Reading a Baker’s Cap Negotiating Changing Commercial Baking Processes and Technology through Occupational Material Culture

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Noah Morritt

Abstract

Material culture is an important part of workplace expressive culture. Items such as tools and uniforms do not simply serve a utilitarian function; they shape and are shaped by values and beliefs that are central to people’s experiences and ideas about work. This was the case when I worked as a baker in a doughnut shop while I was an undergraduate student. Like other employees I was required to wear a standard uniform that consisted of a pair of white pants, a white shirt, white non-slip shoes, a belt, and a white cap with a visor. However, after protesting that the hats were neither functional nor comfortable, my co-worker and I were given permission to wear a white baker’s cap with a mesh top similar to those worn by cooks in other commercial and industrial kitchens. 

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Research Essays, Notes, & Queries