Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Flatt & Scruggs and Martha White: Complicating Nostalgia in Bluegrass
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
On Saturday evenings from 1955 to 1969, the bluegrass act The Foggy Mountain Boys performed on the Martha White Grand Ole Opry Television Show. Featuring musical legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, these performances often included songs with female characters and commercials with women demonstrating Martha White products. My work examines the cultural work performed by these television appearances, particularly in regards to the gender politics they promoted. As Robert Cantwell and Neil Rosenberg have noted, the genre of bluegrass frequently promotes a nostalgic and backward-looking ethos. My close reading of Flatt & Scruggs lyrics suggests that their music portrayed women using conventional archetypes of faithful housewives and mothers versus unfaithful (and mobile) women. I argue, however, that the cultural politics of the Foggy Mountain Boys would have been complicated by multiple factors, including the contexts informing audiences’ reception, including their performance alongside Martha White advertisements touting both the technical advancements of self-rising flour and the comfort of home cooking. I examine video footage of twenty episodes released between 2007-2010. Our understanding of Flatt & Scruggs’ personal gender politics must also take into account the band’s employment of Louise Scruggs as manager. My study illuminates the ways in which Flatt & Scruggs navigated, engaged, and shaped American anxieties about gender as increasing numbers of women joined the workforce in the postwar era.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Christopher Keller is a graduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute pursuing a Masters in History. After Graduating, Chris plans to return to the education system as a high school or middle school teacher where he has already invested four wonderful years of his life.
Flatt & Scruggs and Martha White: Complicating Nostalgia in Bluegrass
On Saturday evenings from 1955 to 1969, the bluegrass act The Foggy Mountain Boys performed on the Martha White Grand Ole Opry Television Show. Featuring musical legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, these performances often included songs with female characters and commercials with women demonstrating Martha White products. My work examines the cultural work performed by these television appearances, particularly in regards to the gender politics they promoted. As Robert Cantwell and Neil Rosenberg have noted, the genre of bluegrass frequently promotes a nostalgic and backward-looking ethos. My close reading of Flatt & Scruggs lyrics suggests that their music portrayed women using conventional archetypes of faithful housewives and mothers versus unfaithful (and mobile) women. I argue, however, that the cultural politics of the Foggy Mountain Boys would have been complicated by multiple factors, including the contexts informing audiences’ reception, including their performance alongside Martha White advertisements touting both the technical advancements of self-rising flour and the comfort of home cooking. I examine video footage of twenty episodes released between 2007-2010. Our understanding of Flatt & Scruggs’ personal gender politics must also take into account the band’s employment of Louise Scruggs as manager. My study illuminates the ways in which Flatt & Scruggs navigated, engaged, and shaped American anxieties about gender as increasing numbers of women joined the workforce in the postwar era.
