Popular and Folk Cultures

Folk Culture/Traditional Landscape

Figure 1. Farmer's Market. 4902 Old Hwy 11, Hattiesburg, Mississippi | Instant Street View.

Figure 2. 687 MS-589, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View.

Popular Culture/Modern Landscape

Figure 3. Votec Baseball Fields. 48 College Dr, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View.

Figure 4. Jessi Jayne. 5752 US-11, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View.

Recreate Landscapes

Figure 5. The Mercantile Store. 902 MS-589, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View.

Figure 6. Image of old Fastenal building before becoming Rio Grande. 59 Alabama Ave, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View.

Figure 7. Rio Grande Restaurant. Nice Local. https://nicelocal.com/mississippi/restaurants/rio_grande_mexican_restauran_purvis_ms/reviews/.

These images show differences of popular and folk cultures. Popular culture is enjoyed by the masses and the majority of people. Modern landscapes are part of popular culture. Folk culture is local traditions, stores, and traditional landscapes. There are also two images showing how people recreate landscapes. This post shows different cultural landscapes in Lamar County, Mississippi.

The image of the small farmer's market trailer pulled by the truck is a local fruit and food stand. This is an example of folk culture. They sell local fruit, vegetables, honey, and other foods from the area. The opposite of this would be food, drinks, or ingredients that were flown or shipped from around the world to a chain store like Walmart, this would be globalization and fall under popular culture. This little local farmer's market has been at this red light for years selling local foods. The image of the house and barn is a traditional landscape. This picture, which was taken on one of the main highways, shows a house and a barn on the left side, a barbed wire fence, and another house hidden in the trees in the back. The barbed wire fence is used to keep the cows on the property, there are no cows in the picture. This shows a traditional landscape compared to modern landscapes in Lamar County.

The image of the baseball field is from Purvis, Mississippi. This represents popular culture. Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the country, and it is very popular in the South, including Mississippi. This image is not of a school baseball field, which every major school has, but of the baseball field for Youth Sports. These fields have age groups from six years old to eighteen years old. These games are not connected to schools but are competition and pastime sports. Oak Grove, which is also in Lamar County, has a bigger complex with twelve fields. Baseball, Softball, and travel ball are played at the fields. The image of the store with the blue sign that says Jessi Jayne is a clothing store in Purvis, Mississippi. This is popular culture because the store brings fashion, clothes, and items that are worn in other places. This is the opposite of places like the local fruit stand because this store ships in clothes from around the country and other places. This is not clothes or gifts being made locally.

Many people recreate landscapes and popular or folk culture. The image of the gas station with the sign that says Mercantile Store is one of these. The store originally was a gas station. After being closed down for a while it was opened not as a gas station, but as the Mercantile Store. There they sell everything from lunch and basic groceries to antiques. It sells things like fishing tackle and live bait. The store holds little events. Sometimes they have local people playing live music. Sometimes they have live animal sales like chickens, or they have people with dogs to adopt. The store has had community yard sales. They have had fundraisers with things like book sales. This store was recreated into a small local store. The last two images show how a Fastenal store was recreated into a Mexican restaurant. Mexican restaurants are very common and popular in this area. After the Fastenal closed down, the building was transformed to a dining and kitchen area.

These images show different examples of folk and popular culture with popular sports or fashion or local stores and traditional landscapes. The images also show how some people have recreated landscapes and buildings for new purposes in Lamar County.

48 College Dr, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View. Accessed September 18, 2022.

4902 Old Hwy 11, Hattiesburg, Mississippi | Instant Street View. Accessed September 18, 2022.

59 Alabama Ave, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View. Accessed September 18, 2022.

5752 US-11, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View. Accessed September 19, 2022.

902 MS-589, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View. Accessed September 18, 2022.

Nice Local. https://nicelocal.com/mississippi/restaurants/rio_grande_mexican_restauran_purvis_ms/reviews/. Accessed September 19, 2022.

687 MS-589, Purvis, Mississippi | Instant Street View. Accessed September 19, 2022.