Empire of Things

by Frank Trentmann

  consumers’/buyers’ leagues 155, 156, 183, 184, 185, 287, 559; shoppers’ leagues 275, 549–50

  Consumers’ League, New York 156

  Consumer’s Research (CR) 287

  Consumers Union 276

  consumption: and acquisition 4; adaptability of 680–81; African consumption and empire 124–36; as agent of change 9; aggression abroad and underconsumption at home 158; alienation through 230; Asian rise in 355–99; authoritarian use of consumption in China 386–7, 394, 397; boom of 1950s and ’60s 10, 12, 317, 325, 338, 344, 359, 411, 415–16, 435, 540, 541, 554, 603, 659; as capitalist subliminal weapon of domination 321; the child consumer 216, 217, 484–94 see also children; Chinese 51, 355, 359–60, 368–70, 371, 372–3, 394–8, 681; and choice 9, 216, 273, 289, 372, 390, 522, 688–90; and Christianity see Christian religion and Church; and the city 93–4, 174–221 see also cities and urban life; as a civic project 278, 300; and civil society 87, 109, 356–7, 390, 393; coffee, annual consumption 81, 91; collective consumption in company towns 524–8; as a collective endeavour 278; conscientious 552; conspicuous see conspicuous consumption; control for colonial subjects 121; corporate-led see company services, and corporate-led consumption; as creator of value 3, 151, 233; on credit see credit; cultural consumption with public support 546–7; culture of see consumer culture; current levels of household consumption 687; and debt see debt; defended as source of wealth 54; as a defining feature of our lives 1; and desire for things 96–7, 98, 99, 100–101, 102, 154, 285, 340 see also desire for things; discovery of the consumer 129, 146–60; domestic consumer revolution and home as place of 222–71; domestic technologies and the escalator of 258; eating see eating; economists’ approach to 119, 147–54; effect of rise of commerce on 24; and efficiency 672–5 see also efficiency; the elderly consumer 429–30, 498–519 see also elderly people; of energy 325, 672–3, 674; and the Enlightement 95–110; equality and emulative consumption 438; in era of high imperialism (1870s–1890s) 146–7; ethics see ethics; familyoriented consumerism and 260, 324, 340–41, 382–3; framing of 11–12; and freedom 289, 325, 419–20; gas 176, 180–82; generational see generations; geopolitical approach to global consumption and the imperium of things 119–73; as the glue between generations 520–21; and habit 234; ‘hidden’ 539; and ICT 686, 687; and identity see identity; ideologies and the harnessing of 273–337; and inauthenticity 135, 138; Indian 355, 357, 365–7, 379–82, 390; as indicator of national power 153; and individualism 9 see also individualism/individualization; inequality and over-consumption 434–5; as integral part of social system 324; inter-war 273–4, 278–300; interplay of flow of goods, imperial power and 120; Japanese 355, 359, 362–3, 364–5, 371, 372, 383–4; and the joy of longing 290; and leisure 228, 456–73; liberal champions of 5, 102, 117; and man’s enslavement of woman (Veblen) 228; markets see markets; Marxist critique 112–13; mass see mass consumption; Mill on 151; missionaries and the demotion of the consumer 134; monopolized by husbands 43; and multi-tasking 471, 689; and national/historical economics 116, 153, 154; as nationalist piston of growth 364; under the Nazis 11, 289–92; as neo-liberal story of choice and markets 273, 403, 522; OECD domestic material consumption in 2010 683; outside the marketplace 522–61; overeating 106–7, 339; as part of labour exchange 59–60; pendulum of 78–118, 678; pleasures of see pleasures of consumption; and politeness 30, 107–8; politics of see consumer politics; private 13, 177, 253, 326, 331, 372, 429, 456, 538–42, 544, 548, 681; private affluence helped by public consumption 373; progressive/social democrat critics of 5; public see public consumption; as public policy 121; and religion see religion; reproductive/technical 153; responsible 442, 682 see also sustainability; and the retail trade see department stores; retail trade; shopkeepers; shopping; shops; supermarkets; rising levels of 1, 13, 14, 105, 146–7; rival bourgeois and youth culture styles of 311; Roscher on 116; save and spend model 362–4; seesaw effect of imperialism 135; and selfishness 102, 156, 397, 403; sensitivity of clothing as article of 67; separation from production 246; shaped by and shaping the nation 116; shift in meaning of word 54; in slave-holding societies 123; Smith on 3, 54, 100, 102–3, 151; social benefits of 102–3, 106–10, 118, 155–6; as a social cement 347–8; and social identities in African cities 347; and social motivation for feeling superior 13; and socialism 276–7, 295, 326–37; and the society of abundance 153–4; sociologists’ approach to 119; as ‘sole end of production’ 3, 54, 100, 151; and solidarity 155–6; specialization fuelling 24, 46; spread of consumer goods from 1950s to 1980s in Europe and USSR 301; and the stain of empire 357; state as promoter and shaper of 12, 13, 286–96, 371, 536–48 see also social spending; state response to consumers 548–61; and status 13–14 see also status and social positioning; studies 16; as subject of public debate 4–5; subordination to production 11, 41; sugar, annual consumption 91; sumptuary laws see sumptuary laws; and Sundays see Sundays; and sustainability see sustainability; taxes see taxation; tea, annual consumption 81; technologies 248 see also domestic appliances and technologies; the teenage consumer 312, 494–8 see also youth and teenagers; as a term 2–3; threat to wealth and well-being 403; and time poverty 403, 443, 460; and

