Sunday Brunch: How
Coffee came to Main Street, U.S.A.
4 August 2013
by Reuben Gutierrez
Last June, I explored the
Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Cafe at Disney's California Adventure,
the first location offering Starbucks coffee and products on Disney
property. From my initial observations, the popular coffee franchise
seamlessly integrated into the roaring 20's Hollywood setting of
Buena Vista Street in DCA. In addition to blending into the setting,
the cafe had a strong back story illustrated by pictures on the
wall, suggested by props and articles, and explained online and in
print. Today, we'll take a look at the manner in which Disney tells
the story of how Starbucks fits itself into more sacred ground: Main
Street, U.S.A. of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.


As a Walt Disney World cast member, I was lucky
enough to preview the reimagined Main Street Bakery twice. With
little prior knowledge about the 'story' of the new bakery, I
sampled and experienced the new Starbucks and left feeling little
story, if any at all. There were some old pictures of old things on
the wall, shelves of baking ingredients and tools, and dozens of
coffee grinders. If this is turn-of-the-century small town America,
then they would need dozens of coffee grinders to meet guest
demands. This was satisfactory as the look and feel of fitting
Starbucks into Main Street was achieved, albeit minimally, and at
the expense of essentially losing the bakery (a topic we'll discuss
next week). The previous iteration of the bakery had no story, just
more of a feel of 'back then.' The problem is DCA had done it so
strongly, and Disney had to do it again in a place where die-hard
and casual Disney park fans would expect something more. So they
invented and installed a back story, but where was it?

Some old fashioned coffee grinders and bakery things

A 'historic' photograph from the Main Street's Bakery's grand
opening
Upon my return home, I decided to do some online
digging and learn what this story is supposed to be. Maybe because
Main Street's Starbucks is just over a month old, but I found it odd
that I could not find a printed back story anywhere, at least from
official sources. Even most fan websites would just glaze over or
barely mention the apparent back story behind the bakery. In my
research, the most I've found was
an article on how the Starbucks logo fits in with
turn-of-the-century Main Street. The author discusses how Disney
Imagineers adapted a logo designed by Starbucks in 1971 into a
bakery existing about 70 years earlier than it's time. In short,
cultural artifacts and decor of mermaids led to the design of the
Starbucks logo we know today. It's clever work on Disney's part, but
it creates a sort of paradox as to exactly what era are we in when
visiting the Main Street Bakery? Are we on Main Street at the turn
of the century as time travelers stepping back in time for our
vacation (which I always thought was the case)? Or are we merely
visiting a place where time stopped, but technology (computer
registers), merchandise (electric spray bottle fans), and franchises
(Starbucks) have anachronistically crept in for convenience,
efficiency and profit? I prefer the removal-from-reality idea of the
former school of thought. These were thoughts I didn't think of when
analyzing Starbucks at DCA, which makes me wonder if they should be
thought of at all.

The Pikes
After shaking my brain of time travel
inconsistencies and reaching some dead ends in my online research, I
decided I needed to get out of the office and return to the park for
some firsthand field research. On my first visit to the Main Street
Bakery, I noticed two portraits hung on the wall by the entrance. My
friend Aaron, who happens to be a Starbucks connoisseur, informed me
that they are 'the Pikes,' the Main Street residents who founded the
Main Street Bakery. He continued that while these characters are
fictitious, the name 'Pike' actually comes from a coffee blend
offered at Starbucks called 'Pike Place Roast,' which incidentally
is named for the historical farmer's market in Seattle, where the
first Starbucks opened.

http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/medium/pike-place-roast
In my recent field study, name plates have appeared
beneath the portraits, confirming that this is Ishmael and Clara
Pike, proprietors of the Main Street Bakery, its portrait placed
between them. A quick online search found that a Clara Pike was
married in 1914 Newfoundland, Canada, but she has no connection with
Starbucks or Disney. That could count for something since she was in
the correct time period! Maybe Clara and Ishmael were her parents?
Whatever the case, the first part of the story was told: a setting
and our main characters.


As with other dining areas and attractions at
Disney, the story is subtle, and you have to go look for it. After
placing my beverage order (a grande size New Valencia Orange
Refresher, exclusive to Main Street Bakery), I scanned the area for
more signs of a story. By the beverage island, the wall is decorated
with a World map and black and white photographs, most dated 1897,
depicting different locations throughout the world. Upon further
scrutiny of the photographs, one could see that a caption was
scribbled beneath them. Finally, I had found the missing key that
unlocks the connections between the proprietors, the old bakery, the
new Starbucks, the new decor, and Main Street, U.S.A.! A few choice
photos below help tell the story:

Verona, 10 January 1897,
'Clara and I stopped here today and had a delicious cup of coffee.'

Dar es Salaam, 4 February 1897
'The coffee here inspired us to someday open our own little coffee
shop back home."

9 November 1897
'All kinds of flavorful ingredients can be found in the warm
vineyards of New Guinea.'
From these words, it is obvious that Ishmael and
Clara had traveled the world and brought back these photographs.
Other photos line the walls of the bakery, though they were too high
for me to decipher the scribbled captions. The south end of the
bakery features photos of people from around the world drinking
(presumably) coffee. Clearly, the Pikes were world travelers. This
idea is further enforced by the various cultural artifacts scattered
around the shop (which are the items that led to the design of the
Starbucks logo).

Moroccans enjoy a fresh cup of coffee

South American women grind coffee beans

Coffee drinkers around the world
Perhaps their success with the Main Street Bakery
allowed them to afford a world tour in 1897, where they tried
different coffees and eventually find the places where the
ingredients are grown. Upon their return, their popular bakery was
transformed into more of a coffee shop. To cross reference my
detective work, I talked to the greeter cast member stationed at the
queue entrance. I asked her if the portraits are of real people
(knowing full well that they're not). Sounding a bit rehearsed, but
at least mildly enthusiastic, she informed me that Ishmael Pike was
real and Clara was his wife. He was the man responsible for bringing
Starbucks to 'all of this,' she said with a flourish of her arm. I
asked if she meant he was the man responsible for bringing in the
franchise to Disney. She repeated herself and then I understood that
she, a turn-of-the-century coffee maid, was telling me that Ishmael
Pike brought coffee to Main Street U.S.A. We turned around and she
pointed out the various things in the bakery. His world travels
allowed him to discover this high quality coffee and he brought back
with him all of the coffee grinders, dishware, and lots of
photographs. The cast member was very nice, and seemed pleased to
tell the 'story' of the bakery to someone who was genuinely
interested.

I wanted to talk to more people and
get more story, but the majority of the cast members were behind the
counter preparing drinks. The Main Street Bakery was technically now
a 'Starbucks' after all, so most of the manpower was needed to
deliver the coffee delivered to the street by Ishmael Pike. While it
is a bit silly to think one made-up man first brought coffee to the
park (though some may debate the identity of the Nescafe 'coffee'
previously served on Disney property), it's fun to think that the
small town in which Main Street exists got its coffee from their
traveling baker. Coffee was nothing new to America at the turn of
the century and most of this made-up story clashes with history, but
when you reach that point in the thought process, then you've passed
the point of enjoying your vacation and returned to criticizing
everything like you're in the real world. In order to fully enjoy
the magic of Disney, you sometimes have to separate from your real
world knowledge and return to the blissful ignorance of childhood.
While the official story has not been officially printed anywhere
online, the story of Main Street Bakery is in place, just as it was
for the Fifer, Fiddler, and Practical cafe. The visuals,
decorations, surroundings, subtle clues, and most importantly,
people tell the story. Like Ishmael Pike, you'll just have to
discover it yourself.