Empire of Things

by Frank Trentmann

  space: shops and public space 194, 198, 207, 208; urban entertaining spaces 210–21

  Spain 12, 25, 64, 77, 464; Catalonia 75–6; and cocoa/chocolate 80, 81, 84; consumer protection 557, 558; electronic waste 652; food banks 338–9; foreign pensioners and ‘Costa Geriatrica’ 512–13; gender gap in leisure and unpaid work 450; holiday homes in 655; household waste 1980–2005 643; mobile phones 464; New Spain 25, 64, 84 see also Spanish empire; nobility corroded by luxury 100; Ombudsmen 557; paper waste 644; recycling 644, 645; shopping 196; and silver 25–6, 64; social spending 537; Sunday restrictions 478; waste generation lowering 640; water supply 182

  Spanish empire 64, 77, 162; breakup 162; and cocoa/chocolate 80, 81, 84; colonial customs zone 162; flow of goods and slaves (1770) 82–3

  spending: credit, saving and 417–28 see also credit; emulation in 8, 316, 325, 340, 374, 383, 438; on food 338, 339, 340; on furniture by labourers after English Civil War 75; Japanese credit-card spending and indebtedness 371–2, 424; on leisure 340, 342, 347; power see spending power; public see social spending; spiral of aspirational spending 74

  spending power 12, 76, 146–7, 149, 216, 246, 283, 286, 287, 289, 357, 366, 398, 485, 517, 687 see also standard of living; African depression of 173; of children and teenagers 312, 485, 491, 493, 495–6; and loss of time to spend 477; and social services 526; of young British workingclass men 281

  Spice Islands 96

  spices 23, 25, 28 see also pepper

  Spiegel House Furnishing Company 411

  spinning wheel 297–8

  Spinoza, Baruch 102

  spiritual life see also religion: affluence, consumer culture and 386–7, 606–21; interplay between spiritual and material rebirth in Africa 614; and the material order 126, 284, 606; New Age spirituality and baby boomers 613; spiritual beauty 620–21; spiritual seekers 613

  Spitalfields 65

  Spon, Jacob 85

  sports 3, 14, 153, 304, 342, 346, 354, 457, 458, 462, 463; clubs 347; companybased 456, 523, 525, 526, 527, 531, 533, 534; and the elderly 515; equipment 219, 280, 322; extreme sports 469; facilities 545; football 347, 477, 617; grounds 219, 536, 545; martial arts 472; in national time-use surveys 458–9; state sponsoring, and ‘sport for all’ 545; televised 365; US boom in spectator sport 463

  sportswear 201, 320

  Squarciafico, Marquis 29

  Sri Lanka/Ceylon 79, 146, 375, 541

  Stakhanovites 245, 293, 294

  Stalin, Joseph 122–3, 292, 293, 294

  Stalinism 245, 246, 274, 292–6, 328

  stamp money 408

  standard of living 9, 58, 72–3, 72, 129, 147–8, 149, 157, 159, 205, 688–9 see also living conditions; spending power; American 149, 150, 240, 280–83; fair standard of clothing requirements, Philadelphia 150; and the Food and Agriculture Organization 573; and GDP 538–9; German exhibit on 308; inter-war 280–83; in Lower Yangzi 71; Russian 277; socialist 277, 334; in Tokugawa Japan 108

  standardization 3, 138, 223, 225, 288, 463, 634 see also homogenization; mass production; and Americanization 348, 349; in car production 634; and Ford 634; of homes 237, 240, 242, 250, 378, 525; in menus 601; the ‘standard package’ (Riesman) 436; standardized living 525; and supermarkets 349