  totalitarianism 11, 289–96; and trade 23–8 see also trade; transatlantic see transatlantic consumption and trade; transformation of home into ‘consumption junction’ 180, 674; under-consumption 158, 286, 303; united with production in the home 269, 270; variables in 91; vicarious 228; ‘virtuous’ 363; water 176, 177–80, 184, 185–9, 187; as a women’s role 81, 110

  contraband goods see smuggling

  convenience 4, 15, 73, 97, 115–16, 118, 126, 186, 262, 295, 334, 527, 687; and American homes 240; of credit see credit; culture of 636; of domestic appliances see domestic appliances and technologies; food 357, 493, 531, 544, 588, 622; the home as generator of 375; ‘innocent’ conveniencies 363; ‘little conveniences’ 102; and ‘rational’ consumption 362; Schaffendes Volk exhibition of modern conveniences 291–2; of the supermarket see supermarkets; vending machines 278, 370, 528

  cookers 235, 302; electric 240, 248, 249, 253, 364–5, 554; gas 178, 248, 554, 589; microwave 14, 260, 588; pressure 365; rice 364–5 cooking 4, 94, 119, 250, 259, 269, 601; demonstrations 275; with gas 176, 248, 527 see also cookers: gas; and gender 257, 332, 375, 448, 481; in Japan 257; lessons 206, 255, 457, 527; local food 588; meat 252; and migrant food cultures 596–7, 599, 601; skills 650; time spent on 375, 448, 463, 472

  Coolidge, Calvin 287

  Copenhagen 219, 580

  copper 161, 203, 664, 669; utensils 88, 596; waste 623, 635, 652, 653

  corn 27

  Corneille, Pierre: La Galerie du palais 192

  Cornwall 61, 590

  corporate-led consumption see company services, and corporate-led consumption

  Corrigan, Michael 608

  corruption 35–6, 51, 97, 100; through commercial leisure 216; corrupting lust for luxury 677; of innocent girls 199

