
Relevant Locational Factors for Creative Industries Startups . . . . . . . . 281
Uwe Eisenbeis
Managing a World Heritage Site in Italy as Janus Bifrons:
A “Decentralized Centralization” Between Effectiveness
and Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Francesco Crisci, Marika Gon, and Lucia Cicero
Creative Entrepreneurship in No Man’s Land: Challenges and Prospects
for a Metropolitan Area and Smaller Communities. Perspectives
from the Never-Ending Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Milena Stefanovic
Contents vii

Experience-Driven Cultural Entrepreneurship: Business


Models and Regional Development in the “World
of Frederick II Hohenstaufen” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Dorothea Papathanasiou-Zuhrt, Aldo di Russo, and Konstadinos Kutsikos
Urban Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurs: A Closer Look at Cultural
Quarters and the Creative Clustering Process in Nantes (France) . . . . . 341
Nathalie Schieb-Bienfait, Anne-Laure Saives,
and Brigitte Charles-Pauvers, with the collaboration of Sandrine Emin,
Hélène Morteau
List of Contributors

Chiara Isadora Artico Universita Ca’Foscari Venezia, Venezia, Italy


Gesa Birnkraut Hochschule Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
Birgitta Borghoff Zurich University of Applied Sciences, School of Applied
Linguistics, Institute of Applied Media Studies, Winterthur, Switzerland
Elena Borin CEREN, EA 7477, Burgundy School of Business—Université Bour-
gogne Franche Comté, Dijon, France
Brigitte Charles-Pauvers Institut d’Economie et de Management de Nantes-IAE,
Université de Nantes, Nantes, France
Lucia Cicero Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine,
Udine, Italy
Francesco Crisci Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine,
Udine, Italy
Rosa Currás Department of Languages, Universidad Católica de Valencia “San
Vicente Mártir”, València, Spain
Aldo di Russo Growth Transformation & Value Engineering (WAVE) Lab,
Business School, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece
Fabio Donato Universita degli Studi di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
Uwe Eisenbeis Hochschule der Medien, Stuttgart, Germany
Maria Escriva Department of Languages, Universidad Católica de Valencia “San
Vicente Mártir”, València, Spain
Shoshanah B.D. Goldberg-Miller Department of Arts Administration, Education,
and Policy, College of Arts and Sciences, Columbus, USA
Marika Gon Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine, Udine,
Italy
ix
x List of Contributors

Elisa Innerhofer Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research, Bozen, Italy
Kaari Kiitsak-Prikk Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Tallinn, Estonia
Elmar D. Konrad Hochschule Mainz, Institut für unternehmerisches Handeln,
Mainz, Germany
Rene Kooyman Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy,
College of Arts and Sciences, Columbus, USA
Konstadinos Kutsikos Growth Transformation & Value Engineering (WAVE)
Lab, Business School, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece
Kristina Kuznetsova-Bogdanovits Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre,
Tallinn, Estonia
Bastian Lange University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Hristina Mikić Fondacija Grupa za kreativnu ekonomiju (Creative Economy
Group Serbia), Belgrade, Serbia
Dorothea Papathanasiou-Zuhrt Growth Transformation & Value Engineering
(WAVE) Lab, Business School, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece
Harald Pechlaner Chair of Tourism, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt,
Bozen, Italy
Lyudmila Petrova CREARE Center for Research in Arts and Economics, Zwolle,
The Netherlands
Anna-Maria Ranczakowska Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Tallinn,
Estonia
Anne-Laure Saives Département de management et technologie, UQAM-
Université du Québec a Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Nathalie Schieb-Bienfait Institut d’Economie et de Management de Nantes-IAE,
Université de Nantes, Nantes, France
Stefan Schulte-Holthaus Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, Munich,
Germany
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
Christine Sinapi Burgundy School of Business, Université Bourgogne Franche
Comté, Besançon, France
Andrej Srakar Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana,
Slovenia
Milena Stefanovic Faculty of Drama Arts, University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Michele Tamma Universita Ca’Foscari Venezia, Venezia, Italy
Marilena Vecco Burgundy School of Business, Dijon, France
Introduction
Cultural and Creative Entrepreneurship as Drivers
for Change and Development

Harald Pechlaner, Elisa Innerhofer, and Elena Borin

Abstract Cultural and creative industries have been recently affected by the
broader economic, social and structural changes that are influencing not only the
academic debate around cultural and creative industries but also their governance
and management models. The aim of this book is to investigate how economic,
social, and structural changes affect entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative
industries through a multi-disciplinary perspective. The volume presents an inter-
disciplinary approach to this theme, including contributions from entrepreneurship
and its management, regional and destination management and development,
sociology, psychology, innovative sectors, and the creative industries. The
presented contributions will focus on an analysis of individuals/entrepreneurs
from the creative industries and analyses of cultural organizations, artistic initia-
tives, businesses, and regions and destinations. Contributions will be research-
based, practice-based or a combination of both.

Keywords Culture • Creative industries • Entrepreneurship • Change • Regional


development

H. Pechlaner (*)
Chair of Tourism, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany
e-mail: harald.pechlaner@ku.de
E. Innerhofer
Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research, Bolzano-Bozen, Italy
e-mail: elisa.innerhofer@eurac.edu
E. Borin
CEREN, EA 7477, Burgundy School of Business—Université Bourgogne Franche Comté,
Dijon, France
e-mail: elena.borin@escdijon.eu

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018 1


E. Innerhofer et al. (eds.), Entrepreneurship in Culture and Creative Industries,
FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-65506-2_1
2 H. Pechlaner et al.

1 Times of Change: The Impact on Creative Industries

Defining creative industries is often context-dependent. Even if they are defined in


various ways, the core of the term remains the same: creative industries are charac-
terized by the input of creative individuals (Chaston and Sadler-Smith 2012). Creative
industries are those that have their origins in individual creativity, skill, and talent.
They contribute to wealth and the creation of jobs through the generation and
exploitation of intellectual property (DCMS 2001). Cultural industries, as part of the
creative industry, combine the creation, production, and commercialization of creative
content, which is intangible and cultural in nature. These industries generally include
print, publishing and multimedia, audiovisual, phonographic, and cinematographic
productions as well as those dealing with crafts and design. The term “creative
industries” includes a broad range of sectors and refers to architecture and advertising.
The main part of the products and services consist of creative or artistic work and
activities (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation 2006).
It is now generally accepted that creative industries contribute to economic
growth. They play an important role in spreading innovation across the wider
economy through their products and services, but also through new ideas, knowl-
edge, processes, and ways of working. Furthermore, they also contribute to social
inclusion, foster the inclusion of cultural diversity, and promote sustainable human
development (United Nations 2011). In addition, creative industries can enhance the
social environment in a city or region (UNCTAD 2008), which seems to be even
more important when one considers the ongoing migration flows. Creative industries
can be described as the changing paradigm of future economic growth in highly
developed countries, which no longer concentrate on manufacturing output and
labor productivity, but rather expend effort on attracting human capital (Pratt 2009).
The effects of recent developments and the financial crisis on the creative
industries, however, are important issues that require further investigation and
theoretical reflection (Rozentale 2014). The economic, social, and structural
changes and the economic and financial crisis have impacted the different sectors
of the creative industry, including entrepreneurship/entrepreneurial activities in the
cultural and creative fields (De Propris 2013) and have caused management issues
in coping with the slowdowns and developments (Brabazon 2015).
The economic crisis created challenges for the creative industries, especially for
specific branches, such as the cultural sector. The effects of recession often hit the
cultural sector first. Researchers often discuss the negative effects of reduced public
financing on the industry (Pratt and Hutton 2013). Due to the heterogeneity of the
creative industries, however, this is not the case for other creative sectors, such as for
the information and communications sector, which mostly operates independently
and without public financing and subsidies (Pratt and Hutton 2013; Reid et al. 2010).
According to the Creative Economy Report 2010, the creative industries have, in
general, been more resilient to the global economic crisis than other, mainly traditional
manufacturing industries (United Nations 2011). One reason for the resilience of the
CCIs in turbulent times may relate to their capacity to form specific production areas,
or so-called clusters. Clusters are considered a governance tool that can potentially
foster the development of creative industries through information spillovers,
Introduction 3

knowledge sharing, interactions, and the necessary infrastructure (Musterd and Murie
2010). The resilience of creative industries is also a result of their interdependent
relationship with non-creative, traditional businesses. Creative industries providing
services to traditional businesses are generally less resilient than those providing their
goods and services to the final consumer (Pratt and Hutton 2013).
Furthermore, the landscape of increased connectivity, complexity, and growth,
based on continued digitization, influences and changes creative industries. This
could be interpreted as both a challenge and an opportunity for new business
models within the creative sectors. Innovation in the creative is are driven by an
intricate relationship between content and technology and by the collaboration of
artists and scientists (Technology Strategy Board 2013).
The creative industries are not just influenced by changes, however; they also
induce changes, including via working practices, for example. According to Florida
(2002), “artists, musicians, professors and scientists have always set their own hours,
dressed in relaxed and casual clothes and worked in stimulating environments.” They
strive to work more independently, give up job security for autonomy, and express
their identities through work. Florida (2002) maintains that with the rise of the
creative class, this way of working has moved from the margins and become
mainstream, economically speaking. These developments also induce organizational
changes. Traditional hierarchical systems of control are replaced with new forms of
self-management, peer-recognition and pressure, and intrinsic forms of motivation.
Because of the positive impacts of creative industries on growth and develop-
ment, they are an important target group for city, regional and destination devel-
opment. According to Florida (2002), creative industries are developing in cities
that fulfill certain social aspects and have a social image. Creativity is also linked to
a plural vision of society in times of increased mobility and social fragmentation.
The growing diversity of postmodern societies is also seen as a creative resource
(Fig. 1) (Richards and Wilson 2007).
This diversity and multiplicity of stakeholders has led academics and professionals
to reflect on the way cultural and creative industries are interpreted. Culture should be

Fig. 1 The relationship social social


mobility fragmentation change
between society, creativity,
and diversity. Source: Own
illustration
society

creative outcome
4 H. Pechlaner et al.

