Celebrations and Events
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When oil was first discovered in the Patagonia region of Argentina on December 13th, 1907, it had only been roughly six years since the present-day port town of Comodoro Rivadavia had been officially created. Settled primarily by Boers, a group of dutch immigrants migrating from South Africa, this barren wind-ravaged and forsaken land became one of promise and success. During the next few decades, and continuing until the beginning of World War II in 1939, the rich natural resources of Patagonia attracted thousands of other workers and their families from countries all over the world to settle in the oil company towns surrounding Comodoro Rivadavia. As a result, the company town populations were known for their diversity and multi-ethnicity. This diversity became an issue that each oil company's management had to deal with as it saw fit to maintain the healthy working environment needed to make the town operate efficiently.
Due to primitive living conditions that existed in the
oil company towns at the beginning of the century, daily life revolved
around work related 
activities, and there was very little opportunity for a social life.
For the predominantly male population, "during the first ten years
after the discovery of oil, there were few organized social activities,
either in Comodoro Rivadavia or in the national company town."
(203) Another factor that affected the development of the social sphere
were the intense weather conditions. With the
strong winds, cold winters and sand storms, open-air activities were
limited and often workers gravited towards indoor activities. After
1917, "new possibilities for socialization began to appear and
recreational and sports clubs, cultural organizations, ethnic institutions
and labor organizations were new places for social interaction."
(203)
Two important parties played key roles in the organization of social events and activities: the workers and the company towns themselves. Although much responsibility was given to the employees to coordinate their social functions, those "activities. . . did not escape the companies' control" (203) The following explains some of the responsibilities undertaken by both groups, the motives or goals that lay behind the social planning, and describes what celebrations and events were held over the years in Astra, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF) and Kilometer 8.
The Companies' Role
As a privatized oil company, Astra's role
in controling and coordinating these events was radically different
from the national company towns like YPF. In
Astra, the company undertook fewer projects to create social spaces
for the workers or to host celebrations. The small population and the
fact that the company did not get involved in social activities caused
that there was not the same level of social organization as in YPF.
There was a cinema built for the white collar workers, and it had a
"variety of uses from a location for parties and dances to a place
to hold masses. " (215) The only institution built by the
company was a "casino" club exclusively for the high ranking
personnel in Astra.
YPF on the other hand managed the town from a different perspective.
The national company town dictated the majority of the aspects in daily
and community life, and in so doing provided the means and facilities
to hold many annual events. For example, the town provided a cinema,
and a restaurant that played movies. At the cinema, on the day of the
Three Wise Men the company would distribute toys to all those under
age 12, and would show them a movie in the cinema. (215) The town also
supported the "Don Bosco Christian Association to promote the catholic
faith, build a chapel and organize religious celebrations" (216)
This association was led by both an honorary women's
commission and a man's commission. (217)
However, rules and regulations often dominated life in YPF. Susanna Torres explains in her dissertation, " Family social institutions were reserved only for the upper class workers and high- ranking personnel." (215) In these clubs, concerts, parties and dances were held to celebrate national holidays. El Club Social de la Explotacion Petroleo de Comodoro Rivadavia and the Club Huergo were two examples of national-owned clubs that served the community's social needs. The latter, Club Hergo was remembered for "enlarging the facilities" to include "a library and a room for sports and family games". (216) Still, this was heavily restricted, and those who could assume a postion to manage this club had to have very specific occupational status within the oil town. In 1922, it was already "implement[ing] its policy of Argentinization to counteract the ethnic ties over Argentine loyalties strengthened by social relations." (202) "During the Mosconi administration, "the national company encouraged workers to participate in sports activities and national public celebrations as part of its attempt to control and Argentinize the labor force. (203)
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Maria de Viegas and Maria de
Bordeira "San Martin Street with so many streamers
and confetti. You couldn't walk, no, it was something terrible.
Everyone went to the carnaval parades..." |
The management of the national company town was shifted its focus when the majority of the worker population consisted less and less of native Argentines. The mass migration from areas in Eastern and Western Europe caused the National Government of Argentina to demand different standards from the national oil companies such as YPF. For instance, up until 1920, no Argentine holidays took place. (222) Having strong connections with this government, YPF, in 1922, was already "implement[ing] its policy of Argentinization to counteract the ethnic ties over Argentine loyalties strengthened by social relations." (202) That decade marked the introduction of national celebrations as public events. The Mosconi administration's policy of Argentinization caused "the national company [to] encourage workers to participate in sports activities and national public celebrations as part of its attempt to control and Argentinize the labor force." (203)
In general, YPF's goal for its involvement in community life activities was to "reflect both the hierarchical social structure based on occupational status in the oil fields and… create a sense of belonging to a big family which blurred social divisions." (202) As a result, it focused more on organizing events during national holidays, or planning sports events and creating recreational clubs for the white-collar workers. In comparison, Astra policy of non-intervention in social organizations gave more organizational power to the various ethnic groups, namely the Germans.
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Maria de Viegas and Maria de
Bordeira |
The Employees' Role
It is clear, as the town's living conditions became less rudimentary, that the workers were given more opportunities to take initiative in the community and organize their own events. In Astra's case, with the little company involvement they had, the oil employees "organized most of their social activities. Out of those workers, who were predominantly of German origin, most of the activities and recreational clubs were organized by the German white-collar workers.
Admirably, these aspirations for a more developped social
life would merely lay the foundations for the future. The recently created
company towns did not offer the facilities to host celebrations and
events, so many newly founded societies had to build their own meeting
hall. Other workers organized a variety of activities such as la Sociedad
Masculina de Canto Coral Lyra to "liven up parties and organized
literary-musical events" (220) In the national company town "
The Cuadro Filodramatico Enrique Arellano was aimed exclusively at cultural
activities such as the scenic arts and a company musical band.(216)
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Maria de Viegas and Maria de
Bordeira "We would work for the CONFERPET club,
and then we organized the carnival dances...that were talked about
all over Comodoro, because they were fabulous..." |
Unfortunately, the company town's uninvolvement in Astra caused many of the employee-led societies to vanish within a couple of years. Since many of the societies were merely branches of the central societies in the port town, those in Comodoro often gained more popularity than the ones in Astra and YPF company towns.