Empire of Things
Page 119
opinion polling 319
opium 73, 110, 140, 142
Opobo 130
opulence see excess, extravagance and opulence
organic food 581, 584–6, 605
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 12, 418, 449, 683, 684, 687; social spending 12, 537, 539
Orlova, Lubov 293
Ortega y Gasset, José 284
Orthodox Church 607
Osaka Watch Company 359
ovens see cookers
overcrowding 217
Owen, David 556
Owusu Ansa, Albert 131
Owusu Ansa, John 131
Oxfam 574, 639
Oxford 86, 155, 639
Ozark 265
Pachinko 473
packaging 622, 635–6, 642, 652
Packard, Vance 302, 304, 316, 622–3, 657
pagan cults 613
paintings/pictures 32, 51, 60, 61, 270; galleries 30, 194; and lithography 226; reproductions in the home 226
Pakistan 593, 670; exodus of Pakistanis from East Africa to Britain with decolonization 596
Palencia 77
palm-oil trade 130
Panama 541; Canal 524
Pandolfini, Jacopo di Giannozzo 29
panoramas, cinematic 213
Paoli, Gino 352
paper 29; furniture and dresses 636; waste and recycling see waste: paper
Paris 70, 86, 89, 90, 93, 155, 156, 165, 174, 175, 180, 191; antiques boom 227; Barbedienne’s foundry 225–6; blousons noir 498; Bon Marché 191, 192; boulevards and the price of new homes 243; bourgeoisie 225–6, 250, 374; car-free Sundays 470; as centre of fashion network 204; Commune 537; Compagnie Parisienne de l’Air Comprimé 183; department stores 200, 410, 685; dioramas 213; Dufayel 200, 410; Exposition Universelle (1867) 193; flâneurs 441; functionalism 250; gas lighting 181; Haussman’s rebuilding of 198, 204; Hippodrome 213; housing 243, 248; packaging waste 635–6; Printemps 192; Salon des Arts Ménagers 250; shoppers’ leagues 549–50; shopping galleries 192; Sorbonne 321; toilets 189; Union des Consommateurs de Gaz Parisien 183; waste 629; water supply 178, 182; youth riots 310
parks 154, 183, 219, 305, 473, 475, 550; amusement 219, 220; national 281; state 544
parlours 225
Parsis 139, 142
Pasolini, Pier Paolo 7, 324
pasta 598, 599
paternalism 134, 306, 369, 393, 415, 423, 433, 530, 535, 567, 688; Stalinist 294
Paterson, John 145
Pathé 263
Patients’ Association 555, 556
Patients’ Charter (UK) 556
patriotic consumers 238
patronage 59, 130, 139
Patten, Simon 153–4
Paul, apostle 405
Paul VI 576
pawnshops/pawnbrokers 71, 113, 114, 361, 406, 408, 409, 410
Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) 648
Pear’s soap 171
peasants 24, 27, 69, 153; African 129; Asian 46, 47, 49, 73, 137, 359–60, 361–2, 366, 383; Calabrian 598; English 58; Russian 277
pedlars 203, 205, 359
peer groups 312
Peirce, C. S. 233
Peiris, Mr 146
pensions: French 542, 679; funds 420, 500, 523; German 422, 508–9; plans 423, 424, 500, 528; social spending on 12, 542–3, 681; state control of 139; Union Army 500
Pentecostalism 607, 613–14, 615
pepper 23, 25, 26, 27, 78, 83, 120, 645; chilli peppers 84
Pepsi 618
Pepys, Samuel 85–6
Pepys family 629
Peretti, Jonah 567
perfume 170, 282, 293, 299, 312, 684; children’s 485
Persia 85
Peru 64, 80
PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles 640, 652, 653
Petrini, Carlo 581
pets 21, 22
Peugeot 526
pewter 29
Philadelphia 180, 239
Philip the Bold 69
Philip, John 126–7
Philippines 25, 64, 79, 80, 575
Philips 411
phoenix hairpins 48
phonographs 263, 294, 589
pianolas 465
pianos 114, 143, 144, 145, 146, 170, 224, 225, 241, 252, 267, 268, 294, 465, 589
Piaster Plan 299
Pickford, Mary 281
pictures see paintings/pictures
Pioneer, HMS 131
Piplod, Jhalawad 391–2
piracy 24, 26, 85
plastic surgery 515
plastic waste see waste: plastic
platinum 653
Plato 35, 405, 606
Platonic Academy 35
play 488, 489, 502–3 see also games; leisure; recreation; sports; toys
playgrounds 183, 219, 221, 492 see also parks
pleasure gardens 107, 685
pleasures of consumption 50, 57–8, 89, 90, 101, 102, 110, 116, 154, 685 see also entertainment; happiness; well-being; age-specific culture of pleasure 313; and bourgeois restraint 311 see also restraint; and the city 199, 211, 219; and department stores 199; and identity 463; kama and material wellbeing 357; and opulence 97 see also excess, extravagance and opulence; pleasure as a right 321; private pleasures 33; shopping for pleasure 154, 659, 678; slavery to wants and 74, 677; and towns making pleasure their primary business 210, 220