interpreted as an ecology rather than as an economy (Holden 2015), and debate on the
need for new governance systems and management models based on cultural identity
at the territorial level has increased (Bonet and Donato 2011). In particular, the criteria
for designing and enhancing cultural ecosystems (Borin and Donato 2015) have
developed from the long-standing experience of creative clusters and districts and
trans-sectoral networks and multi-stakeholder partnerships have been identified as
potential models to enhance the cultural and creative sector (Borin 2015).
As such, some similarities may be observed when analyzing the locational
factors important for the attraction of the creative industries and for a region as a
location for companies and entrepreneurs and as a destination for tourists. Knowl-
edge, innovation, and creativity are considered central facilitators of a region’s
competitiveness (Floeting 2007). In recent years, urban policy developers and
regional development agencies have paid increasing attention to the soft infrastruc-
ture and soft locational factors of cities and regions (Pechlaner and Bachinger
2010). According to Landry (2008), soft infrastructure refers to the various types
of social interaction, facilitated by informal institutions, which enable the genera-
tion of new ideas. Soft infrastructure or soft locational factors mainly include
intangible aspects, such as quality of life, urban/rural atmospheres, the level of
diversity of the population, tolerance, networking quality, the existence of sector-
specific networks (e.g. industrial networks or creative clusters), and the image or
reputation of a city or region (Pechlaner and Bachinger 2010). These locational
factors attract not only the creative class but also visitors and guests (Fig. 2). As
such, arts, cultural heritage, and cultural and as creative initiatives are the basis for
the successful development of cultural tourism (Pechlaner et al. 2009).
Why have the creative industries and creativity become such important aspects of
territorial development strategies? What are the challenges for creative industries in
terms of business models, financing, and interaction with the broader territorial
ecosystem? The contributions in this volume will address these questions, analyzing

Fig. 2 Creativity as a guests entrepreneurs residents


resource for a territorial
profile. Source: Own
illustration based on Lange
et al. (2009)
territorial profile

communication innovation

life quality clusters

image networks

reputation creative class

culture – creavity – knowledge …


Introduction 5

and discussing the links between creative industries and tourism and destination
development and creative industries’ development with regard to emerging models
of governance and management and their interaction with their territorial ecosystem.

2 About the Book: Content and Organization

The volume uses an interdisciplinary approach and includes contributions from


entrepreneurship and management, regional and destination management and
development, sociology, psychology, innovative sectors, and the creative indus-
tries. The papers focus on analyzing individuals/entrepreneurs from creative indus-
tries, and further analyses of cultural organizations, artistic initiatives, businesses,
and regions and destinations. A wide range of examples taken from various
countries explore the interface between tourism and creativity, between regions,
rural areas and creative spaces, and between cultural and creative clusters. The
relationship between individual and collective creativity is also discussed.
The main objectives of the book are threefold. First, it should help to contribute
insight concerning changes at the management and governance levels in the creative
and cultural enterprises. Second, the volume aims to discuss the impacts of economic,
social, and structural changes on cultural entrepreneurship. Third, the role of cultural
entrepreneurship in regional and destination management and development should be
investigated by presenting best practice examples. Furthermore, the volume should
provide a platform to address problems and challenges and to initiate discussions on
selected issues concerning cultural entrepreneurship and its connection to tourism as
well as to business, organizational and regional development.
The book includes articles investigating cultural entrepreneurship on a corporate
level, i.e. within companies and firms, as well as on a spatial level, or in regions and
destinations. Contributions are research-based, practice-based or are the result of a
combination of both. The primary audience of the book includes professors and
academics as well as researchers interested in the fields of entrepreneurship, cultural
management, creative industries, and regional and destination development. The
book targets academics and researchers in the field of tourism management, regional
management, and business management and creates awareness of the importance of
creative industries, the arts, and culture for the innovativeness and success of
businesses, organizations and regions. The goal is to give insight into how entre-
preneurship can be integrated within the development of creative practices.

2.1 Structure of the Book

The book is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on cultural and creative industries
and their business strategies. On the basis of theoretical frameworks presented in
each chapter, the authors present examples of how creative and cultural industries
6 H. Pechlaner et al.

may be combined with business and organizational issues to compete in dynamic


markets. Artico and Tamma focus on the collaborative potential of culture and
business and provide insight into companies that place culture at their core. The
following two chapters focus on financial issues related to creative industries. In
Chap. 2, Konrad focuses on start-up activities within creative industries and gives an
overview of their finance behavior and financing structures. Borin, Sinapi, and
Donato argue that financing structures are keys to success within the cultural and
creative field and investigate access to bank financing for SMEs (small and medium-
sized enterprises) in the cultural and creative sector. Chapter 4 (Borghoff) is based
on a case study analysis. The author outlines entrepreneurial storytelling in project
and organizational development. Lange (Chap. 5) highlights professional careers
within the various sectors of the creative industries by analyzing how entrepreneurs
deal with the paradox between individual professionalization and dependence on
social contexts and professional scenes. Schulte-Holthaus presents comprehensive
research on literature dealing with entrepreneurship within the creative industries.
Part II explores the potential of cultural and creative industries to promote
change and influence development. Kiitsak-Prikk, Kuznetsova-Bogdanovits and
Ranczakowska-Ljutjuk’s contribution focuses on the entrepreneurial education
offered to students in the creative fields on the basis of their study not only of
institutions of higher education but also of the broader ecosystem of the Cultural
and Creative Industry (CCI) in Estonia. In the following chapter, Birnkraut reflects
on the relationship between social and cultural entrepreneurship. In their contribu-
tion, Kooyman and Goldberg-Miller discuss the international policy community’s
shift in perception regarding the creative sector, in which it was no longer viewed as
a mere cultural resource, but rather as an economic engine. Petrova addresses
entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative sector, with reference to its spillovers.
Srakar and Vecco investigate the connection between regional development and the
performance of cultural firms in Europe, while Pechlaner and Innerhofer reflect on
the culture and CCIs in regional innovation systems.
Part III aims at providing insight into the link between CCIs and regional
development in the framework of tourism and destination governance and man-
agement. Papers will analyze case studies focusing on, for example, cultural
entrepreneurship and rural development in Serbia (Mikic) and street art as a
tool for village rebranding and as a means to enhance a sense of community
belonging in Spain (Currás and Escriva). Stakeholder perspectives and multi-
stakeholder management and governance are also addressed with respect to the
greater region of Stuttgart (Eisenbeis) and within a World Heritage Site in Italy
(Crisci, Gon and Cicero). Stefanovic’s paper focuses on defining the main
characteristics, challenges, and prospects for entrepreneurship in the cultural
and creative sector within a metropolitan area. Papathanasiou-Zuhrt, di Russo,
and Kutsikos explore innovation of business models within experience-driven
business ecosystems that focus on adaptive reuse of cultural heritage. In the last
chapter, Schieb-Bienfait, Saives, and Charles-Pauvers address cultural quarters
and the creative clustering process.
Introduction 7

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SECTION¼-465.html
Part I
Combining Creative Industries
and Business Issues
Culture-Based Products: Integrating Cultural
and Commercial Strategies

Chiara Isadora Artico and Michele Tamma

Abstract Today it is customary to speak of the collaborative potential of culture


and business to achieve benefits in one’s cultural and professional lives. Making
sense of the involvement of culture in firms, however, requires a better understand-
ing of the link between cultural practices and projects and the development of
business models. This paper focuses on companies that place culture at the core of
their respective production practices and business models, with particular reference
to those offering culture-based products. For these kinds of products, the creation,
preservation, enhancement and transmission of a specific culture all play vital roles
in embedding particular aesthetic and symbolic content in their unique consumption
experiences. In order to explore the integration of cultural and commercial strate-
gies that culture-based products seem to drive, we propose an early study through
the investigation of a set of brands competing in the same field.

Keywords Commercial and cultural strategies • Culture-based products • Cultural


activities • Retail • Luxury perfumery industry

1 Introduction

Today it is customary to speak of the collaborative potential of culture and business


to achieve benefits in one’s cultural and professional lives. It is increasingly
claimed that culture is crucial for social and economic development and that
economic benefits are broader than those relating merely to the production and
consumption of cultural goods, since culture can support creativity and foster
innovation in other sectors. Not everything is, however, so simple. On the one
hand, there is debate concerning the risk of the commodification and poor protec-
tion of culture and cultural heritage, as well as on the sustainability of cultural
policies in a time of public funding shortages. On the other hand, it has been argued
that public and private investment in culture is able to generate economic and social

C.I. Artico • M. Tamma (*)


Universita Ca’Foscari Venezia, Venezia, Italy
e-mail: info@iodeposito.org; tamma@unive.it

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018 11


E. Innerhofer et al. (eds.), Entrepreneurship in Culture and Creative Industries,
FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-65506-2_2
12 C.I. Artico and M. Tamma

benefits almost “automatically.” Concerning public policies, well-known issues


arise on how to allocate funds and resources, how to measure outcomes, and how
to promote the participation and engagement of citizens and for-profit and
non-profit organizations (entrepreneurs) acting individually or collectively. As
concerns the private sector, especially enterprises, the question is if, to what extent,
and how to respond to this “call” for more engagement in art and culture. Beyond
philanthropy, could companies also be motivated by business logic?
Making sense of the involvement of culture in business—beyond patronage and
sponsorship—requires a better understanding of the link between cultural practices
and projects and the development of business models. As noted by Comunian
(2009, 203), much research in the field has insufficiently investigated “how arts
and culture can be integrated in the products and become a source of added value in
the production chain.”
The focus of this paper is on those companies that place culture at the core of
their respective business models and product selections, with particular refer-
ence to those offering culture-based products. For these kinds of products, the
creation, preservation, enhancement and transmission of a specific culture all play
vital roles in embedding particular aesthetic and symbolic content in the unique
cultural consumption experiences that they offer (Moreno et al. 2004; Cinti 2007;
Sedita 2009; Tamma 2010). Starting from the inspiring example of The Merchant of
Venice, a luxury perfume brand recently launched by Mavive S.p.A.—a Venetian
company heavily committed to numerous cultural and artistic activities—and also
considering a set of brands competing in the same field, the present exploratory
research aims at investigating the extent to which these companies integrate cultural
and commercial aspects in their strategy and whether and how these tend to
influence their business model configurations.

