Description

Book Synopsis
Patented in 1917, Piggly Wiggly was the most influential self-service store of the early twentieth century. This book reveals the importance of Piggly Wiggly in the invention of self-service and goes beyond the history of the firm to explore the role of small business entrepreneurs who invented self-service stores in a grassroots social process.

Trade Review
Beyond Piggly Wiggly is a cultural history of self-service that reveals how grocers and other stakeholders invested time and money into convincing consumers that doing the literal heavy lifting of shopping was both economically advantageous and socially and culturally acceptable (and sometimes even preferred). Lisa C. Tolbert shows how through trial and error local grocers refined self-service, shifting grocery stores from human-dependent food distribution depots to 'systems for automatic selling." - Susan V. Spellman, author of Cornering the Market: Independent Grocers and Innovation in American Small Business

Beyond Piggly Wiggly Inventing the American

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Mon 22 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback by Lisa C. Tolbert

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      Publisher: LUP - University of Georgia Press
      Publication Date: 8/1/2023 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN13: 9780820364414, 978-0820364414
      ISBN10: 082036441X

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Patented in 1917, Piggly Wiggly was the most influential self-service store of the early twentieth century. This book reveals the importance of Piggly Wiggly in the invention of self-service and goes beyond the history of the firm to explore the role of small business entrepreneurs who invented self-service stores in a grassroots social process.

      Trade Review
      Beyond Piggly Wiggly is a cultural history of self-service that reveals how grocers and other stakeholders invested time and money into convincing consumers that doing the literal heavy lifting of shopping was both economically advantageous and socially and culturally acceptable (and sometimes even preferred). Lisa C. Tolbert shows how through trial and error local grocers refined self-service, shifting grocery stores from human-dependent food distribution depots to 'systems for automatic selling." - Susan V. Spellman, author of Cornering the Market: Independent Grocers and Innovation in American Small Business

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