Pliny the Younger 444
Plum in the Golden Vase (Jin Ping Mei) 48, 51
plumbing 186, 188, 248, 463 see also water, running
pluralism 5, 346
plush 60
pocket money 370, 383, 488, 493; ‘basic pocket money’ for the German elderly 508
Poland 327, 330, 334, 535, 546, 557, 643
politeness 30, 107–8, 109–10, 168, 202, 398
political rights 157
politics of consumption see consumer politics
pollution 15, 325, 355, 683–4; moral 490; and waste 2, 622, 626, 629, 639, 653, 665, 669
Pomeranz, Kenneth 71
Poor Law 537
Popayán 170
Pope, Alexander 89
popular music 6, 266, 267, 352, 379
population growth 24, 29, 85, 205, 305, 623, 667
porcelain 10, 23, 25, 26, 44, 45, 50, 53, 57, 83, 88–9, 224
Portugal/Portuguese 25, 38, 124, 427, 546–7; Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 546–7; consumer protection 557, 558; flow of goods and slaves in colonies (1770) 82–3; labourers in Hawaii 149; Ombudsmen 557; Portuguese empire 163; recycling 644; and slavery 163
Portugal Telecom 558
Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection 558
possessions: accumulation and display in social hierarchies 227–8; acquisition and enjoyment as life-time project 31, 463; as assets 33–4; and Christianity 36, 57, 306, 609 see also prosperity gospel; and civic culture 32–3; civic legitimation for 37; and conspicuous consumption see conspicuous consumption; as constraint to aggression and social strife 103; cult of domestic possessions 678; durables see consumer durables; and the elderly 509–11; emotional relationships with 104–5, 315–16, 320–21, 337, 686; fear of getting rid of 661; functioning differences, East and West 399; and the good life 302; and harmony 50; home as prized possession 223; and home ownership 238; and identity 6, 104–5, 231–5, 314–15, 344, 681, 686; inventories see inventories; and locks 226; luxuries see luxury; and memory 104, 686; and migrants 596; moral boundaries to 34–5; objects of art 30; ownership of slaves 123 see also slavery/slaves; and politeness 30; precious objects 31; and reciprocity 34; Renaissance increase in numbers and refinement 29; repossession 433; and self-fulfilment 229–30; of serfs 203; shedding ourselves of 685–6; and stability 334; Stalinist protection of personal property 293; storing and hoarding 660–62; transmigration of souls into 105; virtuous effect on society 103–4; working-class 63, 75
‘post-consumerism’ 682
post office savings 418
Postlethwayt, Malachy 91
postmodernism 6
potato, swee
t 27
pottery/ceramics 29–30, 32, 54, 59; china see china; creamware 89; earthenware 57, 60, 61, 62, 88, 89, 623; majolica pottery 30, 31, 32; porcelain see porcelain
Poubelle, Eugène 629
poverty/the poor 149, 158; in Asia 140, 143, 364, 366; consumer choice standing up for the poor 390 see also fair trade; and credit failure 432; elderly people 506, 508; income channelled to the poor 12; and inequality 438; in London 63; making a virtue out of poverty 380; pauperization under the Raj 140, 297; the poor as the new leisure class 449; poor children 490–91; Poor Law 537; poor teenagers 496–7; and possessions 62; poverty relief 552; and social services 12; ‘spirit of poverty’ doctrine 614; and the status of customer 391; trade justice and tackling global poverty 573–7
power tools 261
pragmatism 233, 234, 343; Dewey’s blend of democracy, choice and 288–9, 504
Prague 86, 275, 312, 327, 632
Pravda 330
prayer 134, 454, 476; calls 611; clocks 618; dolls 618; machines 618; Muslim 618, 619
Prebisch, Raúl 573
preferences 6, 13 see also choice
Prejudiced Guide to London Shops 194
Presbyterians 384
price controls 27, 278
Price is Right, The 321
Priestley, J. B. 305–6, 528
print culture 47 see also books
Prittwitz, Moritz von 116
privacy 94, 223, 236, 245–6, 377, 398, 546; durables and the privacy of the home 253; private lifestyles and socialist regimes 333, 375–6, 377; for those suffering from mental illness 555
