Customer Reviews

Cracker: Cracker Culture in Florida History

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This is an interesting study of cracker culture in Florida. In many parts of the South, and among many Floridians, the name "cracker" carries with it a lot of negative connotations. Within the past 30 years, however, a certain "Florida Cracker Chic" has emerged, and in many communities being cracker is now seen in a much more positive light. Dana Ste.Clair provides a good historical sketch of the term "cracker," and he looks at interesting aspects of cracker history and culture. I especially liked the sections on cracker cowhunters and the discussion of cracker folkways. The book also includes some vivid historical photographs, excellent illustrations from 19th century magazines, interesting excerpts from books and articles about Florida's rural communities, and a list of contemporary living history sites where one can experience a sense of Florida's cracker folklife. The book provides a good, balanced discussion of both the positive and negative aspects of cracker history, and Ste.Clair sympathetically looks at people who were cracker when being cracker wasn't cool.

This book by Dana Ste.Claire is one of the better books on the origin of the term Cracker, It provides several theories for the origin, some more probable than others. The author paints a picture sensitively of the poor frontier person who has nothing and must make the land provide. The author does so without degrading the so called Cracker culture in the process. What the author failed to emphasize was that western frontier people had much in common with the Crackers of Florida. The book reads well in the recognition of the research that the author put into the development of the history of the Cracker culture. All in all a very good book for those of us who are affectionados of the historical and factional writings about Florida.

I give tours for the public at Conservation 20/20 preserves in Lee County, Florida. I talk about habitat, the plants and animals that live there, and I've recently added information about how the pioneers lived off the land - how they utilized the plants for food and medicine. I've learned from this book that the dead fronds that dropped off palm trees were used as "flashlights". The Crackers (pioneers) would touch a flame to them, walk a ways, then light another frond to carry further. How cool is that!! This book also gives an excellent sense about what these folks were like. The author is an academic who has written a very engaging and informative read.

not a story of cracker life so much as separate descriptions of parts of cracker culture.