Visit The Founders of Sears, Roebuck And Company.This is a student project produced at the American Culture Studies program at Bowling Green States University. Follow the links and get some sense of the importance of this merchandising giant in the 1890s. Imagine your alter ego's encounter with Sears. The pages is archived, so the links may not all work.
This class period we'll look at changes in American patterns of consumption, which include the creation of a new shopping environment, the Department Store, and a perfected merchandising tool made possible by improvements in mail delivery and in the railroads, the mail order catalog.
The new emphasis on spend, spend, spend, and have, have, have was not without its critics, both then and now. How much good that criticism did--we're still consuming.
Everything one sees in the picture below could bed purchased through Sears and Roebuck's Magic Book. By 1908, Sears was even selling houses by mail order. Like the one above the Table of Contenxt. Click on the picture to learn more about them. To learn more about other housel styles available in the 1890s, click here. The page is archived and some links do not work
Just because critics advised against against a life based on "shop 'til you drop" doesn't mean you or your alter-ego have to agree with them. Why not do a little Christmas Shopping, using the gift book to the rightand the materials from the Sears Archive to the left? Want clothes? clocks? golf equipment? chairs? They're all there.
We'll do "show and tell" on this. during class.
A consuming culture is also an advertising culture. We have to be told what we "can't live without". The new advertising agencies were happy to tell us. You can peruse the materials hiden behind the pictures above, You might also enjoy perusing other advertising materials from the time. Duke Universityhas kindly provided you with many primary sources. Construct a wish list from them and add that to your journal. Be ready for "show and tell". Make a folder in your resources for convenience's sake.
For Monday, March 17 The Luck of the Irish be With Ye.
Welcome back from Spring Break
No new Readings for Today
Computer difficulies at home has me behind in looking at your Gilded Age Reflection papers. It also delayed mounting this website for you. What I'd like to do two things today. First, I'd like to finish up the house hunting exercise from the week before break. If you haven't done so yet, please find a house you'd likely live in (or like to live in) during the Gilded Age, and post it to your Blog. Remember my demo on how to capture pictures from adobe acrobat or the screen, using Irfanview. I would also like to get your initial reactions to "How the Other Half Lives". If you have the time (I know this is short notice), I'd like to have you look up some pictures which might represent "the other half" You might start here.
