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Crap. We all have it. Filling drawers. Overflowing bins and
baskets. Proudly displayed or stuffed in boxes in basements and
garages. Big and small. Metal, fabric, and a whole lot of plastic.
So much crap. Abundant cheap stuff is about as American as it gets.
And, it turns out these seemingly unimportant consumer goods offer
unique insights into ourselves--our values and our desires. In
Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America, Wendy A. Woloson takes
seriously the history of objects that are often cynically
dismissed: things that are not made to last; things we don't really
need; things we often don't even really want. Woloson does not mock
these ordinary, everyday possessions, but seeks to understand them
as a way to understand aspects of ourselves, socially, culturally,
and economically: Why do we--as individuals and as a
culture--possess these things? Where do they come from? Why do we
want them? And what is the true cost of owing them? Woloson tells
the history of crap from the late eighteenth century up through
today, exploring the many categories of crappy things, including
gadgets, knickknacks, novelty goods, mass-produced collectibles,
giftware, and variety store merchandise. As Woloson shows, not all
crap is crappy in the same way--decorative bric-a-brac, for
instance, is crappy in a different way from, say, advertising
giveaways, which are differently crappy from commemorative plates.
Taking on the full brilliant and depressing array of crappy
material goods, the book explores the overlooked corners of the
American market and mindset, revealing the complexity of our
relationship with commodity culture over time. By studying crap,
rather than finely made material objects, Woloson shows us a new
way to truly understand ourselves, our national character, and our
collective psyche. For all its problems, and despite its
disposability, our crap is us.
Crap. We all have it. Filling drawers. Overflowing bins and
baskets. Proudly displayed or stuffed in boxes in basements and
garages. Big and small. Metal, fabric, and a whole lot of plastic.
So much crap. Abundant cheap stuff is about as American as it gets.
And it turns out these seemingly unimportant consumer goods offer
unique insights into ourselves-our values and our desires. In Crap:
A History of Cheap Stuff in America, Wendy A. Woloson takes
seriously the history of objects that are often cynically-made and
easy to dismiss: things not made to last; things we don't really
need; things we often don't even really want. Woloson does not mock
these ordinary, everyday possessions but seeks to understand them
as a way to understand aspects of ourselves, socially, culturally,
and economically: Why do we-as individuals and as a culture-possess
these things? Where do they come from? Why do we want them? And
what is the true cost of owning them? Woloson tells the history of
crap from the late eighteenth century up through today, exploring
its many categories: gadgets, knickknacks, novelty goods,
mass-produced collectibles, giftware, variety store merchandise. As
Woloson shows, not all crap is crappy in the same way-bric-a-brac
is crappy in a different way from, say, advertising giveaways,
which are differently crappy from commemorative plates. Taking on
the full brilliant and depressing array of crappy material goods,
the book explores the overlooked corners of the American market and
mindset, revealing the complexity of our relationship with
commodity culture over time. By studying crap rather than finely
made material objects, Woloson shows us a new way to truly
understand ourselves, our national character, and our collective
psyche. For all its problems, and despite its disposability, our
crap is us.
While elite merchants, financiers, shopkeepers, and customers were
the most visible producers, consumers, and distributors of goods
and capital in the nineteenth century, they were certainly not
alone in shaping the economy. Lurking in the shadows of
capitalism's past are those who made markets by navigating a range
of new financial instruments, information systems, and modes of
transactions: prostitutes, dealers in used goods, mock auctioneers,
illegal slavers, traffickers in stolen horses, emigrant runners,
pilfering dock workers, and other ordinary people who, through
their transactions and lives, helped to make capitalism as much as
it made them. Capitalism by Gaslight illuminates American economic
history by emphasizing the significance of these markets and the
cultural debates they provoked. These essays reveal that the rules
of economic engagement were still being established in the
nineteenth century: delineations between legal and illegal, moral
and immoral, acceptable and unsuitable were far from clear. The
contributors examine the fluid mobility and unstable value of
people and goods, the shifting geographies and structures of
commercial institutions, the blurred boundaries between legitimate
and illegitimate economic activity, and the daily lives of men and
women who participated creatively-and often subversively-in
American commerce. With subjects ranging from women's studies and
African American history to material and consumer culture, this
compelling volume illustrates that when hidden forms of commerce
are brought to light, they can become flashpoints revealing the
tensions, fissures, and inequities inherent in capitalism itself.
Contributors: Paul Erickson, Robert J. Gamble, Ellen Gruber Garvey,
Corey Goettsch, Joshua R. Greenberg, Katie M. Hemphill, Craig B.
Hollander, Brian P. Luskey, Will B. Mackintosh, Adam Mendelsohn,
Brendan P. O'Malley, Michael D. Thompson, Wendy A. Woloson.
The definitive history of pawnbroking in the United States from the
nation's founding through the Great Depression, "In Hock"
demonstrates that the pawnshop was essential to the rise of
capitalism. The class of working poor created by this economic tide
could make ends meet only, Wendy A. Woloson argues, by regularly
pawning household objects to supplement inadequate wages.
Nonetheless, businessmen, reformers, and cultural critics claimed
that pawnshops promoted vice, and employed anti-Semitic stereotypes
to cast their proprietors as greedy and cold-hearted. Using
personal correspondence, business records, and other rich archival
sources to uncover the truth behind the rhetoric, Woloson brings to
life a diverse cast of characters and shows that pawnbrokers were
in fact shrewd businessmen, often from humble origins, who
possessed sophisticated knowledge of a wide range of goods in
various resale markets. A much-needed new look at a misunderstood
institution, "In Hock" is both a first-rate academic study of a
largely ignored facet of the capitalist economy and a resonant
portrait of the economic struggles of generations of Americans.
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