A New American Consumer Culture
About this episode
This episode explores the evolution of American consumer culture amidst industrial challenges and the rise of advertising and credit.
While tensions between owners and workers continued to grow, and wage earners struggled with the challenges of industrial work, the culture of American consumerism was changing. Greater choice, easier access, and improved goods at lower prices meant that even lower-income Americans, whether rural and shopping via mail order, or urban and shopping in large department stores, had more options. These increased options led to a rise in advertising, as businesses competed for customers. Furthermore, the opportunity to buy on credit meant that Americans could have their goods, even without ready cash. The result was a population that had a better standard of living than ever before, even as they went into debt or worked long factory hours to pay for it. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/18-4-a-new-american-consumer-culture Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/details/books/us-history Podcast produced…
People in this episode
Host: Miranda Casturo
Topics covered
- American consumerism
- industrial work
- advertising
- credit
- standard of living
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: OpenStax, Creative Commons, voicemaker.in
More episodes of A Journey into Human History
- Political Corruption in Postbellum America
- Relief from the Chaos of Urban Life
- The African American “Great Migration” and New European Immigration
- Urbanization and Its Challenges
- Building Industrial America on the Backs of Labor
- From Invention to Industrial Growth
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