2 Theoretical Background

“Today, more than ever, products determine their own market presence not only
through their [functional] attributes but also through the meanings that they assume,
the dialogue that they establish with the user and also the symbolic value that they
exude” (Dell’Era 2010, 72). Consumers increasingly make brand choices on the
basis of aesthetic and symbolic content, as well as user interface and their own
experiences. This trend has accentuated the importance for companies to embed
distinct values and meanings in their business organization and product portfolio
and to appropriately communicate such values and meanings to consumers
(Manniche and Testa 2010, 264).
It has been increasingly recognized that this type of innovation can benefit from
the content, information and creative ideas that the cultural sector can provide
(KEA 2009), thus the need for businesses to invest in culture and to build relation-
ships within the cultural sphere, including artists and arts organizations (Comunian
2009, 37).
Culture-Based Products: Integrating Cultural and Commercial Strategies 13

Private investment in culture is far from new. Forms of patronage and sponsor-
ship have long supported arts and culture. However, corporate sponsorship has been
considered mostly in terms of marketing objectives, as a means for brand promo-
tion, and as an opportunity to strengthen corporate image or change the public
perception of a company. In this sense, “the collaboration with the arts is seen as an
add-on, ex-post, that simply expands the market possibility of the products”
(Comunian 2009, 203). A company’s engagement in arts and culture, however,
can be more far-reaching. Instead of being viewed as a simple “add-on,” it can be
considered a powerful engine for the innovation of product and process.
The increase in the number of programs for art-in-business and artful learning
testify to a growing interest in the use and effects of art and methods of creating art
in various organizational contexts (Darsø 2005). Schnugg (2014) considers the
many possibilities of bringing the arts into organizations: arts-based interventions
take various forms in terms of how they are realized and how they influence
organizations and their actors.
Relationships with artists and cultural organizations (as interpreters of present
and future trends, tastes, languages, and lifestyles) can provide creative ideas for
product innovations. Such a “strategy aims at radically changing the emotional and
symbolic content of products (i.e. their meanings and languages) through a deep
understanding of broader changes in society, culture, and technology [. . .]. Instead
of being pulled by user requirements [user-centered design], design-driven inno-
vation is pushed by a firm’s vision about possible new product meanings and
languages that could diffuse in society” (Verganti 2008).
Cultural heritage, at the local and national level, can also provide content,
meaning, and know-how with which to confer identity and authenticity to product
offerings: “The transformation of traditional knowledge into creative goods and
services reflects something significant about the cultural values of the country and its
people” (UNCTAD 2008). The increasing impact of Country-of-origin and made-in
labels is well known by practitioners and scholars (see Bertoli and Resciniti 2013).
There is no doubt that a product’s place of origin, like its price or brand, can
positively or negatively affect the attitudes and behavior of consumers (Bilkey and
Nes 1982; Papadopoulos and Heslop 2002; Kaynak and Cavusgil 1983), though the
effect on its perception tends to be more influential among shoppers of specialty
goods than among shoppers of convenience goods (Eroglu et al. 2003; Liefeld 1993).
Symbolic content and cultural meaning, however, can be difficult to communi-
cate consistently outside of specific social and geographic contexts when references
to culture and local distinctions are missing; therefore, firms face the need to
communicate and stage experiences (Caru and Cova 2007) to recreate context:
“Products can create experiential value for customers, but the process of purchasing
them can also be experiential in nature” (Candi et al. 2013, 282). The choice of
distribution location, as well as the creation of a particular context of experience
inside the place of sale (shops, stores, corners and outlets) can promote the
product’s origin, the perception of the cultural content of goods and services, and
the identity of the producer (Vescovi 2013). In addition, it has become crucial to
14 C.I. Artico and M. Tamma

offer a shopping experience full of perceptual stimuli and emotional elements. In


the literature that identifies the store as a key element in the transfer of feelings and
emotions (Holbrook and Hirschman 1982), the role of the point-of-sale, of its
layout, architecture and atmosphere, is widely acknowledged (Checchinato and
Hu 2013).
The commitment of companies to arts, culture, and cooperation with cultural
organizations can be considered not only as a method with which to develop and
communicate an innovative and distinctive selection of products, but also as a
strategy to maintain and cultivate a rich environment of unique and valuable
resources. With their conservation, regeneration and use of culture and cultural
heritage, companies can create both economic and social value. We refer to the
concept of “shared value” defined by Porter and Kramer (2011, 66): “as policies and
operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simulta-
neously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which
it operates.” The more tightly corporate philanthropy is aligned with core business
strategies, the more the long-term competitiveness of the company will benefit
through enhancing the cultural context of products and their production.
Various aspects and connections between firms, arts and culture have been well
investigated by scholars. The integration of commercial and cultural strategies,
however, especially in the case of firms that place a heavy emphasis on culture and
creativity, appears as yet insufficiently developed. In this article, we contribute to
the development of a theoretical framework to describe and interpret culture-based
business with an explorative multiple case study that highlights relevant aspects of
the studied businesses’ cultural and commercial strategies and business model
configurations.

3 Methods and Cases

The present work is based on a multiple case study. The qualitative research design
was motivated by the lack of an existing theoretical framework to deepen the
integration of commercial and cultural strategies in culture-based business, and so
by the need to uncover and better understand relevant aspects and concepts in this
area. In order for an “organization study to fulfill its potential for description,
explanation, and prescription, it is first necessary to discover relevant concepts
for the purpose of theory building that can guide the creation and validation of
constructs” (Gioa et al. 2013, 16).
The cases studied involve business firms operating in the luxury perfume
industry whose products are recognized as “historic” and potentially competitive
by virtue of their history, identity, and cultural meaning. This quickly expanding
industry, though not new, is now highly international and characterized by selective
distribution channels. There is also significant interest in the field of luxury perfume
by the European Commission, which has identified three luxury products around
which to build European cultural tourism routes in the next 7 years: chocolate,
Culture-Based Products: Integrating Cultural and Commercial Strategies 15

jewelry and perfume. The perfume sector is characterized by frequent launches of


new lines (of which roughly 500 per year occur in men’s fragrances alone) capable
of generating much of a company’s time and investment and producing most of its
profits. Most of the industry’s energy is geared toward creating and launching new
proposals in a continuous cycle, with significant effort spent on advertising and
communication. The fragrance market is thus presented as highly reactive, straining
endlessly to create new “experiences” and products, often through the use of
replication and prepackaged formats.
The first case selected was The Merchant of Venice by Mavive S.p.A. The time
data were collected, the company, in partnership with the Fondazione Musei Civici
di Venezia, was cooperating to establish the perfume section in the Museo Palazzo
Mocenigo while also developing a line of fragrances inspired by Mavive’s historic
and technical research into the ancient tradition of Venetian perfume art. This case
study was conducted over the course of more than 1 year, with researchers having
access to managerial and operational processes, mainly in the company’s head-
quarters, in its renovated Venetian historical stores, and in the museum with which
Mavive collaborates. Besides participant observation (on average 3 days per week)
other data sources were used: interviews, documents, websites, etc.
After roughly half a year, the first evidence led us to consider three strategic
levels of action: (a) the product (the value proposition); (b) the distribution and
management of retail outlets; and (c) the company’s organization and participation
in cultural projects and events. While completing the study of the first case, we
began our comparative study of other cases.
The cases investigated were chosen according to the high quality of their
products, their orientation toward niche markets, and the capacity of their producers
to recognize cultural activities as strategic tools for their development and advance-
ment. The selected cases included the Collection Imperial by Rancè (Milan), the
Scents of New York thematic line by Bond n 9 (New York), Durance’s and
Galimard’s lines based on traditional Grignan and Grasse recipes (France), and
the master perfumery collection by Molinard (Grasse). All of these companies have
been particularly successful in focusing their products’ concepts on the historical or
contemporary leitmotif of their respective territories and are now active in several
cultural activities. For these brands, data were collected from different sources,
including analyzing a total of 24.50 h of recorded interviews, the companies’
respective websites and social media, their advertising campaigns and press
reviews, and from direct experience of the products, flagship stores, exhibition
stands, and cultural activities of the firms involved (except Bond n 9 as regards
direct experience). The interviews were conducted, first, in an anecdotal way,
where managers freely discussed their cultural and commercial strategies, and
were later followed by a structured interview, where managers were led to analyze
the actions and activities linked to the three previously identified strategic levels of
action, including their connections and their impact.
16 C.I. Artico and M. Tamma

4 Findings

The following section proposes a comparison of the cases studied, giving an


overview of the primary evidence that emerged (see Table 1).
Companies make use of different strategies to infuse their products with
symbolic and cultural meaning. Mavive, for example, has focused its recent
commercial strategy on the launch of a new brand, The Merchant of Venice, a
luxury line that offers an assortment of exclusive Eau de Parfum and Eau de
Toilette, along with body care and household products and accessories. The brand
draws attention to the timeless role of Venice in the history of the art of perfume
making. The line is inspired by the ancient Venetian maritime trade routes that
covered an expansive area from Asia to Africa and from Europe as far as the
northern seas. The “olfactory concept” of each Eau de Parfum is inspired by the
raw material and aromas of one of the specific maritime trades. The identity of
each product is also enhanced by the integration of one of the most representative
and ancient arts in the history of Venice—Murano glass production—used by the
company as inspiration for the packaging of its precious eau de parfum.1 Other
elements testify to and signal the place of the product’s origin, from the Burano
lace that closes the bottle, the iconography of the bottle itself (specific signs and
details chosen as decoration), and the color tones of the packaging. These
symbolic elements, embodying the knowledge and achievements typical of
Venetian history, clearly communicate the image of Venice in its age of maxi-
mum beauty and imperial grandeur.
Rancè, a company founded in France in 1795 and today completely Italian
(based in Milan), created a line of perfumes—the Collection Imperial—inspired
by members of Napoleon Bonaparte’s family. A member of that family, Françoise
Rancè, founded the maison, serving as official “royal warrant” and trusted master
perfumer. Today, 220 years later, the new generation leading the company insists
on the cultural value of the product’s ancestry, connecting that value to an histor-
ical, rather than territorial, source. Each Eau de Parfume is modeled on a female
member of one of the most studied and celebrated families in history. The olfactory
concept underlying the construction of fragrances evokes the personalities of these
historical figures: “Let’s sniff Elise,” says the manager of the international trade
department; “Elise was the younger sister of Napoleon, and this is a scent that
smells extremely actual: it talks about an independent woman, courageous, certain
of what she wants from her life, as did Elise. [. . .] This other, Hortense, is instead a
perfume which describes an intelligent woman, intellectual, as the other Napoleon’s
sister. [. . .] these all are very important values in the world today, they provide
guidance in contemporary times.” With this strategy, the firm focuses particularly

