Got thinking about why some cities grow and some don’t. Atchinson was supposed to be the gateway to the west, but KC dominated quickly because it’s the junction of the Kansas and Missouri. Downstream, St Louis is the corner of the Missouri and Mississippi and New Orleans is the corner of Mississippi and Gulf. Upstream from KC, Manhattan is the corner of the Kansas and Big Blue. Junction City is literally the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican to form the Kansas. Junction City was the end of navigation. Spokane is a portage between upper and lower rivers, where traders had to get out and switch boats. End of navigation both ways. Later, towns formed where two railroads crossed, or where a railroad crossed a river or bumped into a lake or ocean.
Junctions or terminals require a pause and decision, which spawns commerce. If you need to hang around waiting for the next steamboat, or decide which way to go, or buy supplies and wagons to set out overland, somebody will step in to supply the need. Hotels, restaurants, stores.
While thinking about this I read Addison Del Mastro’s comments on the commercialization of Christmas. He wonders when it started.
Timelines have corners and terminals as well. Gifting is extremely natural. Birds do it, therefore humans do it. Without a special occasion, a potlatch is simply a way of showing off your wealth or status or ability to provide.
Occasions for gifting are corners. Christmas is commercial because the solstice is a point where you pause and change modes from harvesting and storing to preparing for next season’s crop. Weddings and births and graduations are portages, thus occasions for gifting.
Polistra's Mill 