Essay on Progress \\ James Dunmore

Essay on Progress

James Dunmore

The economy is bad. So bad you’ve taken to whisking eggs, vinegar and oil because you’re too poor to buy mayonnaise in a jar. And Chicago isn’t too far from home, so in 1933, you head over to the World’s Fair and there it is: CENTURY OF PROGRESS. Big, bold and glistening with a hope you haven’t heard since the mid Twenties. Amidst the not-to-distant dreams, V-16 limousines and shiny, cigarette-smoking robotic machines, a glint of light sneaks into your line of sight, some sort of yellow, creamy sauce, glossy with vinegar and oil, and the taste, they say, has punch and zip. The tangy Miracle Whip, a condiment sauce for the new age, affordable, even with Depression wage. for sandwiches, salads, the fanciest aspic molds. Normal mayonnaise has become old and dated. You can see it now, moving over, giving up its seat for the new kid on the block. And it jiggles as you pick it up, as if it too is taking stock in your delight, both of you knowing this, this condiment, this progress, will save us all