  Corvin’s, Budapest 193

  Cosimo III de’ Medici 84

  cosmetics 360, 684; perfume see perfume

  Costa Rica 579

  cotton 26, 44, 45, 64–7, 68, 70, 678; British cotton industry 66, 77, 170; calico 65, 77, 124; Chinese 44, 46; chintzes 64–5, 67, 74, 124, 145, 252; fair-trade 563; as first global mass consumer good 64; Indian 4, 10, 23, 24, 60, 64–7; muslin 65, 67, 139, 193, 195; printed 23, 24, 64–5, 66, 68; printing techniques 66; raw 140

  couchsurfing 682

  council/public housing 243, 553–5, 681

  counter-culture 314–15, 323, 577

  courtesy literature, Renaissance 108

  courts 28, 40, 43, 68, 69, 79, 84, 86, 139, 174

  Cowan, Ruth Schwartz 258–9

  Cowperthwaite & Sons 410

  Crakanthorp, John 407

  creativity 235, 469; and advertising 315; and choice 503–4; in complaining 558–9; creative arts 465, 496 see also music; creative play 456, 473; creative spirit 326; and the elderly 514, 515; and ‘experience’ goods 321; and le
isure 456, 472, 507; and pleasure 321; versus popular music 266; spontaneity, irony and 321; versus standarization 225; and Yugioh 492

  credit 2, 12, 405–33, 439–40 see also debt; in America 302, 409, 410–12, 414, 415, 423–4, 426, 428–9, 430, 433; and bancarisation of the people 423; bingeing 406, 424, 434; in Britain 409, 410, 412, 414, 415, 416, 423, 424, 426, 429, 430, 431; in Canada 540; cards 9, 325, 371, 423–4, 428, 429, 485, 522, 679–80; ‘cashing out’ on the home 427–8; and children 485, 491; and choice 413; and citizenship 411, 412–13; and consumer capitalism 409; and the cult of novelty and luxury 405; cultures 410; democracy of debt and 409–17, 424, 432; in Denmark 425; departments, and customer control 317; differences within societies 430; East Germany and Western credits 335; in France 414, 416; in Germany 409, 410, 414, 415–16, 433, 679–80; and global imbalance 426; going for broke 428–33 see also bankruptcy; holidays on 414; home-equity loans 427, 428–9; imbalances behind world recession 426; instalment credit/hire purchase 114, 302, 308, 328, 342, 406, 409, 410–11, 413, 414, 415, 431, 440; interest rates 432; in Italy 409, 414, 424; in Japan 371–2, 424; liberalization 419–20; low income with high credit rates 432; and mail order 416–17; mass credit 412; and morality 405–7; mortgages see mortgages; in the Netherlands 424, 425; networks 410, 416; normality before the credit card 407; orienting consumers to ownership 440; poverty and credit failure 432; ratings 410; rationing 416, 423–4; and recession 426; repayments 412, 430, 433; revolving 423–4, 427; saving, spending and 417–28; schemes 411; sharks 361, 367, 412, 440; social loans 433; and social reformers 411–12; stamp money 408; and students 407, 429; and tax rebates 371; unsecured consumer credit 409, 420, 425, 429–30; use in stores 201; wants fuelled by easy credit 362; and women 201, 406, 407–8

  Crédit Lyonnais 416

  Creoles 130

  crime 305 see also riots; arson 300, 321–2

  Crimean War 638

  Croatia 644

  Croos, N. E. de 146

  crop variety diminishment 604

  Crosland, Tony 302, 303, 304

  Crowther, Samuel 127

  Crusaders 611

  Cuba 122

  cuckoo clocks 193

  cultural authority 311

  cultural capital 50, 52, 466, 470

  cultural participation 457–8, 463

  cultural poaching 347

  cultural spending 546–7, 548

  culture of consumption see consumer culture

  Cumberland 75

  Curiosité, La 227

  curtains 31, 50, 55, 57, 60, 61, 62, 63, 76, 93, 94, 203, 204, 222, 226, 252, 292

  customer control 317

  customer service 193, 295, 371, 548, 549, 558; disrespect and absence of 335

  customization 138

  Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic 327, 328, 645, 646

  Dada 636

  Dalits 381

  Dalla, Lucio: ‘4/3/1943’ 352

  dance 217, 220, 263, 293, 463, 600; academies 218; and the elderly 507; halls 190, 216, 217–18, 219, 281, 311, 322, 347, 359