private consumption see consumption: private
privatism 392, 399
privatization 329, 375–7, 391, 535, 596
production: and class/caste 381; colonialism and tropical production 78–9, 80, 90, 91, 162–3; and company leisure see company leisure activities; and company towns 524–8, 534; consumption as ‘sole end’ of 3, 54, 100, 151; consumption subordinated to 11, 41; corporate-led consumption see company services, and corporate-led consumption; empire writing out the colonial producer 173; environmental damage from 683 see also pollution; factory production 146 see also factories; leisure from high productivity 287; as a man’s role 11, 43; mass see mass production; monopolized by husbands 43; national products 297–300; outsourced 683; politics of productivity 294; separation from consumption 246; standardized see standardization; united with consumption in the home 269, 270; war production 529
‘progressive individualism’ 237–8
propaganda 69, 126, 277–8, 293, 616, 644
property prices 423, 428
prosperity gospel 610–11, 615
Protestant American teenagers 613
Protestant revival in China 607
Providence, water consumption 187, 188
Provident Clothing and Supply Company 412
Provident Loan Society 412
prudence 109, 116, 236, 593 see also thrift
Prudential 500
Prussia 205, 264, 415
Pu Zhongqian 47
Public Citizen 555
public consumption 331, 335, 373, 537, 538, 540, 541, 542–4, 548 see also public services; social spending; welfare; cities as providers of 183; public support for cultural consumption 546–7
public housing 243, 553–5, 681
public services 1–2, 278, 331, 548–61 see also electricity; gas; water, running; American 450; and consumer politics 391; ‘consumerization’ of 548; fairness in 549, 561; and Ombudsmen 557–8; protection of ‘service to the citizens’ 389; utility networks 175–6, 180, 181, 183, 188–9, 220, 248, 670, 681
public space see space
public spending see social spending
Puddletown, Dorset 511
Puget Sound golf association 529–30
Pugh, Sarah 156
Pullman Palace Car Company 524
puppets 105; puppet theatres 105, 472
purchasing power see spending power
purgatory 405
Purimix 328
Puritanism 75, 99, 218; Puritan values 118; Puritan work ethic 450, 455
Pythagoras 105
Qing dynasty 48, 49, 52, 110
Quakers 128, 237
Que Choisir 276
Queensland 166
queueism 277
Quito 64, 208
Quran 619, 620; Challenge Board Game 618; instructors 620
race: American racism 136; commodity racism 171; and credit 423–4; ethnic food and racial prejudice 600–601; exotic goods and racism 168–9; hardening of racial thinking 121, 129; hierarchies destabilized by Second World War 305; racial asymmetry 121; scientific racism 129, 171; segregation 305, 577; tourism and the racial state 291
radio 259, 263, 264–6, 267–9, 284, 311, 346, 464, 471, 681; clubs 264; collective listening 265; French law on French content of broadcasts 353; hobbyists 264; in India 366, 388; legislation for listener protection 265; and morse code 264; and printed circuits 657; programmes exhorting self-denial 306; Roosevelt’s radio chats 287; sets/receivers 4, 14, 223, 247, 263, 264–5, 270, 279, 280, 290, 293, 294, 295, 333, 366; ‘social authoritarianism’ of 266; Volksempfänger 290
radioactive waste 684
Radiofiduciaire 411
Radiola 264, 265
rag-and-bone men 628, 633, 635
rag pickers 626, 628, 629, 630, 633–4
rag trade 628–9
railways 609
Rajput 362
Ramadan 618
Ramanandis 142
Ramey, Valerie 445
Ramsay, Allan 101
rare-earth elements 684
Rathje, William 650, 651
‘rational recreation’ 216, 456, 545–6
rationing 276–7, 328
Rauschenberg, Robert 637
Rawls, John 95
Reader’s Digest 306, 310
reading 217, 307, 320, 354, 456, 457, 459, 460–61, 467, 475, 507; clubs 351; by the elderly 506; in national time-use surveys 454, 458–9; shared reading aloud 462
Reagan, Ronald 553; Tax Reform Bill (1986) 427
Reagan administration 544, 553
rebranding 4, 167, 256, 299–300, 419, 566
recession 287, 403, 405, 420, 426, 428, 521, 668, 683
record industry 263, 268, 685 see also music: recordings and broadcasting
