Frank Lloyd Wright and "Breaking Bad"

I've been looking into the myriad of ways that the City of Chicago (a modernistic den of corruption) is represented in "Breaking Bad," particularly in Albuquerque architecture, and thought it sad that Chicago's best-known and most prolific architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, couldn't be represented in the TV series, since he never designed any buildings in Albuquerque.

Nevertheless, there are buildings in Albuquerque designed in the manner of Frank Lloyd Wright, and these are available for use. In particular, Marie’s escapade of outrageous lies shown in the Season 4 episode of ‘Open House’ appears to pass through three homes designed in the manner of Frank Lloyd Wright.

One house, in particular, is interesting, where Marie steals a souvenir spoon. The house is built in the Prairie style, the style that Wright devoted his early career to, and his style most-closely associated with the City of Chicago. The windows at the house’s entrance feature art glass, for which Frank Lloyd Wright was also well-known.

The hobby of collecting souvenir spoons reveals a lot too. In the 1890s, there was a real mania for them. According to this reference:

Why did this mania happen? In Europe, beginning about the time of the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London (1851), there developed a brisk trade in the production of souvenir spoons which travelers who visited various cities purchased to remind them of their visit. Soon late 19th century American travelers returning from Europe brought back with them souvenir spoons from the various cities which they had visited.

…The 1890s was the "golden era" of souvenir spoon production. At the end of the year 1890, there were only about five souvenir spoons patented or in production in America; by May 1891, there were hundreds on the market. More patent designs were issued for souvenir spoons during this decade than for the entire period from 1790 to 1873 or after 1900.

…It was probably the Columbian World's Fair Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 which provided (by a quirk of fate) the venue and greatest impetus to the collecting of souvenir spoons and made it a fashionable national hobby that crossed social and economic boundaries. When the Chicago World's Fair opened on May 1, 1893, the population of the United States was about 67 million. When the Fair closed five months later more than 28 million people had visited the Fair. There is little doubt that every Fair visitor took home with him/her at least one souvenir spoon which celebrated some building or person or highlighted some aspect of the Fair itself.

So, not only do souvenir spoons represent the City of Chicago, they also descend from London’s fabled Crystal Palace, to which several other allusions are made in “Breaking Bad,” not least, the nickname for the tawdry Crossroads Motel. Souvenir spoons are the perfect vehicle to fortify these symbolic architectural links.