1
Unfortunately, Murano glass cannot be used for perfume bottles due to functional reasons.
Mavive has thus invested heavily in research to patent a method of glass processing able to
replicate the beauty of Murano glass while at the same time being practical for use as a container
for perfume.
Culture-Based Products: Integrating Cultural and Commercial Strategies 17

Table 1 Three levels of strategy action: synthesis


Bond
Mavive Rance’ Molinard Galimard Durance N 9
First level—product/concept
Ancient/traditional recipes of *** *** ** ** *** **
the territory; elements of the
territorial brand
Connections to past historical ** *** * – – –
events and characters
Intrinsic cultural features of *** ** * * * **
product design (materials,
shapes, colors, textures, images
and iconographies)
Extrinsic cultural features of ** ** ** * ** *
product design (such as verbal
references to culture, history,
heritage, local traditions)
Second level—distribution and management of retail outlets
Monobrand dedicated points of *** * * * * ***
sale located in historical or
artistic neighborhood of the
city of origin
Monobrand dedicated points of * – – – – –
sale located in historical or
artistic neighborhood of other
cities
Explicit references to a specific *** *** * * *** ***
cultural/artistic heritage
(images, videos and photos of
castles, heritage sites, presence
of artworks in the showroom)
Implicit references to a specific *** ** ** * * ***
cultural/artistic heritage (decor,
iconographies, materials and
furnitures used)
Creation of a cultural/creative/ ** ** – – – **
artistic atmosphere through
sensoriality (light, sounds,
smell, touch, rituals)
Agreements with museums, yes yes no no no no
bookshops
Third level—cultural projects and events
Museum/exhibition in the old no yes yes yes yes no
factories
(continued)
18 C.I. Artico and M. Tamma

Table 1 (continued)
Bond
Mavive Rance’ Molinard Galimard Durance N 9
Museum/exhibition in cooper- yes yes no no no no
ation with public cultural
institutions
Professionalism, complexity *** ** * * * –
and accuracy of the narrative
paths
Cooperation with other local *** *** – – ** **
cultural activities and institu-
tions, such as theatres, festivals,
etc. (beyond mere sponsorship)
Educational and creative labo- yes yes yes yes no no
ratories directly managed
Support to research and * * – – ** *
publishing
Key: Intensity from – to ***

on the conceptual elements of the product, evoking both a history connected to the
company’s origins and offering an olfactory bouquet for the Bonaparte women
based on the ancient formulation invented by Françoise Rancè. The product has
been renewed in a contemporary and innovative way, thanks to the regeneration of
the original formula. In comparison with the case of The Merchant of Venice, Rancè
devotes less attention to elements such as the shape, color, packaging, and iconog-
raphy of the bottle itself.
Bond No. 9 offers a perfume line, Scents of New York, that bases each fragrance
in the collection on a particular neighborhood of New York city: “More than selling
a perfume,” says the international trainer of the company, “it is similar to selling a
piece of New York city, with its neighborhoods so colorful and scented, different
from each other. The city has many souls; each neighborhood is distinguished by a
different character, and a different set of odors in the fragrances. One of the goals of
our line is to be able to capture the souls of neighborhoods, marking a kind of
olfactory footprint, and describing their specific characters and imaginary.” Bond
No. 9’s collection, therefore, offers strong cultural characteristics: not only does the
name of the line express the link with the different cultures of the city very clearly,
but also the name of the company itself, referring to its headquarters in Soho,
openly celebrates the incorporation of cultural qualities. The conceptual element is
clear: in this case, the company focuses on the relationship with the urban landscape
and the contemporary cultures of various urban districts rather than on the
city’s past.
Molinard focuses on the co-existence of a luxury line dedicated to the artistic
perfumery tradition of the floral district and high-end products such as soap and
lotions crafted along the lines of traditional cultivation. For Durance and Galimard,
on the other hand, importance is given to the enhancement of the perfumery
Culture-Based Products: Integrating Cultural and Commercial Strategies 19

traditions of the territory, without the presence of a strong reference point (such as a
line or a single product provided with intensive cultural/artistic features).
Evidence suggests that, with regard to the first level, strategies are formed
through the process of attributing cultural meanings connected to the arts, iden-
tity, history, and traditions of a particular area or community to the value
proposition. These processes depend strongly on the ability to translate and
communicate the product’s meanings in a rich, innovative and evocative way.
The “essence” of the place of origin, as well as the artistic and historical content,
can be embedded in the product and be conveyed through: (a) the conceptual (the
meanings on which the product is based and developed); (b) the intrinsic (factors
that deal with the sensory and physical aspects of the product such as materials,
shapes, colors, texture, weight and dimensions—Amoruso 2010) or; (c) the
extrinsic (mainly verbal, such as the product name and the information, instruc-
tions, and/or stories included on the product’s packaging).
All the companies considered in this study adopt a multi-channel distribution,
each with a clear tendency toward identifying symbolic locations for their selling
points. Some decide to distribute perfume mainly in museums and/or with stores
located in sites of historical importance. Durance, Molinard and Galimard, for
example—companies whose product concepts are based on the use of recipes and
traditional herbs from their respective territories of origin—built their flagship
stores in their own renovated nineteenth-century factories. Rancè has an agreement
with a major circuit of national museums and castles in France, creating a direct
connection between historical heritage and their product line. In this way, Rancè
perfumes become almost part of a visit to one of France’s museums. Other
companies decided to strengthen their products’ cultural meanings by locating
their stores in historical or artistic cities and neighborhoods. Mavive, for example,
capitalized on its Venetian location by situating their flagship stores in renovated
apothecary shops of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, characterizing their
direct points-of-sale through monumentality, specific aesthetic properties, and
plenty of control. The flagship stores of Bond n 9 are located in the West Village
and Midtown Manhattan, recalling the Pop Art movement that unfolded in these
areas. The location and interior design and furniture of these points of sale recall the
opening of Claes Oldenburg’s designer boutique “The Store” and Andy Warhol’s
studio the “Factory” roughly 50 years earlier not far from their current location.
Spacious, colorful, and modeled after Manhattan’s typically elongated interiors, the
retail format of Bond n 9 welcomes the buyer into a space full of an energetic,
dynamic mix of shapes and colors, which are also reflected on the perfume bottles.
Mavive decided to situate their flagship stores in historic and renovated apothecary
shops of the 1600s and 1700s. These direct points of sale are characterized by
monumentality, plenty of control, and specific aesthetic qualities, given the histor-
ical nature of the spaces.
With regard to the second level, the choice of distribution channels and locations
creates a vector for the enhancement of brands and products and their cultural
identities. Points of sale located in historical cities and sites and various selling
environments, such as flagship stores, showrooms, or special brand corners, are
20 C.I. Artico and M. Tamma

aimed at creating appropriate contexts for the experience of the product’s “culture.”
These contexts also relate to the ability to manage the layout and atmosphere of the
places of sale. Of importance in this regard are various sensory elements such as
decor, color, furnishing, light design, and smell, as well as the verbal competencies
of salespeople, who can be more or less trained in the appropriate narrative that can
be captured on videos and panels as direct messages to the customer.
The companies’ participation in cultural projects and events is multifaceted.
Almost all of the companies included in this study choose to engage in cultural
activities, not only in terms of product development and marketing, but also—and
often explicitly—in order to enhance the visibility of their own processes and
commercial territory, thereby preserving their respective cultural associations.
(Mavive, Durance and Molinard, for example, openly declared this intention.)
Mavive organizes various cultural activities and engages in very different cultural
enterprises, the first of which was the creation of a Perfume Museum in collabora-
tion with the Municipal Museums Foundation of the city of Venice. The
museum—which actively contributes to the preservation and regeneration of a
specific cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible—presents the history of
perfume in Venice in an interactive way, by creating numerous sensory stations,
reconstructing a replica of an historic perfume laboratory, and exhibiting valuable
artifacts such as ancient books and bottles. The company is also strongly committed
to enhancing the vitality of this museum by organizing workshops, family games,
seminars and conferences that continuously attract new audiences.
Durance, a French firm founded beside the Castle of Grignan, not only restored
and turned the old factory into a museum, but also decided to participate in the
Festival de la Corréspondence held in Grignan: “We decided to collaborate
because Grignan is a small municipality, which has only two excellences: Madame
de Sevigner, and the fact that it was the historic theater for the growing of fragrant
flowers and herbs, which over the centuries has given rise to various activities of
artistic perfumery,” says the sales manager, stressing the company’s strong bond
with its territory of origin and its traditions.
Galimard and Molinard decided to restore their original factories and open
private museums. In addition to these cultural structures, both companies undertook
corporate cultural activities to promote educational activities. Working with tourist
information points, each created private “Ateliers des Parfumes” in which tourists
and curious visitors can learn the art of perfume making by master perfumers. Now
priced services in their own right, these activities have become true, self-sustaining
business units that can generate economic value for both companies: “First of all,
these cultural activities are important for the image of the brand,” says the coordi-
nator of cultural activities and of Molinard’s Atelier Des Parfums; “it means
providing a full service: not only to propose the perfumes, but also explain how
they are made through a pedagogical approach [. . .] The “cultural” in our products
is the territory. We are the only company of Grasse which has been recognized by
the government as ‘patrimoine vivant.’”
Rancè’s commitment to cultural engagement is focused on the management of
the family’s archive and a small private company museum it makes available by
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
spouter of pro-English speeches, written by Hamilton, that had been printed
and circulated in England, should be sent.[1315] It required no blundering by
Monroe to pave the way for his recall—the politicians were sparing him that
trouble.
He had officially informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs that Jay was
not to negotiate a commercial treaty, and would sign none that was in
conflict with the Franco-American Treaty—because those were his
instructions. When, with rumors to the contrary flying over Paris, on the
completion of the treaty, he had, on the strength of a solemn and utterly
false assurance from Jay, reiterated that there was no conflict. When the
document reached Paris, the French were bitterly resentful and Monroe was
discredited and crippled. Even so, he probably prevented a declaration of
war by representing that such a course would throw America into the arms
of England—and this was charged against him by those Federalist leaders
who sought war. Then he was recalled; and at the farewell audience an
offensive speech by the French official, which Monroe unpardonably failed
to resent, gave his enemies more ammunition.

