{"product_id":"american-consumer-society-1865-2005-9780882952642","title":"American Consumer Society 1865  2005","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis startlingly original and highly readable volume adds a new richness and depth to an element of U.S. history that is all too often taken for granted. In American Consumer Society, Regina Lee Blaszczyk examines the emergence of consumerism in the Victorian era, and, in tracing its evolution over the next 140 years, shows how the emergence of a mass market was followed by its fragmentation. Niche marketing focused on successive waves of new consumers as each made its presence known: Irish immigrants, urban African Americans, teenagers, computer geeks, and soccer moms, to name but a few.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBlaszczyk demonstrates that middle-class consumerism is an intrinsic part of American identity, but exactly how consumerism reflected that identity changed over time. Initially driven to imitate those who had already achieved success, Americans eventually began to use their purchases to express themselves. This led to a fundamental change in American cultureone in which the American reverenc\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[\u003ci\u003eAmerican Consumer Society\u003c\/i\u003e] is a clearly written, well-illustrated exploration of American consumerism, attentive to the need to define terms and make cultural references appropriate for college students today. This book draws on essential and revealing statistics and offers memorable stories to drive home themes. ...Blaszczyk does more than survey her topic. She offers original research from her scholarship on the history of design, advertising, and fashion...whatever your view, you will find this book a gold mine of information and analysis, and an example of just good writing.\" (Harvard Business School \u003ci\u003eBusiness History Review\u003c\/i\u003e, Winter 2009)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eForeword vii\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntroduction 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eShopping for a Perfect Self 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Passion for Possessions 2\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDissonant Voices 3\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTreasures and Throwaways 4\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom KnickKnacks to Kickin’ Back 5\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart One 7\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVictorian America, 1865-1900 8\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eVictorians, Hierarchy, and Progress 8\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEarly European Antecedents 10\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOpportunities for Display 11\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1876 Centennial Exposition, the Industrial Cornucopia 14\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Allure of Cities 16\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Rise of the New Middle Class 18\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLabor’s Consumerist Turn 20\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBuying American or Pursuing Empire? 22\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdvertising Abundance 23\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter One Home, Sweet Home 28\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeparate Spheres 29\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDreams of Home Ownership 31\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomanly Creativity and the Art Craze 35\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Victorian Parlor 38\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“Making Do” 40\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eToward Modern Simplicity: The Bungalow and the Living Room 43\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMartha Stewart Revisited 49\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Two: Dress Codes 51\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFashion and Social Identity 53\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReady-to-Wear and the Democratization of Clothing 54\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Clothes Make the Man: Dark Suits and White Collars 56\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCorsets and the Hourglass Shape 60\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Art of Dressmaking 61\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Easter Parade 64\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStepping Out with the Gibson Girl and Arrow Man 67\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhy Fashion Mattered 70\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Three New Ways to Shop 73\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDry-Goods Emporiums 74\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDepartment Stores as “Palaces of Consumption” 76\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJohn Wanamaker’s Luxury Department Store 77\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFive-and-Tens 79\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWindow Shopping 82\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMail-Order Catalogs 84\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOld-Fashioned Retailers 90\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTiffany Tastes and a Woolworth’s Pocketbook 91\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart Two: Modern America, 1900-1945 94\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe New Tempo 95\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom the Standard of Living to the American Dream 99\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMiddletown, U.S.A.: Average America 101\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Modern Identity Kit 102\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eResetting the Stage, Hollywood Style 104\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDown and Out 107\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePurchasing Power and the New Deal 110\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePatriotic Consumers at War 112\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Four Mr. Advertiser Meets Mrs. Consumer 116\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNational Magazines, National Brands 116\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLadies’ Home Journal, the Bible of the American Home 118\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelling Soap, or Selling Sex? 120\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Colonel’s Lady and Judy O’ Grady 123\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eImages of the Good Life 125\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDiscovering Boys and Girls 128\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Power of Marketing 130\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdvertising Overload 132\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eForging the American Way 133\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Five Sensing a Wider World 137\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBicycles, Cameras, and the Great Outdoors 137\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGiving a Human Face to Electricity 139\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Phonograph in the Parlor 140\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRadio, the Electronic Hearth 145\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Jazz Age Radio Craze 148\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Electric Twenties 152\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Golden Age of Radio 154\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCreating Unity amid Diversity 156\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Six Designing the Auto Age 159\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAutomobility and the Pursuit of Pleasure 160\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“The Proper Thing for a Man of Wealth”: Motor Racing and Car Collecting 162\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFord’s Model T, The Car for the Common Man 164\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGM and the “Car for Every Purse and Purpose” 168\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDesign Wars 170\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBuy Now, Pay Later 172\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Paradox of the Auto Boom 174\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStreamlining the Great Depression 175\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eImaging the Future 176\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart Three 179\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBoomer America, 1945-2005 180\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePopuluxe Push-Button Technology 182\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKeeping Away from the Joneses 185\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePlastics Triumphant 187\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFallout of Affluence 188\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRediscovering Diversity 190\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Global Village of Goods 192\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBrands as Experience 194\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe New Mainstream 195\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Seven Destination Suburbia 198\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmerica Moves from City to Suburb 199\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“We Got a Piece of the American Dream”: Levittown, New York 201\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBlue-Collar Aesthetics, Appliances, and Automobiles 204\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMall Culture 206\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaking Ends Meet 210\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEdge Cities and Big-Box Retailers 211\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Eight Casual Style 215\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Mamie Look 215\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRebels, Teens, and Beatniks 217\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eYouth Quake 219\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Me Generation 223\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCelebrity Style, Yuppie Tastes 226\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePolo Meets Hip-Hop 228\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter Nine Electronics “R” Us 232\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInformation Snacking 232\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Year of Consumer Electronics: 1948 233\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTV in the Fifties 234\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRadio, Records, and High-Fidelity 238\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTape It! 244\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eVideo Games: New Devices and Desires 247\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePersonal Computers before the Internet 249\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConnecting to the Internet 251\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCable Television 255\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEverything is Digital 258\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHardware to Software, Hearth to HDTV 262\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConclusion264\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWho We Are 264\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeven Big Themes 265\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBibliographical Essay 276\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements 305\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 309\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePhotographs follow pages 92, 178, and 275\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49406459019607,"sku":"9780882952642","price":30.04,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780882952642.jpg?v=1730495892","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/american-consumer-society-1865-2005-9780882952642","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}