  Stanley, Henry Morton 171

  Starbucks 562–3

  states: and alimentary localism 587; as benefactors of cultural life 547; British state 65–6, 77, 92, 121 see also Britain and the United Kingdom; Chinese state 92 see also China; consumer activism and the relationship between state and citizen 557–9; consumer lives defined by people’s relation to 277; consumption promoted and shaped by 12, 13, 286–96, 371, 536–48 see also social spending; control of goods 277; control of growth 368, 394; credit liberalization by 419–20; demands on the state 283; and ethnic cuisine 603–4; European expansionist state system 76; helping industry 65–6, 77; interventions and materially intensive lifestyle 688–9; leisure supported by 544–8; ‘nanny state’ 553; paternalist see paternalism; pension control 139; power bolstered by scarcity 277; price supervision 27, 278; private capitalism versus state capitalism 288; promotion of higher standard of living 688–9; propaganda 277–8; and public services see public services; response to consumers 548–61; social bargains between consumers and 278; social spending and transfers see social spending; and ‘sport for all’ 545; state fairs 203; state parks (US) 544; subsidies 330, 546–7, 681; taxation see taxation; totalitarian see totalitarianism; tourism and the racial state 291; trade barriers 120, 136, 159, 160, 298, 572, 580; welfare states see welfare state

  status and social positioning 13–14, 123 see also caste; class; and accumulation and display 227–8; and affluence 303, 316, 339–48; based on place in production system 381; Chinese competition for 48–9; and clothes 13, 39, 41, 94; and connoisseurship 52; conspicuous consumption as moral threat to 380; and durables 260; and ethnic food cultures 602; knowing one’s place 41; and opulence 36–7; and proximity to the Communist Party 374; slowing down of competitive status-seeking with affluence 303, 316; status of ‘customer’ 391; symbolic status goods 14; and taste 109

  steam engine 72

  steamships 132, 146, 161, 167, 193

  steel 122, 222, 635, 669; Krupp steel maker 166, 523; shortages 376; stainless 365; steel-plated cutlery 359; thimbles 59; waste 652

  Steuart, James 74

  Stevenson, Robert Louis 449

  Stiftung Warentest 276

  Stiglitz, Joseph E. 539, 679

  Stirling, Scotland 648

  Stockholm 671, 684

  stockings 59, 67, 143, 149, 150, 203, 282, 312, 495; children’s 486; silk 140, 293, 294, 299

  Stollwerck 172–3

  storage: as alternative to wasting 660–62, 663; and space in the home 674; warehouses 661; wealth storage 34, 37, 55

  stoves 59; electric see cookers: electric; gas 176, 180, 181, 189; oil 360; spirit 87

  Strasbourg 39; 1660 law 41

  Strasser, Susan 623

  Stravinsky, Igor 267

  street entertainment 191

  street lighting 176, 181–2

  street sellers 204, 207, 208–9, 221 see also hawkers; pedlars

  Strozzi, Filippo 29

  Strozzi, Palazzo 33

  Strozzi family 33

  Stuarts 59

  students 96, 190, 313, 333, 358, 390, 495, 522; advertising role 494–5; as advertising target 312, 495; American 281–2, 312, 495, 497, 650; and boycotts 299; in Cairo 299; Chinese 299; and credit/debt 407, 429; female 257, 281–2; French 496; and Gide 155; Indonesian 620; and material comfort 334, 369; and Patten 154; Piaster Plan 299; radical students and simple living 577; and transition from charity to trade justice 574–5

  Stumpf, Ludwig 574

  sub-Saharan Africa 252

  suburbanization/suburbs: American 239, 270, 305, 309, 340–41; Amsterdam 310–11; Chinese 398; satire on the suburban home 229–30; suburban council estates 243

  Suchard 167

  suffrage 156–7, 283, 680

  suffragettes 156, 157

  Sufis 80

  sugar 23, 26, 27, 44, 45, 47, 58, 74, 75, 79, 81, 88, 92, 161, 162, 163; American consumption 164; and the armed forces 166–7; British consumption 91, 165–6; cane 79, 163; China and 91; in coffee 90; French consumption 165, 166–7; Queensland consumption 166; and the slave trade 27–8, 79, 91, 162, 571; taxes 91; and the working class 165, 166

  suicide, with debt 371–2, 408

  Sumatra, Dutch 142

  sumo wrestling 365

  sumptuary laws 37, 39–43, 63, 66, 68, 103, 136, 331, 360, 677–8

  Sun City, Arizona 514

  Sundays 341, 450, 470, 473–83; closure, and opening restrictions 156, 476, 477–81; deregulation 478, 482–3