recreation see also dance; games; play; sports: as collective endeavour 528–9; companies subsidizing commercial recreation 532; companyfacilitated 525, 526–31, 535–6; and Congo women 472; defining generations 506; and delinquency 217; demands 305; as developmental 219; for the elderly 503–6, 509, 511–12, 516; family activities 340; family spending on 148, 339; investment in public 219; in Japan 359, 473; leisure as primarily recreational 469; moral defence of 261; and national parks 281; ‘rational’ 216, 456, 545–6; recreational crafts 261; recreational shopping 100, 480–82; regulation 215; retirement given meaning by 503; Sunday 476–7, 479; US armed forces centres for 543; as a waste of money 342
recreational crafts 261–2
recycling of waste 628–9, 631, 632, 635, 638–47, 648, 651–2, 662–4, 675; bottle banks 639; European regions of 644, 645; European Union 640, 652, 653; Freecycle network 654, 682; legislation and regulation 639; and thrift 629, 642–3; used electronics 662–4
Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) 614, 615
Reformation 1
refrigeration 208, 244, 588, 650
refrigerators see fridges
Refurbished Information Technology Equipment Association (RITEA) 660
religion see also spiritual life: American teenagers following parents’ religion 613; beliefs about God 613; Buddhist see Buddhism; Christian see Christian religion and Church; commercial culture used by 607–13; Confucian philosophy/religion see Confucianism; consumer culture, affluence and 606–21; and the Englightement 606; Hindu see Hinduism; impact of urbanization 196; materialism as the new religion 606; as moral balancing rod 387; Mormons 608, 609–10; Muslim see Is
lam/Muslims; religious attendance 306, 475, 477, 479, 606, 607, 608; rituals 79, 616; and the shift to modernity 606; Shinto 585, 615–16; syncretism 613
remittances, marriage 592
remittances, migrant worker 334, 383, 589–96; in form of consumer goods 596; and household access to ICT in African countries 594; household use in African countries 592; outside the family 596
Renaissance 22, 28–38, 96; courtesy literature 108
rent 103, 114, 116, 242–3, 331, 408, 425, 655; in America 239, 242, 244; control 242, 243, 278; in England 243–4, 555; Krupp workers 523; maximized 249; in the Raj 145; rebates 601; strikes 243; and water rates 184
repairing 659–60, 682; repair cafés 682; tax exemption on repair services 682
reputation 94
Resident Welfare Associations 392
RESO (Folkrörelsernas Reseorganisation) 534
restaurants 107, 353, 531; in China 190, 357; and elderly people 508; and the elite 605; ethnic restaurants and migrant food cultures 597, 600–601, 603, 604; in Germany 597–8, 601, 603, 604; in Paris 181; serving ‘local’ food 580, 582–3; slow-food 470; travel in France to 685
restraint 37, 41, 114, 141, 390, 527 see also self-control; self-denial; thrift; bourgeois 117, 118, 311; clash with desire 38; collapse of self-restraint 8, 343, 405, 406, 439; moral restraints 143; sexual 365; thrown by easy credit 405
retail therapy 485
retail trade see also customer service: department stores see department stores; market halls 207–8, 209; ‘sales’ 194; shopkeepers see shopkeepers; shopping see shopping; shops see shops; supermarkets see supermarkets; turnover 194
retirement 450, 498–519 see also elderly people; communities 498–9, 514, 519; homes 504, 505, 506, 508, 510, 511
revolution 111–12, 113, 147, 190
Reynolds, Frances 108, 109
Ricardo, David 151
Ricci, Matteo 43–4
rice 27, 44, 45, 46, 128, 358, 359, 383, 585, 599, 602, 604, 635, 645; fields 666
Riesman, David 302, 436, 450
riots: food 278; youth 310, 496
rituals see also routines: coffee drinking 87; eating 14; impact of empire on taste and 78–93; and imperial identity 144; maté 80–81; religious 79, 616
Riú, Luis 512
Robbins, Lionel 152
Robertson, James 536
Robertson, Pat, ‘700 Club’ 611
Robinson, Harold 264
Robinson, John 444
Rochdale Pioneers 206
Roche, Daniel 42
Roche (pharmaceutical company) 532
rock’n’roll 311, 314, 327, 329, 351, 467; Christian rock albums 611; ‘Jailhouse rock’ 313; state-sponsored rock bands 333