A: Qualifications and Interests of the Author
As a native of Texas, Lendol Calder graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1993. Calder is currently a Professor of History and African-American Studies at Augustana College and is presently working on an analysis of the thrift ethos in American history and culture with a team of scholars organized by the Templeton Foundation and the Institute for the Advanced Study of American Culture at the University of Virginia. He is a scholar of the history of American consumerism and this interest led him to study the progression of consumer credit in America when little else had been published on the topic. Calder draws from some of his own experience with consumer credit in the form of a department store credit card he and his wife obtained early in their marriage to purchase what he says was “a suite of furniture costing twice as much money as we could have scraped from our bank account.” (p.5) Most of his presumptions, however, were discarded in his explorations of the “peaks and valleys of consumer credit” (p.16) due to the fact that most common sense beliefs about the history of credit are in actuality a myth. In Calder’s Acknowledgments, he gives thanks to his parents for coming to his aid and saving him “from having to do some unwanted personal research into the subject of debt.” (p.xiii)
B: Main Point or Thesis of the Book
Calder’s Thesis for this book follows the development of American consumer culture from its unorganized infancy around the 1890’s to about the 1940’s. There are several references to credit and debt outside this range as a reference to where we started and w...
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...was making a point only to find on the next page he made an argument counter to the previous point. Also, I found it odd that the end of his historical study occurred in the 1940’s. Consumer credit in America has changed since then albeit not as drastically as in the 1910’s and 1920’s. Nonetheless, I feel he did an incredible job scraping up evidence for debt that existed in an era when such things were very private. Early in this book he stated that he “adopted a national approach …to cast [his] nets widely so as to bring as much documentation as possible.” (p.15) The seemingly unimportant antique flyers and diary entries really did give a personal touch to this obscure corner of American history. Prior to reading this book, I was one of the believers in the “myth of lost economic virtue” (p.23) but now I have a new, more accurate, view of this topic.
There were several different factors that contributed to the Victorian’s propensity to abuse their credit, and as a result, fall deeply into debt. In her essay, “A Husband and His Wife’s Dresses”, Erika Rappaport discusses the significant role that gender played in the credit and debt “epidemic” that plagued Victorian society. Rappaport gives a fairly detailed account of the progression of buying on credit in Victorian society. In her essay, Rappaport states that “for most of the nineteenth century, consumer credit was still informal and was based on personal trust and a financial and moral assessment of the buyer” (165). Essentially, buying on credit was based on social position rather than financial stability. She comments that in the nineteenth century, selling on credit was still a widespread practice, and “many of the commodities that filled the Victorians’ homes and adorned their bodies were bought with its help” (167). Rappaport states that buying on credit “helped middle-class families on limited income set up households”, and that “approximately 80 percent of all sales in the small, elite shops of metropolitan districts were offered on credit” (167). However, as time progressed, informal store credit became increasingly risky. Consumers began to travel longer distances in order to buy their goods, and it became increasingly less common to conduct business with neighbors and relatives. As a result of these changes, “wholesale...
Frederick Lewis Allen’s book tells in great detail how the average American would have lived in the 1930’s. He covers everything from fashion to politics and everything in between. He opens with a portrait of American life on September 3, 1929, the day before the first major stock market crash. His telling of the events immediately preceding and following this crash, and the ensuing panic describe a scene which was unimaginable before.
Through the use of statistics, expert testimony, appeals to emotions, and a few comparisons, Scurlock tries to convey his message saying that because the lending industry’s main concern is maximizing profits, they have made it impossible to not have a credit card and avoid being taken advantage of. He accomplishes his goal of clearly relaying his argument to the audience with the high amount of credible support he provides.