III

With the refusal to receive Pinckney, the crisis came. To the war hawks it
was a golden hour—war and no negotiations. Pickering and Wolcott fumed
over the suggestion of an extraordinary mission. Hamilton, the sanest and
most prescient of them all, realizing the importance of a united country in
case of war, proposed sending an embassy of three, including one
Jeffersonian of distinction. For almost five months a spirited debate of the
leaders continued. In January, Hamilton had written Washington urging an
extraordinary mission, including Madison, to conciliate the French, with
Pinckney, who was not distasteful to them, and George Cabot, to moderate
the Gallicism of the other two, to supply commercial information, and to
represent the friends of the Administration.[1316] Two months later, in a
similar recommendation to McHenry, he proposed Jefferson instead of
Madison, and Jay in the place of Cabot. Then he would have a day of
fasting and prayer for the opening of Congress, an embargo, an increase in
the revenue, the use of convoys, and qualified letters of marque for
merchantmen to arm and defend themselves.[1317] The same day he wrote
the same suggestion for Pickering.[1318]
It was at this juncture that Hamilton began to run foul of the pro-English
war craze of Pickering, who questioned the plan because the Democrats
favored it. All the more reason for it, replied Hamilton. Unhappily, there
was a prevalent feeling that the Administration wanted war and this should
be counteracted.[1319] To Wolcott, he wrote in the same strain the next day.
[1320] Even the usually pliant Wolcott was in rebellious mood and replied
with an attack on Madison as a frequenter of M. Adet’s parties, whom that
Minister wished sent, and who would wreck the negotiations, and ‘throw the
disgrace of failure on the friends of the Government.’[1321] Clearly it was
time for Hamilton to assume his imperial manner, and he did, in a sharp
rebuke to his protégé against ‘passions that prevent the pliancy to
circumstances which is sometimes indispensable.’ Then ‘what risk can
attend sending Madison, if combined, as I propose, with Pinckney and
Cabot,’ he added.[1322] Realizing now the importance of bringing up his
congressional reserves, he wrote to William Smith by the same mail.[1323]
The insurgency against the plans of the Federalist chief was now in full
blast. Tracy was writing Wolcott—‘No man will be sent on this business but
a decided Federalist.’[1324] Jeremiah Smith having informed Cabot of the
dispute, the latter wrote Wolcott that he could see no possibility of finding
new messengers ‘with the expectation that they will not be kicked.’[1325]
The same day—less circumspect outside Administration circles—he wrote
Jeremiah Smith that a new embassy ‘would be disgraceful.’[1326] Ames had
been won over by Hamilton, but the day after the extra session began, Cabot
wrote Wolcott that his mind was ‘still as unsatisfied as at first.’[1327] Four
days before the session opened, Hamilton was bringing pressure to bear on
Pickering, declaring the mission ‘indispensable to silence the Jacobin
criticism and promote union among ourselves.’ But by this time he had
changed the personnel of his mission—Rufus King, rabidly pro-English,
should be sent with Pinckney and Jefferson.[1328] Meanwhile, McHenry was
receiving letters from Maryland Federalists urging war,[1329] but Hamilton’s
masterful methods had won the Cabinet, and when Adams took the opinions
of the Ministers he received replies that had been dictated, and, in the case
of McHenry, written in large part, by the Federalist chief.[1330]
All the while Adams had been receiving volunteered advice, though it
does not appear that Hamilton thought it worth while to communicate with
him direct. He had received a letter from Knox urging Jefferson because of
the compliment that would be implied in his rank. This touched Adams
where he was ticklish. ‘The circumstance of rank is too much,’ he replied.
‘What would have been thought in Europe if the King of France had sent
Monsieur, his eldest brother, as an envoy? What of the King of England if
he had sent the Prince of Wales? Mr. Jefferson is in a sense in the same
situation. He is the first prince of the country, and the heir apparent to the
sovereign authority.’[1331] Ah, ‘Bonny Johnny,’ lucky that this letter did not
fall into the hands of Bache with its references to the ‘prince’ and the ‘heir
apparent’!
However, in a discussion of the mission with Jefferson, the President had
suggested Madison. The wary Democratic chief received the suggestion
with caution, for the experience of Monroe offered little inducement to a
Democrat to subject his reputation to the mercies of the man-eating
Pickering. Certainly the suggestion received no encouragement. The
President and his most dangerous opponent had a friendly chat and parted
friends—not soon to meet in conference again. The sage of Monticello had
never been more courteous or courtly, the man from Braintree never calmer
nor more kindly, but the hour had passed for a coalition. Jefferson was out
for scalps, not olive branches.[1332]
Thus the time came when Adams had to take the bit in his mouth in the
naming of the envoys. One day Fisher Ames had a long talk with him in
urging Cabot, as a compliment to the Northern States, and the next day the
envoys were named—with Cabot out. He was eliminated because Adams
knew that Talleyrand was familiar with Cabot’s bitter hostility to France,
and the President refused thus to ‘gratify the passions of a party.’[1333] That
was ominous enough; but when he disregarded the almost unanimous
protest of the Hamiltonians and named Elbridge Gerry along with Pinckney
and Marshall, the gage of battle was thrown down. From that hour, the high-
flying Federalists knew that John Adams would be no man’s man and no
man’s parrot. Thus early, the small cloud on the horizon widened and
darkened.
The proud old patriot of Braintree had been given a shock on the opening
day of the extra session when Senator Tracy spread a lengthy letter before
him on the table in the ex-cathedra manner of one disclosing the tablets of
Moses. The squat little President read it with rising wrath. It was a letter
from Hamilton, setting forth in detail ‘a whole system of instructions for the
conduct of the President, the Senate and the House of Representatives.’ He
read it through and returned it to Tracy. ‘I really thought the man was in a
delirium,’ Adams wrote afterwards.[1334] And the cloud on the horizon
grew more ominous.

IV

The opening of the session found the New England Federalists in high
glee over the prospects. The correspondence of their leaders discloses their
grim determination to have war with France; and if they had failed in their
efforts to prevent a renewal of negotiations, they could use the extra session
for the spreading of war propaganda. Upon this task they entered with
unprecedented arrogance and intolerance.
The Message of Adams was dignified and calm, reviewing the situation,
announcing the plans for a new attempt at negotiations, and urging the
adoption of defensive measures in the meantime. The first fight came in the
framing of the Reply to the Address in the House—and two young brilliant
new members forged to the front to assume the aggressive leadership of the
war party. The persuasive, polished eloquence of Ames could not be heard,
for he was nursing himself in his fine new house at Dedham; nor, on the
other side, could the lucid, convincing logic of Madison appear, for he was
in retirement in Virginia. Sedgwick had been sent to the Senate, Fitzsimons
had been defeated, Murray of Maryland was on his way to The Hague as
Minister. On the Democratic side, Gallatin, Giles, and Nicholas of Virginia
were to bear the brunt of the battle, and the two new men were to lead the
Federalists with an audacity seldom equaled and never surpassed. These two
young blades, Harrison Gray Otis of Boston and Robert Goodloe Harper of
South Carolina, were in their thirty-second year. The former was strikingly
handsome, tall and well proportioned, with coal-black hair, eyes blue and
sparkling with vivacity, nose thin and patrician, complexion rosy—his
presence in any assembly would have been felt had he remained silent, and
he was seldom silent. In dress fastidious, in manners affable, in repartee
stinging, in the telling of a story a master of the art: a devotee to pleasure,
dinners, dances, and women carried for him an irresistible appeal. His
eloquence was of a high order. A thorough aristocrat, he prided himself on
having no illusions as to liberty and democracy, and he made no secret of
his contempt for the masses. The rising of the French against the ineffable
cruelties of the nobility and monarchy merely meant to him an attack of
beasts upon the homes and rights of gentlemen. Speedily he became an idol
of his party, and he enjoyed the bitter conflicts of the House as keenly as the
dinners where he was the life of the party.
Robert Goodloe Harper had much in common with Otis. Like him,
Harper was a social lion and a dandy in dress. Of medium height, and with
an uncommonly full chest which accentuated his pomposity, he had a
handsome head and features, creating withal an impression of physical force
and intellectual power. In eloquence he made up in force what he lacked in
ornament. He had all of Giles’s bumptiousness without his consistency, and
no member of the House approached him in insolence. Coming upon the
scene when the conditions seemed ripe for bowling over the Democrats with
abuse and intimidation, he fitted into the picture perfectly. Thus he became
the outstanding orator against the French. True, four years before, in
Charleston, he had paid court to the Jacobins with an assiduity that should
have made him blush in later life—but did not. Appealing for membership
in an extreme Jacobin society, he had worn the paraphernalia, spouted his
harangues on the rights of man, paid his tribute to the Revolution, become
the vice-president of the organization—and all he lacked to make him a
Camille Desmoulins was a table on the boulevards and a guillotine.[1335]
Now a convert to ‘law and order,’ he outstripped the most rabid enemies of
the French. From ‘dining almost every day’ in 1793 at the table of the
French Consul in Charleston, he passed without embarrassment four years
later to the table of Liston, the British Minister.[1336] The rabid democrat
had become a rabid aristocrat, and the society of the capital took him to its
heart. In social intercourse, he was entertaining, amiable, and pleasing.[1337]
Fond of the epicurean feast, expansive in the glow of women’s smiles, he
became a social favorite, and his enemies broadly hinted that he was a
master in the gentle art of intrigue.
Brilliant, charming men, these two young orators of the war party, and it
is easy to imagine the homage of the fashionable ladies when, after their
most virulent attacks on the Democrats, they found themselves surrounded
in Mrs. Bingham’s drawing-room.
Even before Congress met, the premonitions of the coming Terror were
in the air. With the impatient Giles, this was intolerable, and he soon retired
to fight elsewhere; but Gallatin determined to ignore insults, disregard
abuse, and to fight for moderate measures to keep the door open for
negotiations. He was of the rare few who can keep their heads in the midst
of riots and remain calm in a tempest. For a while he could count on Giles
for rough blows at the enemy, on Livingston for eloquence and courage; he
would have to rely upon himself for wisdom and the strategy of
statesmanship.