  Sunningdale civil service college 389

  superiority feelings 13

  supermarkets 1, 9, 348, 371, 551, 584, 651; and Americanization 348–51; and choice 348, 350, 522; in Eastern Bloc 329; electronic check-outs 349; and fair trade 562, 565, 568, 579; hypermarket
s 371, 618; in literature 350; and local food 587, 588, 605; opening hours 349

  Surat 139

  Surinam 79

  surplus 157

  Susanna tutta panna 301–2

  sustainability 12, 18, 236, 301, 676, 688–90 see also climate change; environment; consumer rights and sustainable development 552; eco-gastronomic politics of 442; Global e-Sustainability Initiative 686; and growth 301, 302, 541; and ICT 686; in social spending 541; sustainable products 404; and zero-waste 670–71

  Suzuki motorcycles 315

  swadeshi (home industry) 297, 298, 380; Swadeshi League 298

  Swahili 135–6

  sweatshops and sweated goods/labour 128, 155, 156, 184, 355, 567, 578

  Sweden 196, 328, 331, 471, 684–5; advertising restrictions 485; artists 547; ‘cashing out’ on the home 428; communal leisure halls 545; consumer complaints 558; credit cards 424; elderly people 507, 508, 510; energy consumption 673; fair trade 564, 568; free time activities of men and women aged 20 to 74 (1998–2002) 458–9; freezers 650; home ownership 236, 428; income share of the rich 436, 437; leisure hours 452; National Consumer Council 551; National Institute for Consumer Issues 551; Ombudsmen 557; paper waste 644; recycling 639–40, 645; shopping hours 478, 480–81; solo living 654; Sunday deregulation and shopping 478, 481; Waste Minimization Programmes 648, 684; water supply 182; welfare 542

  Swift, Jonathan 105

  swimming baths 190

  swimming pools 183, 219, 417, 475

  swine fever/viruses 631, 632

  Switzerland 117–18, 156, 275, 319, 349, 482, 643; 50plus Hotels 513; fair trade 564, 568

  sympathy 103, 107

  table linen/tablecloths 25, 34, 55, 56, 61, 77, 203, 294

  tableware 29, 30, 32, 37, 55, 76, 88; silver 29–30, 31, 32, 34, 55, 87

  Tadgell, John 62–3

  Taft-Harley Act (1947) 529

  Tago Ichimin 257

  Taipei 351

  Taiwan 355, 379, 493, 518

  Tale of Genji 472

  Talmadge, Norma 282

  Tampere 179

  Tango King and Queen, Finland 352

  Tanizaki, Jun’ichirō 181

  tape recorders 464

  tarboosh 299

  tariffs 159

  Tarzan films 312

  taste 1, 6, 108–9, 270; ambassadors of 81–4; barriers 81; and class 79, 108–9, 226, 304, 344–6, 436–8, 548; as creator of cultural capital 50; and demand 74; democratization of 346; dulling of European taste buds 168; and education 214, 548; elite taste 436–7; for exotic food and drink 58, 78–93, 120, 165, 166, 579, 601, 603, 678; for exotic goods 4, 10, 32, 162, 170–71, 678; flow of 78–9, 165, 203, 214–15, 589, 596–605; hierarchies of 5; impact of empire on 78–93, 119, 170–71; and individuality 226; for the local 169–73, 580–88; mass culture versus educated taste 304; migration and the diffusion of 79, 165, 214–15, 596–602; national tastes 81, 547, 566; people and things brought together by (Bourdieu) 344–5; popularization of new tastes 78–93; power of 601; private tastes with public consequences 466; refined 108; social structuring of personal taste 605; subsidized by the state 546–7; travel, tourism and the flow of foreign tastes 602–3

