Topic+One


 * History **


 * Question to consider for research:**
 * What is the history of this issue?

As the country experienced an extraordinary economic boom, the fr ame of mind of the traditional consumer ch anged . The rising trend of higher wages after 1900's meant that thousands of families had more disposable income to spend on discretionary goods. In addition, the shortening of working hours meant that these future consumerists had more leisure time to enjoy these lavish items as well as their new found mark on the hierarchical ladder. The mass production of goods also meant that businesses had a larger volume of products to market, which many advertisers claimed that consumers simply could not live without. This recent ‘reinvention’ in the mass production of goods meant that manufacturers and merchants had to seduce the many masses of men and women with the notion that by buying more goods would show their worth to society not to mention their improved status. The upper class consumerist compulsions indefinitely sparked some interest in the buyer’s acquisition of goods as they attempted to mimic the lives of the upper class & thus leave their own impression in the hierarchical society.

To begin with the task of forcing new products into family and individual budgets: Advertisers made use of all the arts of publicity to arouse unsatisfied longings of the public, such as tantalizing eye-catching window displays and newspaper ads. Their success was promoted by the fact that people, who had more than their accustomed sums of money, simply did not know how to spend it. M arket ers  needed to open the window to suggestion and temptation conveyed by advertising, while the producers of goods needed to reevaluate previous set goals & also reevaluate what brought about happiness. In doing so, they would be able to be the puppet masters to the masses of men & women. By extending widely the device of installment selling, this margin of unaccustomed purchasing power was at the buyer’s disposal, and gave the promoters of such products a vicious attack upon the consumer’s mind. It is without a doubt whether any earlier decade in the history had seen the wholesale adoption of so many new goods as well as such a notable change in consumerist habits through the years of 1920-1929.

In the past, these new products had often been held at a high price for years, and only gradually had they been reduced to a level at which the masses of wage earners could afford to buy. Those <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">who believed they possessed a product with a wide appeal often tried to launch their item within the reach of as many consumers as possible, and had hoped that their profits which yielded a small margin would multiply to millions through their increase in sales. On the other hand, faced by such enticing schemes, the owners of long familiar goods had great difficulty in maintaining their shares in the consumer’s dollar. In self-defense, they too resorted to high pressure salesmanship, payment by installments, and other such tactics. Hence leading to an enormous increase in money spent on lavished goods, and an enormous intensification of the attack upon the consumer’s attention. Not only was the regular housewife solicited to buy for items with gimmicks of only two dollars down and a dollar a month down payment, she is also lured by unsuspected merits in products she had used all her life, which now came in new packages under seductive brands. The task of making wise choices became harder as products became more diversified, and as more conflicting advice was whispered into the buyer’s ears.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Stearns, Peter N. //Consumerism in World History: the Global Transformation of Desire//. London [u.a.]: Routledge, 2006. Print
 * References:**

"The Rise of Consumerism :." //The 1920's Era//. Web. 04 Mar. 2010. <http://www.1920sera.com/the-rise-of-consumerism/>.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Beder, Sharon. "Consumerism and Work - a History." //University of Wollongong - New South Wales, Australia//. Web. 02 Mar. 2010. <http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/consumerism.html>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Consumerism." //Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia//. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">"YouTube - Story of Stuff, Full Version; How Things Work, About Stuff." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 03 Mar. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8>.