The Message received, the war party in the House set itself with zest to
the framing of a bellicose Reply calculated to compromise the chances for a
peaceful accommodation of differences. Nicholas of Virginia, representing
the Jeffersonians, proposed a substitute, couched in more conciliatory
language, promising a review of the alleged grievances of the French—and
this let loose the dogs of war. In presenting his amendment, Nicholas
deprecated the Reply as framed because extreme, denunciatory, and
provocative and not calculated to assist the embassy the President was
sending. In negotiations it would necessarily follow that there would be an
examination of the charges made against America by the French.[1338] It
irritated Smith of Charleston that the Virginian should be ‘so wonderfully
afraid of using language to irritate France,’ albeit he had protested against
language that would irritate England when Jay was sailing on his mission.
[1339] Otis was weary of references to England’s offenses against American
commerce. ‘The English were stimulated to annoy our commerce through
apprehension that we were united against them, and the French by a belief
that we are divided in their favor.’[1340]
Livingston followed with a brilliant five-hour address, pointing out the
flagrant violation of Article XVII of the treaty with France. We had made
that treaty upon the basis that free bottoms make free goods, and in the Jay
Treaty we had abandoned that ground in the interest of England. Of what
was it that the French complained? What but the adoption of the British
Order in Council which we had not resented? Even so, she was not justified
in her course. That she would recede in negotiations he had no doubt,
provided we used ‘language toward her suitable to that liberality which
befits a wise and prudent nation.’ He had no apology to offer for his
devotion to the cause of France. ‘I could read by the light of the flames that
consumed my paternal mansion, by the joy that sparkled in every eye,’ he
said, ‘how great were the consequences of her union with America.’[1341]
Giles followed, a little more severe on the Federalist discriminations for
England against France; and Gallatin closed in a sober, dignified,
dispassionate analysis of the phrasing of the amendment to show that it was
firm without being offensive.[1342]
Then Harper, with an elaborate speech laboriously wrought in seclusion,
entered the debate. The French were intemperately denounced, the
Democrats lashed, and Monroe treated with contempt. It was a war speech,
prepared as war propaganda, the first of his war speeches to be published
and widely circulated throughout the country, and printed and acclaimed in
England. Like Smith and Ames before him, he was to have his triumph in
Downing Street. The profits of one of his war productions, which had a
‘prodigious sale’ in England, were given to a benevolent society in that
country.[1343] The Democrats were infuriated by Harper’s attack, and the
‘Aurora’ truly said that he had ‘unseasonably unmasked the intentions of his
party.’[1344] When, about this time, Liston, the British Minister, was seen to
tap the orator unceremoniously upon the shoulder while seated at his desk—
for Liston was then a familiar figure upon the floor—and to whisper to him,
Bache saw red. ‘If the French Minister had acted thus familiarly with Mr.
Giles or Mr. Livingston, we should have heard something about French
influence.’[1345] Pooh! sneered Fenno in the ‘Gazette,’ Liston was merely
reminding Harper of a dinner engagement for that night. ‘Having heard it
whispered,’ he added, ‘that Mr. Harper has received an invitation to dinner
from another British Agent, the Consul General, we think ourselves bound
to mention it.’[1346] Nothing could better illustrate the confident arrogance
of the Federalist leaders at this time.
‘I am not for war,’ said Smith of Charleston. ‘I do not believe that the
gentleman wishes for peace,’ retorted Gallatin, who had written four days
before that ‘Wolcott, Pickering, William Smith, Fisher Ames, and perhaps a
few more are disposed to go to war’ and ‘to carry their party any length they
please.’[1347] Thus the debate continued until Jonathan Dayton, the Speaker,
proposed a substitute amendment that received the support of the
Democrats. Seizing upon a passage in Adams’s Message, this commended
the President’s decision to seek further negotiations and cherished ‘the hope
that a mutual spirit of conciliation and a disposition on the part of the United
States to place France on grounds as favorable as other countries in their
relations and connection with us, will produce an accommodation
compatible with the engagements, rights, duties, and honor of the United
States.’[1348] With the Democrats joining the more moderate Federalists
under Dayton, the contest was speedily ended to the disgust of the war party.
The batteries of scurrility were turned upon the Speaker. ‘A double-faced
weather-cock,’ screamed ‘Porcupine’ the Englishman. ‘His duplicity has
been too bare-faced for decency. He is, indeed, but a shallow, superficial
fellow—a bawler to the galleries, and unfit to play the cunning part he has
undertaken.’[1349]
Then, after the heroics, the comedy. Matthew Lyon, a Vermont Democrat
and a new member, shocked the formalists with a characterization of the
practice of marching in stately procession to the President to present the
Reply as ‘a boyish piece of business.’ The time had come to end the
silliness. ‘Blood will tell,’ sneered a colleague, referring to Lyon’s humble
origin. ‘I cannot say,’ replied Lyon, ‘that I am descended from the bastards
of Oliver Cromwell, or his courtiers, or from the Puritans who punish their
horses for breaking the Sabbath, or from those who persecuted the Quakers
and burned the witches.’[1350] Some chortled, others snorted with rage.
Vulgar Irish immigrant! But their wounded culture was soon soothed by a
salvo from ‘Porcupine.’ How society must have screamed its delight in
reading that Lyon as a child ‘had been caught in a bog, and when a whelp
transported to America’; how he had become so ‘domesticated’ that
Governor Crittenden’s daughter (his wife) ‘would stroke him and play with
him as a monkey’; how ‘his gestures bear a remarkable affinity to the bear’
because of ‘his having been in the habit of associating with that species of
wild beast in the mountains.’[1351] The majority of the House, lacking
Lyon’s sense of humor, continued for a while their pompous strut through
Market Street to read solemnly the meaningless Reply that had consumed
weeks of futile debate.
Then Congress proceeded to measures of defense, prohibiting the
exportation of arms and ammunition, providing for the strengthening of the
coast fortifications, creating a naval armament, authorizing a detachment of
militia, and adjourned. But the atmosphere had been one of intense party
bitterness which had ostracized the Democrats, from Jefferson down, from
the ‘society’ of the ‘best people.’
VI