  Tate & Lyle 568

  Taut, Bruno 222–3, 225, 227, 229, 230, 241, 386

  tax credits 309

  taxation: in British empire 121, 139, 141, 161–2; on coffee 86, 91–2; on department stores 199; exemption on repair services 682; under liberal imperialism 121, 139; luxury taxes 331; rebates 371; relief 546; savings exemptions 414–15; and smuggling 162; Spanish consumption taxes 77; on sugar 91; tax collectors 137; on tea 91, 92, 162; on tobacco 162; tribute tax 131; US Tax Reform Bill (1986) 427

  Tbilisi 312–13

  tea 4, 10, 23, 27, 44, 45, 49, 53, 74, 78, 79, 80, 83, 84, 87, 88, 90, 168, 678; annual consumption 81; Assam 79, 169; Bohea 92; Boston tea party 111; boycotts 111; Britain and 60, 61, 65, 75, 79, 81, 90, 91–2, 162, 165; colonial tea plantations 79; green 80, 169; Indian 79, 169; Japanese tea hour 473; parties 80, 87; powdered green tea 80; Russia and 80, 163; sweetened 162; taxes 91, 92, 162; Victorians’s branding of Chinese tea 169

  teapots/tea ware 71, 87, 88

  technology: and acceleration of life 442, 471; and disenchantment 235; domestic labour-saving and convenience technologies see domestic appliances and technologies; facilitating ‘voice’ 558; ICT see information and communication technology; ‘smart’ 686 see also smartphones; and time 465

  Teddy-Boys 303

  teenagers see youth and teenagers

  Tekbir 620

  Tel Aviv 633

  Telefunkensuper 264

  televangelism 610–11

  television 307, 321, 324; advertising 319–20, 489–90; in America 454, 455, 489, 673, 674; in Asia 355, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 374, 375, 378, 379, 382, 383, 388, 393, 472, 473; and children 489; and class 346; and the elderly 510; in France 353, 411, 455; in Italy 321, 324; and pluralism 346; and privatized lifestyle 329; repairmen 659–60; romances 329; sets 2, 179, 247, 254, 301, 323, 327, 331, 337, 355, 363, 364, 365, 367, 370, 461, 542, 622, 652, 653, 662, 663, 674; stations 353, 379; televangelism 610–11; uneven TV habits across Europe 461; wasted/recycled TVs 622, 652, 653; watching 346, 453, 454, 455, 457, 458–9, 459, 461, 467, 489

  temperance groups 166

  Tenco, Luigi 352

  terrorism 321–2

  Tesco 587

  testing organizations 275–6

  Texas 248, 433

  textiles: Asian textiles in France 65; British textiles bought in India 139–40; cheap British 139, 140; cotton see cotton; Dutch Republic 54; in England 58; factory textiles 139; Indian textiles in East Africa 132; linen see linen; Renaissance local textiles 30; and silver 25; trade routes 25, 45; as wealth storage 34; woollen see wool

  textual culture 47 see also books

  Thailand 518

  Thatcher, Margaret 375, 478, 479, 553, 555

  Thatcher government 640

  theatre 112, 190, 214, 220, 463, 466, 467; gas-lit theatres 181; puppet theatres 105, 472; state-supported 546

  Thelwall, John 112

  theobromine 80

  Thiesing, Hans 627

  Third World movement 574–5, 576–7 see also fair trade

  Thirty Years War 38, 41

  Thompson, E. P. 578

  thrift 57, 117, 142, 239, 264, 277–8, 287, 365, 368, 406 see also austerity; and DIY 261; excessive 487; and the First World War 256, 277–8; and Keynes 285; and the middle class 412, 416; and pocket money 488; and savings 417–19; waste, recycling and 629, 642–3

