Blue-Collar Aristocrats: Life-Styles at a Working-Class Tavern

by E.E. Lemasters

 This classic study of American society depicts the regulars at a Middleton, Wisconson tavern.

Genres: Anthropology, Labor

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Sheri]

Okay, this is the last of the books on my shelf that I feel like I "should" (and had not yet gotten around to) reading. And, I have a bunch of caveats.

First, as a sociologist, the book is an interesting ethnography of an "understudied" group (on the " marks; I think while lower class whites are certainly marginalized and understudied and this particular group--construction workers mostly--have not been the focus of many studies, it is still relevant and important to note that most research--even now, but particularly in the 1960s--had and continues to be done on white folks; emphasizing this group as understudied seems to reinforce the scariest of the racist ideas both in this book and at rise in conservative--MAGA-type--groups today: white people are losing out and have been forgotten); second, turns out LeMasters was not in the sociology dept, but in fact a social worker...making this possibly more relevant to me now (just having finished my MSW and all). Third, the reason this book is on my shelf is that my husband's father is good friends with Gary LeMasters (EE's son) AND we live in Madison and my eldest just graduated from Middleton (the "village" in which The Oasis is located) high school. Most of the students in his graduating class are "invaders" as described in the book: kids whose parents are not farmers or previous "village" residents, but who work in Madison; Middleton today is absolutely an upper-middle-class suburb of Madison more than an independant community of its own.

I would also add that I come from a blue-collar background. I am a first generation college student (with a BS, and MS, and now an MSW as well). My father is an auto mechanic (still working, no savings, and currently 68---the child of BCAs and evidence of their disappearance). My brother is also an auto mechanic, working with and for my dad (and struggling with debt and to save). They are highly skilled, but do not have any job security or funds like described in LeMasters' book.

Being well acquainted with Middleon (Lakeside); I wanted to know where The Oasis was located (recognizing that the book was written 50+ years ago and it might no longer be here) and went searching on the internet. I found this article: https://lithub.com/sam-freedman-on-th... and it is revealed that the real bar is The Club Tavern (which is still there and is next to a cemetary!).

This book is incredibly easy to read and flows well. It is also very dated; having read Leibow and Skinner recently I feel like I can make the statement (those were written around the same time as this) that they both hold up much better than this. It is possible that I am just more familiar with the world of the blue-collar aristocrats than I am with lower class blacks and so feel like I can point out so many changes to and within this group (changes about which I am less familiar with Leibow's focus of study), but the fact that globalization has led to a huge decrease in these kinds of jobs (a point that LeMasters briefly makes) makes me aware that there are many fewer BCAs (dare I say none) than there were in the late 1960s. Freedman (in the article cited above) uses this to argue that the racism and conservatism present in this book (when there was almost no economic or job dissatisfcation among BCAs) are independant from economic pressures and can explain the rise of Trump on a cultural level.

I would push back; this book is mostly about adult working men (35-50 yrs) in the 1960s...they are all my grandfather's age (or older). They were successful (proud of their work and able not only to support their families, but accumulate things like boats and pay off mortgages, leaving their children with small estates); their grandchildren (my contemporaries) and great-grandchildren (my kids friends) see these guys as patriarchs (not only because they were much more male-dominant, but because they lived during the "glory years" in America when hard work and saving meant that you could be successful economically). The current generation does not have access to the same lifestyle these men had if they choose to work these same jobs. They were taught by these men to hold these values (both hardwork and racism/sexism, male dominance) and yet, they are failing; today, these decendents are unable to achieve the same standard of living without resorting to white collar jobs and education (in other words, adopting different values...those held by their mothers/grandmothers, not their fathers and grandfathers). There are no more BCAs (or very, very few), there are simply people suffering in the gig economy, resenting the loss of their American ideal and blaming it on the non-white, non-men (as they were taught to do by these BCAs).

Overall it was an interesting read, but feels like a relic of a lost time. It is a good explainer of racism, sexism, and homophobia and also seems to this reader to be a great description of dinosaurs: men holding lower class values and earning high wages feel like creatures lost to time and unlikely to re-appear.

