A New American Consumer Culture.pdf

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) Industrialization and the Rise of Big Business, 1870-1900 A New American Consumer Culture The growth of industry in the United States made it possible for people to access and consume commodities like never before, notwithstanding the difficulties that laborers experienced in their new responsibilities as wage earners. The emergence of large corporations had transformed America into a nation of consumers in need of leisure and time-saving goods, where individuals could expect to get everything they desired in stores or by mail order. By the end of the nineteenth century, individuals could go by rail to the city and shop at massive department stores like Macy's in New York, Gimbel's in Philadelphia, and Marshall Field's in Chicago. The days of the little general store were long gone. Chain stores such as Woolworth's and A&P, which first emerged in the 1870s, catered to classes other than the rich elite and provided alternatives for people living in more remote sections of big cities. Industrial developments led to this proliferation by making it possible to build stores with higher ceilings for larger displays and by producing larger sheets of plate glass, which allowed for the creation of glass countertops, larger store windows, and display cases where customers could quickly view a wide range of products. L. Later, in 1898, Frank Baum, best known for The Wizard of Oz, created the National Association of Window Trimmers and started publishing The Store Window periodical to offer business advice on space utilization and advertising. There were now more options for households in rural America to buy a wider range of goods at lower rates than ever before. People who live distant from chain stores might take advantage of the recently emerging mail-order catalog industry, which allows customers to place phone orders. The first major mail-order company was founded by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872, and Sears, Roebuck & Company followed in 1886. By 1897, Sears was shipping more than 300,000 catalogs a year; in 1907, they reached the one million catalog record. Particularly Sears recognized that Americans living in rural areas and farmers were looking for alternatives to the higher costs and credit purchases they had to make at small-town country stores. Richard Sears built up his company's reputation as "the consumer's bible" by making prices in his catalog very clear. In the process, Sears, Roebuck & Company supplied a lot of the American Midwest with goods like farm supplies, bicycles, toilet paper, and cars, as shown in the catalog page below. Due to the vast array of products on the market, firms had to engage in previously unimaginable levels of consumer competition. Customers were suddenly presented with dozens of options for shoes and clothes, whether they purchased them online, went to their neighborhood chain store, or waited in long lines at department stores. Due to the increased degree of competition, advertising is now an essential part of any organization. American companies were spending about $100 million a year on advertising by 1900. In an attempt to spark interest, rivals routinely released "new and improved" models. Everything from mouthwash and toothpaste to literature on entertaining visitors was always available. Instead of the customary column width, agate-type ads that dominated newspapers in the middle of the nineteenth century, newspapers began producing full-page advertisements in response to the need for advertising (similar to classified advertisements in today’s periodicals). Similar to this, in the 1880s, professional advertising agencies started to appear, with specialists in consumer demand competing for accounts with big businesses. It may seem odd that people started spending so freely when salaries were so low, but additional chances to participate in the new consumer culture were offered by the gradual rise of a middle class by century's end and the expanding practice of credit purchases. Businesses were able to secure funding and enable customers to make purchases without having access to cash by allowing individuals to create accounts and use credit. Both back then and now, many people become indebted due to the dangers of using credit. Advertising expert Roland Marchand detailed in his Parable on the Democracy of Goods how Americans quickly embraced the idea that they could live a better lifestyle, regardless of class, by buying the right clothes, the best hair cream, and the shiniest shoes in an era when access to products became more important than access to the means of production. Either way, American consumption had started.