  ‘throwaway society’ 622–75

  Tianjin (Tientsin) 179

  Tianqiao 190, 191, 685

  Tietz (department store) 193, 199

  Tigert, John 264

  timber 23

  time: devoted to pleasant/unpleasant activities during a day 453–5, 454; discretionary 451–2; inequalities of income and 449; leisure time 301, 444–50, 446, 447, 451–2, 460, 469; national time-use surveys 454, 457–8, 458–9; and pace of life 441–3, 470, 471; polarization by class 450–51, 468–9; poverty 403, 441, 443, 451, 460, 469, 477, 483; ‘quality time’ 443, 469–70, 479; rhythm of 474–5; social compact in regard to 481; and technology 465; time saving appliances see domestic appliances and technologies; time saving promises 255–6, 441, 448; working hours see labour and work: working hours

  Times, The 637

  tin cans 216, 638–9, 647

  toasters 180, 257, 280, 329, 383, 657

  tobacco 21, 26, 53, 58, 65, 77, 78, 88, 141, 153, 168, 203 see also cigarettes; and France 162; in Japan 359; taxes 162; from vending machines 278

  Tobin, John 129

  Tobler, Theodor 172

  Tocqueville, Alexis de 438, 442, 611

  toilets 176, 178, 179, 180, 184, 186, 189, 370

  Tokyo 165, 359, 383, 536, 685; Chifuren 393; Edo 176, 181, 358, 472; Nakamuraya restaurant 543; Roppongi army base 378; Yutaka Club 513

  Tollentina, Livia 34

  Tö
nnies, Ferdinand 581

  tools, as consumer goods 261

  toothpaste 299, 358, 375, 381

  Toronto 203, 270

  Total Material Requirement (TMR) 665, 668

  totalitarianism 11, 273, 279, 289–96, 314, 680 see also communism; fascism; Nazism; Stalinism; ‘consumerism’ as 5, 7

  tourism 291, 292, 327, 511–13, 534, 602–3 see also travel

  Townsend, Peter 510

  toys 30, 59, 138, 342, 385, 485, 486, 487, 488–9, 494, 616; and cognitive development 231; dolls 485, 488, 491, 618; and recycled plastic 635; second-hand 656

  Trabant car 331, 335, 337

  trade see also commerce: African 129–31; barriers 120, 136, 159, 160, 298, 572, 580; barter 46; branding see branding; British empire and American trade 164–5; cards 192; Chinese 23, 24–6, 44–7, 88, 92; contraband see smuggling; currents 24–5; Dutch 54–5; expansion of global trade, 1500–1800 23–4; fair trade see fair trade; fairs 307, 328; free trade see free trade; and the general good 96; global exchange and the world of goods 23–8, 162; global trading system 162; growth of markets and 23–4, 25, 53, 57, 92–3, 122, 131, 327, 682–3; haggling 190, 204, 209, 210; hawkers 205; herring trade 26; justice 573–7 see also fair trade; and labour specialization/division 24, 54; liberalization 146, 161, 162–3 see also free trade; luxury trades 28, 29, 537 see also silk; spices; monopolies see monopolies; ocean trade 23, 24–6, 88, 120, 124, 167, 357, 683; palm-oil 130; pedlars 203, 205, 359; posts 25; price controls 27; and Renaissance morals 35; retail see retail trade; silver as currency of 25–6; smuggling see smuggling; and sociability 96; spurred by demand 92; street sellers 204; structural view of global trade 573; trans-regional 23; transatlantic see transatlantic consumption and trade; tribute see tribute; vulgarity of shopkeeping 35; wars 26; world merchandise trade in 21st century 683

  trade unions 149, 278, 306, 307, 343, 450, 457, 529, 530, 532, 534; Christian unionists 275; and holidays 533, 534; Nazi 290–91; and Sunday 477, 479, 480; and the Taft-Harley Act (1947) 529

  trademarks 47, 486 see also branding

  Traidcraft 577

  transatlantic consumption and trade 23, 26–8, 38, 76, 81, 82, 91, 92–3, 122, 128; slave trade see slavery/slaves