Mounted, booted, and spurred, and swinging their sabers, the Federalists
started out to ride roughshod over their opponents. It was their strategy to
attach a stigma to Democrats, and treat them as political outlaws and social
outcasts. No one was to be spared—Jefferson least of all. A year before he
had written the confidential letter to his friend Philip Mazzei, stating his oft-
repeated views on the anti-republican trend in Federalist circles, and saying
that men who had been ‘Samsons in the field and Solomons in the council ...
had had their heads shorn by the harlot England.’[1352] Sent to an Italian
paper, it was translated from Italian into French for a Parisian journal, as we
have seen, and thence translated again into English for political purposes in
America. The translators had unintentionally taken liberties with the text
and in the final translation it was quite different from the original. At last, it
seemed, the cautious Jefferson had delivered himself into the hands of his
enemies, for had he not attacked Washington? At Alexandria, en route to
Philadelphia, Jefferson first learned of the renewed attack in Fenno’s paper.
Reaching the capital, he found the vials of wrath let loose upon his head. A
politician of less self-possession or finesse would have offered some
explanation or defense. None of the courtesies of warfare were to be shown
him—he was to be mobbed, his character assailed, his reputation blackened,
his personal honor besmirched, and he was to be rejected socially as unfit to
associate with the Harpers, Sedgwicks, and Wolcotts. An open letter greeted
him in Fenno’s paper on his arrival. ‘For the honor of the American name,’
it read, ‘I would wish the letter to be a forgery, although I must confess that
your silence ... leaves but little probability of its not having proceeded from
you.’[1353] Jefferson ignored it. ‘You are the author of the abominable letter
to Mazzei,’ ran a second open letter. ‘Your silence is complete evidence of
your guilt.’[1354] ‘Slanderer of Washington!’ ‘Assassin!’ ‘Liar!’—and
Jefferson was silent.
Knowing the curative powers of time and patience, it was not until in
August that he consulted Madison and Monroe as to his course. ‘Reply,’
urged the impulsive Monroe, ‘honest men will be encouraged by your
owning and justifying the letter.’ Madison advised against it as more apt to
give a ‘gratification and triumph’ to his foes.[1355] ‘Character assassin!’
‘Libeler of Washington!’ ‘Atheist!’ ‘Anarchist!’ ‘Liar!’—these
characterizations buzzed through the streets and in the drawing-rooms—and
Jefferson was silent.
Then an attack from a new angle. In his ‘Notes on Virginia,’ published
years before, in paying tribute to the red men and the eloquence of Logan,
an Indian chief, he had referred to a Colonel Cresap as ‘a man infamous for
the many murders he had committed on these much injured people.’ When
the mass attack on Jefferson was at its height, a long open letter to him
appeared in ‘Porcupine’s Gazette’ from the brilliant, erratic, and usually
intoxicated Luther Martin, known as ‘the Federalist bull-dog,’ demanding
Jefferson’s authority in the name of ‘two amiable daughters who are directly
descended from that man whose character your pen ... had endeavored to
stigmatize with indelible infamy.’ This had been preceded by no personal
note and was manifestly a part of the political plot to wreck him—and he
was silent.[1356] Time and again Martin returned to the attack in long open
letters, to be ignored utterly as though he were as inconsequential as a
ragpicker instead of being the leader of the Maryland Bar.[1357] ‘The mean
and cowardly conduct of Mr. Jefferson,’ growled ‘Porcupine.’[1358]
An open season now for shooting at the Democratic leader, all the
snipers were busy with their guns. At Harvard College, on Washington’s
Birthday, there was a toast to Jefferson: ‘May he exercise his elegant literary
talents for the benefit of the world in some retreat, secure from the troubles
and danger of political life’—and the Federalist papers gloated over it.[1359]
Bache was seen entering Jefferson’s rooms, and a Gallic conspiracy loomed
before the affrighted vision of Fenno. ‘The brat may gasp,’ he promised,
‘but it will surely die in the infamy of its parents.’[1360] Jefferson a man of
the people? snorted ‘Porcupine.’ ‘So is the swindling bankrupt Charles Fox
who is continually vilifying his own government and stands ready to sell his
country to France.’[1361] Nothing angered ‘Porcupine’ more than Jefferson’s
suggestion in his ‘Notes on Virginia’ that British freedom had crossed the
Atlantic. Freedom would live in England, he growled, when Jefferson’s
‘head will be rotting cheek by jowl with that of some toil-killed negro
slave,’ and when nothing would be remembered of Jefferson ‘save thy cruel,
unprovoked, and viperous slander of the family of Cresap.’[1362] And
Jefferson was silent.
Philadelphia was a city of but seventy-five thousand people. The papers
were generally read, or their contents were at any rate the talk of the town.
They formed the topic for ladies at their teas. Their husbands were
sulphurous in their attacks at the breakfast table. And Jefferson became, in
the fashionable circles, a moral monster unfit to drink whiskey with a roué
of the morally bankrupt French nobility at the table of the Binghams. He
was ostracized. It was at this time that he wrote Edward Rutledge that ‘men
who have been intimate all their lives cross the street to avoid meeting, and
turn their heads another way lest they be obliged to touch their hats.’[1363]
To his daughter Martha, he wrote of his disgust with the ‘jealousies, the
hatreds and the malignant passions,’[1364] and of the ‘politics and party
hatreds [that] seem like salamanders to consider fire as their element.’[1365]
Under these conditions he dropped out of the social life of the capital. In
the evenings he consulted with his political associates; during the day he
presented a calm, unruffled complacency to his enemies in the Senate over
whom he presided with scrupulous impartiality. Driven from society, he
found consolation in the little rooms of the Philosophical Society, among the
relics of his friends Rittenhouse and Franklin.
With such abuse visited on Jefferson, it is easy to imagine the fate of his
less important friends. Sam Adams was the laughing-stock of the silk
stockings. Franklin was considered as base as Jefferson. ‘Some person left
at my house this morning a copy of Old Franklin’s works, or rather
plagiarisms,’ wrote ‘Porcupine.’ ‘I look upon everything which this unclean
old fellow had a hand in to be contaminated and contaminating,’[1366] and
the time was to come when a Federalist mob raging through the streets of
Philadelphia would throw rocks through Bache’s windows and besmear
Franklin’s statue with mud. Tom Paine, always a fair mark, was written
down in print as a libertine. ‘Porcupine’s Gazette,’ which was the favorite
journal in the cultured homes of the pure at heart, had a story that Paine had
been ‘caught on his knees at a lady’s feet by her husband,’ and had
explained that he was ‘only measuring your lady for stays,’ at which the
delighted husband ‘kissed and thanked him for his politeness.’[1367]
Because John Swanwick, a popular young Philadelphia merchant, had cast
his lot with the Democrats, blocked the plans at the meeting of the
merchants on the Jay Treaty, and defeated Fitzsimons for Congress, he was
venomously assailed. When he toasted ‘The Rights of Women’ at a
Democratic banquet, ‘Porcupine’ sneered that he did well ‘to turn out a
volunteer,’ for ‘no lady will ever give a bounty for his services.’[1368] That
he was a conscienceless rascal may be inferred from ‘Porcupine’s’
suggestion that his ‘consummate wisdom and patriotism’ had been shown,
when, in the legislature, he had ‘sought to procure a law preventing
imprisonment for debt.’[1369] Fatally ill at the time, ‘Porcupine’ followed
him with indecent sneers to his grave.[1370]
Nor were even the Democratic women spared, and the Federalists’
favorite journal sneered repeatedly at the wife of Justice M’Kean. ‘Why is
Mrs. M’Kean like a taylor? Because she trims her good man’s jacket.’[1371]
‘I have no objections to their toasting Judge M’Kean’—at a banquet—‘but
the unmannerly brutes might have added his lady.’[1372] Even the Judge’s
famously beautiful daughter was not spared, and during her courtship by the
Spanish Minister, Don Carlos de Yrujo, the fashionable circles were
snickering behind their fans over ‘Porcupine’s’ comment that ‘what were his
motives in commencing the suit we shall leave our readers to divine.’[1373]
Giles was ‘Farmer Giles,’ who descended ‘from the lowest grade of
gentleman’—‘a gambler at heart’—devotee of the race-track, and ‘the
infamous faro table.’[1374] Monroe was infamous, and even gentle, cultured
old Dr. Logan, ’neath whose magnificent trees at ‘Stenton’ Mrs. Washington
had passed delightful afternoons, became a cross between a clown and a
rascal. No Democrat was spared.
The Democrats, overwhelmed, were comparatively tame, but the
publication of Hamilton’s pamphlet on his relations with Mrs. Reynolds,
necessitated as he foolishly thought by the book of the notorious Callender,
made him an easy mark for the Democratic scandal-mongers. In July he had
appeared in Philadelphia to secure affidavits from Monroe and Muhlenberg
—‘an attestation,’ as Bache phrased it, ‘of his having cuckolded James
Reynolds.’ It was understood that ‘his man Oliver [Wolcott] had made out
an affidavit as long as your arm,’ but that others were desired ‘to patch up
the threads and fragments of his character.’ Soon, said Bache, ‘our ex-
Secretary expects to be brought to bed of his pamphlet containing love-sick
epistles.’[1375] When it was printed three months later, Bache published a
letter from New York to the effect that it had appeared in the morning ‘and
at six o’clock in the evening the town rings with it.’ But ‘the women cry out
against it as if its publication was high treason against the rights of
women.’[1376]
It was impossible for the ostracism of Democrats, however, to blur the
social brilliancy of the season. Pinckney found his evenings crowded ‘with
plays, public and private,’ and his dinner invitations ‘abundant.’[1377]
Subscription dances, brilliant dinners every night, elaborate entertainments,
a giddy whirl. The diplomats were particularly lavish, none so much so as
Liston, the British Minister, at whose table Otis, Harper, Sedgwick, Wolcott
were frequent guests, and he was on terms of such familiarity with the
President that they sometimes strolled together in the streets. But
everywhere in the fashionable houses the Jeffersonians were excluded, if not
by lack of invitation, by the offensive coldness of their reception. The play-
houses were packed, albeit the entertainment was sometimes so vulgar and
obscene that fathers indignantly left with their daughters.[1378] Everywhere
politics was on a rampage, and even at the dinner table of President Adams
the passions seethed. ‘By God, I would rather see this world annihilated,’
shouted Blair McClanachan, ‘than see this country united with Great
Britain.’[1379] ‘I dine next Tuesday at Court,’ wrote Gallatin to his wife,
‘Courtland dining there the other day heard Her Majesty, as she was asking
the names of different members of Congress of Hindman, being told of
some of the aristocratic party, say, “Ah, that is one of OUR people.” So that
she is Mrs. President, not of the United States, but of a faction.’[1380]