  Dante Alighieri 405

  Darling, Malcolm 361–2

  Datia, India 366

  Davis, Deborah 377

  De André, Fabrizio 352

  de Gaulle, Charles 324

  de Grazia, Victoria 307, 348

  Deacon meter 187, 188

  Dean, James 496

  debt 405–7, 409–17, 424, 426, 428, 431, 432 see also credit; Asian 371–2, 424, 426; and bankruptcy 418, 431–3; Brazilian 372; children’s debt to peers 491; household debt as share of gross disposable income 409, 425; and inequality 434; mortgage 420, 425 see also mortgages; realignment between private debt and income 426; and reckless/excessive ‘consumerism’ 406–7, 428, 431; relief 433; repayments 412, 430, 433; student 429; and suicide 371–2, 408

  Debussy, Claude 263

  decency 177, 228, 246, 617

  decolonization 596

  decor 47–8, 49, 117, 224, 225–6, 330, 348 see also decorating/decorators; furnishings

  decorating/decorators 109, 181, 224, 228, 262, 292, 376–7; decorating shops 89

  decorum 109, 284, 398

  defence spending 542

  Defoe, Daniel 59, 99, 104

  dehumanization 8, 197

  Delft 54, 57

  Delftware 63, 88

  Delhi 72, 72, 140, 367, 371, 392

  delinquency 217, 311, 313

  demand 28, 54, 55, 58, 74–5 see also desire for things; for antiquity 50–51, 227 see also antiquity, value of; for British goods 126, 140, 170–71; emulation as parent of 14, 73; fashion as driver of 67; for semi-luxuries 88, 89; and shops 35; suppressed by domestic slavery 123; trade spurred by 92; and the trading of leisure for income 6–7; Western demand for exotic goods 10, 78–93 see also exotic goods

  dematerialization 95–6, 230–31, 668–9, 682–3, 686

  democracy/democratization 159–60; advertising pitching democratic consumers against dictatorial politicians 287–8; American corporations styled as mini-democracies 287; America’s cycle of freedom, social mobility and 237; and aspiration 228; of the car 301; and co-operatives 157 see also co-operative movement; consumerism, capitalism and 273; of credit and debt 409–17, 424, 432; Dewey’s blend of choice, pragmatism and 288–9, 504; from elite to bourgeois to mass consumption 136; and German consumer society 307; ‘Kids Eat Democracy’ 543; of leisure 483; of luxury 413; and mass culture 315; and Ombudsmen 557–8; property-owning 236–45; and recreation for the elderly 503; strengthened through growth and goods 303; of taste 346

  Deng Xiaoping 357, 368

  Denmark 12, 206, 438, 541; consumer complaints 558; credit 425; cultural state support 547; elderly people 508; healthcare choice for the elderly 557; Home Economic Council 551; household cultural spending 548; household waste 1980–2005 643; mortgage debt 425; non-church-going people defining themselves as Christian 612; Ombudsmen 557; radio 265; radio listener protection 265; recycling 645; savings 420, 421; supermarkets 349; trade unions 534; welfare 542; youth and teenagers 495

  department stores 4, 154, 155, 191–7, 198–205, 200, 208–9, 220, 221, 226, 261, 323, 326, 341, 342, 528, 685; with age-specific colour coding 486; American 199, 202, 205, 342, 424, 486; in Asia 190, 358, 384, 385, 395–6, 534, 634, 685; in Berlin 199–200, 479; bombings and attacks on 321–2; as capitalism’s children 191; and class relations 197; creating new work 196; customer control 317; customers in 1900, Germany 200; displays 202; Egyptian 300; and flow 193–4; German 199–200, 200, 201–2, 479; global spread of 202, 204–5; Jewish-owned 196, 300; in literature 194–6, 197, 198, 199; moral and sexual anxieties about shopping and 196, 197; and national identity 204; of notable architecture 192; in Paris 200, 410, 685; pessimistic readings of 197–8; salvage paper bales 635; Seibu 384; share of retail trade 205; and sociability 191–2; Soviet 293, 295, 685; store cards 424; Sunday opening restrictions 480; taxes on 199; as technological pioneers 192–3

  depression, economic 273, 274, 278–88, 405, 413, 414 see also recession

  depression, psychological 405

  deprivation 274, 280, 293, 327, 377, 595 see also poverty/the poor; work following 309

