And, still on the subject of May Day, Patchen told me this time two years ago about the very odd May Day commemoration on the University of Chicago’s campus. He wrote [1.5.2201]:
In front of our building [Pick Hall: which used to house the Economics Department] is a lovely abstract sculpture which, at precisely noon on May 1st each year, casts the shadow of a hammer and sickle on the ground in front of the building. As if that weren’t enough, large crowds of students — including anti-communist demonstrators carrying full-sized American flags — gather at noon at the sculpture, to protest its shadow, I suppose.
This is one counter-revolutionary May Day celebration. I think that the Morris Dancers here in Oxford may be another.
This year I had the pleasure of teaching “On the Jewish Question” on May Day; when I returned from class I saw only a few students near the statue — probably because it’s overcast, and there’s no shadow. Which, unless I’m confusing my folklore, means we’re facing three more decades of capitalism.