True History of Chocolate and our Developing Definition of “Commodity History”

True History of Chocolate and our Developing Definition of “Commodity History”

While reading Sophie and Michael Coe’s True History of Chocolate, I continuously tried to keep in mind the ideas we have had as a class as to what the definition of “Commodity History” really is. We have talked about using the commodity as a lens to look at a broader historical element as opposed to looking at just the commodity first and foremost, and the effects it had on society become mostly secondary elements to the history. I felt the Coe’s history of chocolate was more the latter, and it has helped changed my idea of what commodity history is. I initially was in line with the idea of using the commodity as a lens to explore a historical development but after reading this book, I like the idea of using the commodity as the primary element of study. The detailed research into all pieces of chocolate was impressive, with the studies into everything from the physical environment where cocoa plants thrive, why they were initially harvested and used by South American tribes and the ever developing production process, shipping, economic and trade sales impact and consumption by a growing group of consumers were all fascinating and seemed mostly chocolate-centric and for a significant part of the time, culture was secondary to the chocolate itself. The sources used, and we talked a bit about this last week, such as the images and recipes also gave the research a grounded less hypothetical feel. However, as some also have stated in their blog posts, a lot of these sources, including the images, and recipes seem to be scattered or simply thrown onto the page instead of being developed and analyzed fully. However the academic historical field seemed not to be the primary audience, though I do think the book teeters back and forth between a popular history and an academic history. Overall the book definitely changed some of my thinking regarding the definition of what a commodity history is, though I’m not sure it has become any clearer to me, just more evolved.