When a country suffers hard times, people don’t have the money to buy tickets to a play, or a book of poetry, or a delightful watercolor for the living room wall.

When a society experiences good times, there is a renaissance in the arts. People have the money and the time to devote to cultural activities.

Prosperity is now back in Belize. It’s been a long time coming. The last time was almost a century ago. It began about 1895 as mahogany and logwood prices began to rise and probably reached its peak about 1910.

The people of Belize reacted to it like a thirsty man with a tall glass of cool, clear water. They drank deep and often.

New homes were built with long wide verandas and all that charming fretwork which we later called gingerbread. Old houses were remodeled and painted.

Hofius and Hildebrandt imported spanking new saddles and bridles and the horses on the streets were sleek and handsome. They were curried and combed and cared for. The carriages they pulled were new and shiny and the ladies who rode in them, perhaps to Government House, were dressed in the latest fashions from London and New York, courtesy of Brodies, John Harley’s, or Biddle’s Store.

Young Henry Melhado and his brother Barney brought in the finest liquors, wines, and beers from Paris, London, and New York.

And, for the women and children who did not drink alcohol, an energetic man named Chavannes produced a delightful concoction called red lemonade. Oh, was there anything ever so wonderful? It was sweet and cold and it fizzed and it tickled your nose like champagne.

There was an awakening of the senses for the finer things of life, as well. At this time there was no television, no motion pictures, and no radio. People entertained themselves.
On Regent Street, at Number 9, according to the late Guy Norman Fred Nord, the great gabled white house was the premises of the Colonial Club. It was, of course, a male-only establishment. There was a reading library where its members could find the best books from England and the newspapers from New York and London, which came regularly on the weekly steamers from New Orleans and Mobile.

The Belize Literary and Debating Society held its meetings there also, where thinking men assembled to discuss the burning issues of the day. No doubt old Doctor Frederick Gahne, editor of the Colonial Guardian, held forth on his favorite topic--the decolonialization and return to self-government of the Colony. And, no doubt, he was vigorously opposed by the editor of the Honduras Observer, Archibald Robertson Gibbs, (Said Musa’s grandfather). Plays were produced; elocution contests held, and essays were written and read to admiring audiences at the schools and churches.
Mr. A.E. Morlan, one-time U.S. Consul in Belize, and now a watchmaker and jeweler did a brisk trade in musical instruments, sheet music, and stage makeup kits.

A number of orchestras were formed as well as marching bands. The orchestras consisted of violins, violas, cellos, bassoons, French horns and oboes as well as the usual brasses and timpani. They played the best music ever written. Chamber groups met weekly to play Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. And newspapers published glowing editorials proclaiming that Belize had reached its Golden Age.

In 1911 the Royal Navy ordered a huge supply of mahogany to refurbish the fleet. There seemed to be no end to the good times. But in 1912 there was a curious hesitation in the market and then prices for wood began to fall. Perhaps no one in Belize understood what was happening. They were still optimistic. Wait till next season was the word on the streets and in the offices.

The next season was no better. Then in 1914 it was plain that the market would not recover. Europe was gearing up for war. World War I began in August and no one in England was thinking about mahogany furniture. The people of Belize slid gracefully--and in a high state of patriotism--into poverty. It was to last, with little relief, for the best part of the next 75 years.

For more than a century thinking men in Belize had urged agricultural development as essential for prosperity. Little had been done, but following Hurricane Janet in 1955 in Orange Walk and Corozal the sugar industry began to make a comeback. The citrus industry in the Stann Creek Valley struggled, but held on.

It was Hurricane Hattie in 1961 that put the country on the road to prosperity. Following the storm, British insurance companies paid $20 million in claims and the British Government provided another $20 million in aid. This was an astronomical sum for poor, tired Belize. With this “seed money” Belize started slowly and painfully to pull itself out of the depression and onto the road of prosperity.

Good times had eluded the people of Belize for more than two generations, but today we are riding on a rising tide of prosperity. A golden harvest of sugar, citrus, and bananas, together with tourism and land development, put Belize and Belizeans on the verge of another “Golden Age.”
And a revival of the arts is well on its way. The smart horses and carriages of 1910 have been replaced by thousands of motor vehicles. The people have money to spend on cultural activities…and the number of artists is beginning to increase.

On the tide of tourists, developers, and land speculators there have come to Belize a few artists, discovering the charm and beauty of Belize. These men and women elect to stay here to live and create.

They come from many places: Canada, England, the United States, and elsewhere. But Belize has captivated them all.
If Belize’s second golden age continues unabated for the future, many more artists from home and abroad will blossom and flower in the unique environment of this beautiful jewel of ours.

This article previously appeared in International Living ( http://www.internationalliving.com/belize/free/04-04-07-prosperity.html ) . Subscribe to International Living's free daily e-letter here. ( http://www.internationalliving.com/opt/escape )

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