VII

This rabid spirit was not a little inspired by the press, which, in turn, was
encouraged by the politicians. A new Knight of Scurrility had entered the
lists, encouraged by Hamilton, armed with a pen that flowed poison. He had
previously distinguished himself by his brilliant and abusive pamphlets
attacking Priestley, the Democratic Societies, and the Irish, and by his
exhibition in his shop window of pictures of George III and Lord North,
with Franklin and Sam Adams coupled with fools or knaves. His unlimited
capacity for abuse, his insane fury against the French Revolution, his
unfathomable contempt for democracy, his devotion to England, fitted in
with the spirit of society, and William Cobbett launched his ‘Porcupine’s
Gazette’ under the most distinguished patronage. In his first issue, in an
open letter to Bache, he had described the ‘Aurora’ as a ‘vehicle of lies and
sedition.’ This was his keynote. Soon the Federalists were reading
‘Porcupine’ as a Bible, and the editors were making journalism a matter of
blackguardism, of black eyes and bloody noses. In blood and breeding,
Cobbett was inferior to Freneau, Bache, or Duane, but he was a more
consummate master of satire than any of them. He could string chaste words
into a scorpion lash that Swift would have envied, or stoop to an obscenity
and vulgarity that would have delighted Kit Marlowe in his cups. None but
a genius could have risen from his original low estate, with so little
education. But a little while before a corporal in the British army, and still a
citizen of England, his English biographer makes the point that the happiest
days of his life were those when he edited the Federalists’ favorite journal
because ‘he was fighting for his country.’[1381] Nothing pleased him more
than to lash and lambaste the old heroes of the American Revolution,
Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, and Sam Adams, and he could not only do it with
impunity, but to the applause of society. Fenno sought to keep pace, in his
weak way, and Bache tried to match him in abuse. The fur flew. There were
physical assaults and rumors of assaults. The time was approaching when
Bache would have to barricade himself with a few armed friends in his
office to protect his life and property from the destruction of a Federalist
mob; when he would be set upon by ruffians and beaten, and when he would
exchange blows with Fenno in the street. ‘The white-livered, black-hearted
thing Bache, that public pest and bane of decency,’ wrote ‘Porcupine,’ and
the ladies of Mrs. Bingham’s circle agreed that Mr. Cobbett was
tremendously clever.[1382]
It was a feverish summer, fall, and winter. Public dinners were the
fashion, bristling with fighting toasts. Through these the Jeffersonians
sought to keep up the courage of their party. Always toasts to the French
Republic, and always toasts to the Irish patriots—‘May the Irish harp be
speedily torn from the British willow and made to vibrate to a revolutionary
tune.’ References to Jay’s Treaty were followed by the playing of ‘The Dead
March.’ Franklin, Jefferson, Monroe—these were invariably honored.[1383]
The Federalists penetrated the Jeffersonian stronghold of Philadelphia with
a banquet at the Cameron Tavern, Southwark, with warlike toasts, and with
Harper as the hero,[1384] and a few days later the ‘young men’ of this
district met to pass ringing resolutions endorsing the ‘wisdom and integrity’
of the Administration. One courageous soul moved to strike out the word
‘wisdom,’ and the crowd struck him out instead; whereupon a few gathered
about and cheered for Jefferson.[1385]
But the most notable banquet was in honor of Monroe in Philadelphia.
Reaching the city, the former Minister to France left the boat with Mrs.
Monroe, to be summarily ordered back by the health officers until he had
‘undergone the usual formalities of examination.’ Short shrift for Democrats
was the order of the day, and the returning Minister of his Government to
another nation returned with his wife to remain on board until ‘examined.’
Such was the morbid madness of the Federalists of this period that it was
considered a triumph for the Administration to hold the former Minister and
his wife with the immigrants. ‘Porcupine’ roared with glee in his best
barrack-room manner.[1386] When finally released, Monroe went into
conference immediately with Jefferson, Gallatin, and Burr, and for two
hours the leaders listened to a detailed story of his mission. Gallatin, who
had refrained up to this time from expressing an opinion on Monroe’s
conduct, was convinced, from his conversation, ‘manner, and everything,’
that he was ‘possessed of integrity superior to all attacks of malignity,’ and
had conducted himself ‘with irreproachable honor and the most dignified
sense of duty.’ When the conference was over, Gallatin, at least, felt that the
‘Administration have acted with a degree of meanness only exceeded by
their folly.’[1387]
This became the view of the Jeffersonians generally. A dinner was given
at O’Eller’s Hotel, with General Horatio Gates in the chair. There was
Jefferson, and there, too, were Burr, Livingston, Gallatin, Tazewell, Judge
M’Kean, the Governor, and fifty members of Congress. With enthusiasm
they drank to the freedom of Ireland, and on the invitation of Gates they
lifted their glasses with cheers to ‘Charles James Fox and the Patriots of
England’—a frequently recurring Jeffersonian toast of the times. Livingston
proposed—‘Monroe, the virtuous citizen, who, to keep the peace of the
country, refuses to do justice to himself.’ Monroe responded in a brief
speech, unexceptionable in every way, but Gallatin predicted, in a letter to
his wife, that ‘Porcupine & Co. will roundly abuse us.’[1388] And Gallatin
was right, for that was ‘Porcupine’s’ business. ‘At some tavern in the city,’
ran the ‘Porcupine’ account, ‘a most ludicrous farce called “The Welcome
of Citizen Monroe” was performed. The principal characters were the
Virginia Philosopher, Mrs. M’Kean’s husband, and Monsieur Citizen
Tazewell of the ancient dominion commonly called the Land of
Debts.’[1389] Livingston was wrong, however, in his notion that Monroe
would remain silent. Urged on by the Jeffersonians, he prepared a defense
which was given a nation-wide circulation through the exertions of his
fellow partisans.[1390] Jefferson was satisfied, the Federalists enraged. ‘A
wicked misrepresentation of the facts,’ though ‘many applaud it,’ wrote
Wolcott.[1391]
Meanwhile, the envoys were lost in the mists of the sea, and nothing had
reached the public regarding their reception. In November, the atmosphere
charged with the electricity of war, Adams returned to the capital from his
seat at Braintree, to be escorted with military pomp into the city. The war
propagandists were good psychologists sometimes. When Governor Mifflin,
Democrat, ordered out the militia to parade in the President’s honor,
‘Porcupine’ graciously declared it ‘the first decent act he had ever been
guilty of.’[1392] On the night of his arrival there was a dinner at O’Eller’s in
honor of ‘His Serene Highness of Braintree,’ as Bache put it, and so noisy
was the demonstration that ‘some ignorant people imagined a boxing match
was on the carpet.’[1393]
This was the spirit of the hour when Congress met in November—the
bitterness among the members fully as intense as among the loungers in the
streets.

VIII

And yet it was not to be without its touch of comedy. Before the crisis
came, two incidents had set the country roaring. Matthew Lyon, the
Vermont Democrat, was a constant provocation to the Federalists. Hot-
tempered, ardent, uncouth in his manners, but thoroughly honest at heart, he
had outraged the clubby spirit of the Federalists. During the Revolution he
had been shamefully cashiered for an act deserving of a medal, but almost
immediately he had been vindicated. The vindication was thoroughly
understood in Philadelphia, but it suited the purpose of his political foes to
ignore the facts for the benefit of the slander.
The House was sitting, but in a state of confusion—every one including
the Speaker talking—Lyon holding forth in conversation on the ease with
which Connecticut could be converted to Democracy through a Democratic
paper in that State. Roger Griswold, a Federalist leader, made a slurring
reference to Lyon’s ‘wooden sword.’ The latter, hearing it, preferred to
ignore the insult. Whereupon Griswold, following him and plucking at his
coat, repeated the slander. At this Lyon made an unpardonable blunder—
instead of slapping Griswold’s face, he spat in it. Instantly the Federalists
were in ferment. The ‘little beast’ was unfit to associate with gentlemen,
anyway, and should be expelled. There was an investigation, with
denunciatory speeches as indecent as the act denounced. The purpose was
clear—to get rid of Lyon’s vote. The Jeffersonians thereupon rallied to his
support. Neither condoning the act nor asking that it go unpunished,
Gallatin opposed the expulsion resolution on the ground that Congress was
not a fashionable club and had no right to deprive a district of its
representation on the basis of manners. A two-thirds vote was necessary to
expel, and this was lacking. It was a party vote.
A few days later, Lyon was seated at his desk buried in papers, oblivious
to his surroundings, and Griswold, armed with a hickory stick, approached
from the rear and began striking him on the head. Several blows were struck
before the victim of the assault
THE GRISWOLD-LYON FIGHT IN THE HOUSE

could extricate himself from his desk. Then, grasping some coal tongs, he
advanced on Griswold, who, finding his enemy also armed, gallantly
retreated, striking wildly. They clinched, rolled on the floor, and colleagues
intervened. Here was another insult to the dignity of the House, but the
Federalists were delighted with it. Since nothing could be done to Lyon
without doing as much to Griswold, the matter was dropped. The scribes fell
upon the morsel with a zest, the first political caricature in American history
resulted, the public shrugged its shoulders and laughed, Jefferson thought the
whole affair ‘dirty business,’[1394] but Gallatin, quite as much of a
gentleman as Otis, thought that ‘nobody can blame Lyon for resenting the
insult,’ since there was ‘a notable lack of delicacy in the conversation of
most Connecticut gentlemen.’[1395] Fenno called Lyon a ‘filthy beast.’
‘Porcupine,’ who had rather urged that some one spit in the face of Bache,
gloated over Griswold’s assault,[1396] dubbed those who voted against
expulsion ‘Knights of the Wooden Sword,’[1397] and virtuously resolved ‘to
make the whole business as notorious as the courage of Alexander or the
cruelty of Nero.’[1398] Speaker Dayton, whom he had recently denounced as
a ‘double-faced weather-cock,’ having voted for expulsion, became an
ornament over whom ‘New Jersey has indeed new reason to boast.’[1399]
The real significance of the incident was that the war party had fared forth,
chesty and cocky, to intimidate the Jeffersonians and had met a check—but
they were to have another chance at Lyon.[1400]
CHAPTER XVI

HYSTERICS

T HE meeting of Congress in the early winter of 1797 found the war party
in fine fettle and the Jeffersonians fighting desperately for peace. Early
in the session, Adams called for the advice of his Cabinet on the policy
to be pursued in the event of the failure of the envoys. The three
Hamiltonian members had conferred and McHenry was instructed to write
Hamilton for instructions. ‘I am sure I cannot do justice to the subject as you
can,’ wrote the Secretary of War to the President’s enemy in New York.
Agreeing, no doubt, with the sentiment, the power behind the Cabinet
speedily complied, and the response to the President of his advisers was the
recommendations of Hamilton copied into the handwriting of McHenry.
[1401] These did not contemplate a declaration of war, but a resort to warlike
measures. Merchant vessels should be armed, twenty sloops of the line built,
an immediate army of sixteen thousand men recruited with provision for
twenty thousand more, the French treaty abrogated, a loan authorized, and
the tax system put upon a war basis. An alliance with England? Not
improper, perhaps, but inexpedient; though Rufus King in London should
make overtures to the British for a loan, the aid of convoys, perhaps the
transfer of ten ships of the line, and, in the event of a definite rupture with
France, he should be authorized to work out a plan of coöperation with
England.[1402]
All this while the debates in Congress were increasing in bitterness.
Monroe was accused and defended, democrats denounced and damned,
aristocrats and monocrats assailed. Orators were mobilized and paraded in
war-paint spluttering their most vituperative phrases, and the most
insignificant pack-horse of the war party attacked Jefferson’s letter to
Mazzei as ‘a disgraceful performance.’[1403] The chest of the flamboyant
Harper was never so protuberant as in those days when he strutted through
the Dictionary hurling the most offensive words in the language at the
Jeffersonians, rattling his sword, waving his pistol, and offering to meet

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