Foner, Eric., Garraty, John A (eds) “Banking” The Reader’s Companion to American History, Houghton Mifflin: New York, 1991., pg. 191
At the end of World War II, American culture experienced an overhaul that ushered in a period of complacency beneath which paranoia seethed. A generation that had lived through the privations of the Depression and the horrors of world war was now presented with large suburban homes, convenient and impressive appliances, and pre-packaged entertainment. Such wonders so soon after extended hard times were greeted enthusiastically and even treated with a sense of awe. They may have encouraged few distinctions among the middle class -- the houses in a suburb were generally as identical as hamburgers at McDonald's -- but they represented a wealth to which few had before enjoyed access. Life became automated, with dishwashers cleaning up after dinner and air conditioning easing mid-summer heat. The new conveniences left more time for families to absorb the new mass culture presented through television, records, and Spillane novels. Excitement over the new conveniences and entertainment led America to increasingly become an acquiring society. To my parents' generation, childhood in the 50s was a time when people were generally pleased with themselves and with the...
The national debt is usually a frightening topic citizens of any country, however, in the United States, twenty trillion dollars of national debt is one of the major fears of the economy. Along with this fear comes every politician claiming to be the person to lower this astronomical debt to ease concerns in the modern American economy. In Hamilton’s Blessing, John Steele Gordon tries to alleviate these concerns by showing a plethora of benefits and good the debt has been able to do throughout the history of the United States. The central premise of the book and the main guideline for John Steele Gordon’s thinking is that the debt was used to save the Union in the 1860’s, the American economy in the 1930’s, and the wellbeing of mankind during
...bt as a percentage of personal income doubled from 4.2 per cent in 1918-20 to more than 9 per cent in 1929” (The 1920s Credit Bubble, 1). People began spending so much money without thinking that the credit they were spending on luxurious fancy items. All these items that were bought did have to be paid off some day.
America’s current standard of living is going to cause our demise. Consumerism is a problem throughout Americans culture since mass production began in the late nineteenth century. The obsession with consumerism has led to mindless wastes of resources, a diseased society and economic instability. Rick Wolff, a professor of economics at University of Massachusetts, states “economics of capitalism spread consumerism—now uncontrolled, ecologically harmful, and fiscally disastrous—throughout the United States”. Wolff’s viewpoint on consumerism aligns with mine. Believing that an economy based on promoting endless consumption is volatile and unsustainable. Consumerism can be analyzed and seen to be embedded by corporations and politicians.
U.S Federal Deficit and Debts:Understanding the history and context. (2011, November 1). Utah Foundation. Retrieved January 25, 2014, from http://www.utahfoundation.org/img/pdfs/rr7
McElvaine, Robert S. The Depression and New Deal: A History in Documents. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.
Swimme, Brian. “How Do Our Kids Get So Caught Up in Consumerism”. The Human Experience: Who Am I?. 8th ed. Winthrop University: Rock Hill SC, 2012. 155-157. Print.
Document 10 is warning the people to stop buying what they can’t afford with credit. When people first found about about credit in the 1920’s people went crazy for it. Not until their debts came back to their realizing they can't afford to pay the prices resulting into jail. When people realized they can’t buy anymore, work slacken and workmen were laid off.
With this mindset, Americans bought items they previously could not afford such as automobiles and electric washers. This is portrayed “In 1914, the United States was a debtor nation... By the end of 1919 the United States was a creditor nation” (Leuchtenburg 108). Americans also began to invest in stocks, brokerage houses, and equities with borrowed money. People invested in these stocks because they were believed to be secure due to the Nation’s booming economy.
Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133
According to Bell (YEAR), “what was once considered luxurious for the middle and lower class is now just an ordinary item[s]” (p.156). Before the Industrial revolution individuals that weren’t from the higher classes, could not afford basic items that today, are very inexpensive to buy. The industrial revolution is when the mass consumption began. According to Bell (YEAR), “three social inventions: mass production on an assembly line, the development of marketing, and the spread of installment buying made … mass consumption possible” (p.156). Companies hired more workers which, created more production and made goods more affordable so more people could purchase them. Installment buying is when you could purchase a good and pay it off in portions. This idea changed the way traditional society looked at debt. Bell (YEAR) states, “the trick of installment selling was to avoid the word ‘debt’ and put a [greater] emphasize the word ‘credit '. Installments were commonly used for the poor, and it was considered as a sign of financial instability” (p.157). Though modern society is all about consuming the latest technology, now buying goods on installments is not considered financial unstable like it was in the 1900s. Have credit cards are a norm in society and have also sparked many business and banking opportunities. This shows the shift in individuals