All that said, I will (as typical), leave you with my list of quotes (with the reader baring in mind that these all likely not generalizable to modern workers):
"Leisure and the freedom to enjoy life hold high priority in the life-style of the tavern regulars, and most of them would be reluctant to sacrafice these values just to earn more money" (again, because they are earning more than a living wage---fast forward 50 years and folks in the same position have no leisure; instead they must work multiple part-time jobs to survive).
"the purchasing power of the construction workers in this study has increased faster than their desire for consumer items"
"Over 90 percent of the blue collar workers who frequent The Oasis are members of trade unions...they realize they would be at the mercy of their employers if they were not organized" (under Scott Walker in 2011 the state of WI took a baseball bat to the knees of unions).
"These men defintely prefer segregated sex roles, with the women assuming primary responsibility for child rearing and home management."
"women choose a standard of living when they marry, they have to take such details into account."
"curve of disenchantment applies to almost all of the other aspects of life as these older couples view the world around them. They no longer hope for peace, or lower taxes, or a cure for cancer--not in their lifetime. Thye have had too many disappointmetns to raise thier hopes high again. As they have aged they have done what peasants do: they have zereod in on the indispensible aspects of life: food, drink, good health, sex, a job, children, a house, and recreation" (again, I argue that their descendants have become even more disenchanted).
"It is difficult, if not impossible, to talk with the men at The Oasis about the opposite sex without feeling that they view women with suspicion and distrust. In many ways, these blue collar men feel the same way about women as they do about Negroes."
"You get the feeling that the women, having less power, feel that they have to outmaneuver the men to get what they want."
"One never hears a man at The Oasis make a negative reference to his own mother. He might refer to his father as a 'no good sonofabitch' but never his mother. Sistesr are usually referred to in a positive tone also. Any hostility the men express towards women is focused either on their wife (or former wife) or on some woman activist in the community."
"One has the feeling that traditional women...are becoming increasingly scarce in American society and that sooner or later the blue collar aristocrats will have to face the fact that the slaves are in revolt...For centuries men have dominated Western society and now they face the prospect that their world, and their power, may have to be shared with swomen. This prospect leaves them feeling gloomy--or angry."
"The reaction of both sexes to thes women was interesting: the men regarded them as 'whores' or 'sluts,' while the wives considered them 'sick.' Nobody could view them the way similar men are viewed at The Oasis: as people with an insistent sexual need that has not been satisfied."
"the two sexes, at the blue collar level, have experienced differential social change during the last few decades: the women have had a glimpse of equalitarian marriage as portrayed in the soap operas and in womene's magazines and have liked what they have seen, whereas the men have been horrified (or frighteneed) by the same glimpse."
"They are opposed to sexual equality, racial equality, mass production of houses, and many other features of modern society. In a very real (or literal) sense these men are reactionary--that is, they year n for the America that began to disappear yesterday or the day before. One can see this in their attitude toward women, in their gloomuy view of the welfare state, and in their hostility towards blacks demaning equality. Perhaps this generation of blue collar aristocrats can survive free and undomesticated in their marriages, but their sons may be in for a rude awakening a few years hence."
"Implicit in this attitude is a belief that no woman in our society can remain a virgin very long once she starts going out with men."
"While they do not approve of males using force to obtain sexual favors from female, at the same time they believe that many forcible rape charges are ficitious--that a woman 'had it coming to her'."
"It appears that a blue collar male of this group cannot merely refuse a homosexual advance; he has to physically punish the person making the offer....certain kinds of behavior, such as homosexuality and communism, seem to be beyond tgheir realm of comprehension."
"most of these fathers are trying to preserve their way of life by teaching their boys the same code the men have lived by"
"One way to protect yourself against women as you grow up is to seduce them. This idea stems from the belief that a woman who can resist a man sexually is in a good position to dominate him."
"Children have to learn early that the outside world is a rough place, and the sooner they learn this the better."
"blue collar jobs are not increasing as rapidly as white collare jobs in the American economy; in fact, in some segments of industry, blue collar jobs are actually decreasing. This probably means that not all of the sons of these men can be apprenticed to the various trades. If not, will their fathers be able to help them maneuver into a good slot in the white collar world?"
"Most of these men are convinced that the world is going to hell and they are trying to salvage what enjoyment they can from 'one hell of a mess'....enjoy today and let tomorrow take care of itself....the wives have a somewhat different view of life: They tend to put duty and honor before enjoyment"
"the steady controlled drinkers seem to enjoy life, and they use alcohol to enhance that enjoymnet, whereas the uncontrolled drinkers seem to be trying to use alcohol to make their lives worth living."
"As with so many other things in marriage, it appears to be the partner's reaction that determines the impact of drinking on any given marriage."
"the blue collar elite in this sample no longer profess any loyalty to the Democrats or to any other political party....the prevailing political mood of these men during the 1960s was one of deep cynacism: They felt that all of America's statesmen were dead and that the country was being run by a bunch of political hacks."
"These people are quite right when they speak of an 'invasion' of their town; almost all of the rapid population growth in the past ten years has been the white collar overflow from the adjacent metropolitan community."
"it is becoming hard and harder for these men to maintain their self-image as being superior to black men."
"On several occasions in the last year or so heated aruguments between younger men over the status of women have been heard at the bar--a new development in itself as the older men didn't think the issue was worth an argument."
"One has the impression that the new generation is less hostile towards homosexuals and that perhaps the younger men are less promiscuous sexually."
"The younger men are trained in mass production methods--large apartment complex and commercial type construction work---which emphasize speed and daily outpur rather than individual skill."
"I find myself somewhat surprised at the depth and extent of the suspicion and distrust the blue collar workers have of the white collar middle and upper classes...teh blue collar workers scarecely ever sees himself portrayed in the society."
"There seems to be no immediate solution to this interclass hostility and suspicion in American society; a leader woudl have to emerge who could win support and loyalty from different levels of the social class system."
"It should be remembered that the men at The Oasis do not vote for somebody, they vote against somebody. That is their stance toward life in general, not just politics."
"These men refuse to face the problems of the contemporary world except the ones related to the preservation of the natural environment. They would like for the world to be like it was when they were growing up; a majority of them spent their yhouth on family farms, or in small rural villages, and their memories are of peace and quite and satisfaction with things as they were.....Nothing about the contemporary world (except the higher wages) seems as good as what they knew in their youth" (and, as I have noted ad naseum already, their sons, grandsons, and great grandsons do not have access to these higher wages, but hold the same values).

[Ben Klingman]

A very enjoyable and digestible social study of blue collar workers in a small Wisconsin town bar. It is humorous and thought provoking, the author does not try to assert information but just presents it as it was investigated. The book is organized well and allows for chapter jumping if that’s your style. I think this book is used in some sociology classes for assigned reading, it’s a good one if so!

[Erik Riker-Coleman]

Kind of a classic. I made my US II students read it--as I suspected, it resonated really well among working class students from Wisconsin. Provides a great snapshot of not just the promised "lifestyles" but also social and political attitudes among white skilled workers in late 1960s/early 1970s Wisconsin.