  Descartes, René 95, 96 see also dualism, Cartesian

  Desert News 610

  desire for things 7, 36, 37, 51, 105, 113, 125, 133, 135, 142, 192, 230, 567 see also aspiration; demand; materialism; taste; advertising and the creation of wants 302, 677; artificial wants 5, 127; assumed unlimited wants of the modern consumer 360; avarice 8, 156, 285, 386, 405, 449; in China 47, 51; clash with restraint 38 see also restraint; and consumption/material culture 96–7, 98, 99, 100–101, 102, 154, 285, 340; corrupting lust for luxury 677; creation of wants 8, 302, 365, 677; critical reflection and the nourishment of 288–9; defended as engine of growth 278; dematerialization of desire 230–31; encouraged by cheap public goods 331; eroding customs 153; fuelled by easy credit 362; gender and 197; and industriousness 151; and the joy of longing 290; man’s two general wants of body and mind (Barbon) 98; Marshall and wants
152–3; and moral failure 677; needs and wants 5, 294, 365, 407, 677; and original sin 8; pseudo-wants 216; and self-fulfilment 316; and selfishness 297; slavery to wants 74; variations in wants and desire in developing societies 76; virtuous circle of wants, work, property and peace 127; wants of the poor 90

  Detroit 186

  development aid 367, 368

  Dewey, John 288–9, 503–4

  Dharma 357

  Dichter, Ernest 315–16, 321, 340

  Diderot, Denis 100

  digital cameras 465, 618

  dioramas 213

  Direct Material Input (DMI) 665

  discount stores 205, 221, 372, 478

  disenchantment 138, 230, 231, 235

  displacement see also migration: of goods 78–9, 167–8, 169–70, 589, 669–70; rehousing the displaced 243; of resources 655; and the slave trade 123 see also slavery/slaves

  disposable products 631, 636, 642

  diversity: appreciation of 11; coffee, fair trade and 566; decline in biodiversity 604; and dynamics of change 676–7; and the ethnic restaurant and cuisine 596–602, 603, 604, 605; and food waste 650; and local food 588; standardization undercut by diversification 138

  divorce 303, 305, 427, 431, 451; divorced couples forced to co-habit 331; equity borrowing by divorcees 429

  Djukanov, Miron 294

  Do-It-Yourself (DIY) 260–61, 262, 292, 328, 467

  Dobbs, Archibald 185

  dolls: children’s 485, 488, 491, 618; fashion 71; prayer 618

  domestic appliances and technologies 180, 223, 235, 238, 244, 246, 247, 248 see also electronic waste; ‘apps’ for 686; asymmetrical take-up, East and West 370; as capital goods/investment 412, 419; in China 368; computers see computers; cookers see cookers; and the culture of hygiene and cleanliness 252–3; in East Germany 332; empowerment through 260; and the escalator of consumption 258; fridges see fridges; for home entertainment see gramophones; radio: sets/receivers; television: sets; irons see irons; in Japan 247, 364–5, 370, 383; as ‘Key to Happiness’ 364; Kombinat Haushaltsgeräte 336; limited influence on women’s lives 255–6, 259–60; radios see radio: sets/receivers; service technicians 660; Soviet durables 327; toasters 180, 257, 280, 329, 383, 657; TVs see television: sets; vacuum cleaners 179, 247, 248, 258, 265, 383, 661; washing machines see washing machines