Synopses & Reviews
In times of war, political strife, and economic recession,
governments often call upon their citizens to get out and shop,
reasoning that consumerism will save an ailing economy and restore
public confidence in the health of the country at large. During the
interwar period, mass culture took a firm hold on Western societies,
causing the division between public and private to break down and for
local events, products, and outlooks to become increasingly national
and international in scale. Positioning consumer culture in Canada
within a wider international context, Consuming Modernity
explores the roots of modern Western mass culture between 1919 and
1945, when the female worker, student, and homemaker relied on new
products to raise their standards of living, separate themselves from
oppressive traditional attitudes, and re-invent themselves as
progressive individuals. Mass-produced consumer products -
such as convenience foods, ready-made clothing, and labour-saving
household devices - promised to free up women to pursue
other interests, which were shaped by what they saw and heard in
cinemas, radio, and advertisements. Concerns over fashion, personal
hygiene, body image, and health reflected these new expectations. This
multifaceted edited volume is a fascinating look at how the forces of
consumerism defined and redefined a generation.
Cheryl Krasnick Warsh is Professor of History at
Vancouver Island University. Dan Malleck is Associate
Professor in Community Health Sciences at Brock University.
Contributors: Devon Hansen Atchison, Denyse
Baillargeon, Donica Belisle, Susanne Eineigel, Kristin Hall, Tracy
Penny Light, Bettina Liverant, Marilyn Morgan, Jane Nicholas, De Anna
J. Reese, Kara Ritzheimer, Fiona Skillen, Cecilia Tossounian.
Review
Consuming Modernity is a substantive and thought-provoking contribution to Canadian social, gender, and women's history.
- Linda Kealey, Associate Professor of History, University of New Brunswick
Review
Although there has been much written in the American and British contexts about gender and consumption, this is the first collection on this topic to place Canada in an international context
- Sarah Elvins, Associate Professor of History, University of Manitoba
Synopsis
Positioning consumer culture in Canada within a wider international
context, Consuming Modernity explores the roots of modern
Western mass culture between 1919 and 1945, when the female worker,
student, and homemaker relied on new products to raise their standards
of living and separate themselves from oppressive traditional
attitudes. Mass-produced consumer products promised to free up women to
pursue other interests shaped by marketing campaigns, advertisements,
films, and radio shows. Concerns over fashion, personal hygiene, body
image, and health reflected these new expectations. This volume is a
fascinating look at how the forces of consumerism defined and redefined
a generation.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Consuming Modernity /
Dan Malleck and CherylKrasnick Warsh
Part 1 - Consumerism as Politics, Practice, and
Ideology
1 Canada's Consumer Election (1935) / Bettina
Liverant
2 Consumer Culture and the Medicalization of Women's Roles in
Canada, 1919-39 / Tracy Penny Light
3 Selling Lysol as a Household Disinfectant in Interwar North
America / Kristin Hall
4 Medicine Advertising, Women's Work, and Women's Bodies
in Montreal Newspapers, 1919-39 / Denyse Baillargeon
5 Annie Turnbo Malone and African American Beauty Culture in the
American West / De Anna J. Reese
Part 2 - Consumerism and Public Display
6 Women, Identity, and Sports Participation in Interwar Britain /
Fiona Skillen
7 Aesthetic Athletics: Advertising and Eroticizing Women Swimmers /
Marilyn Morgan
8 Shades of Change: Suntanning and the Interwar Years / Devon
Hansen Atchison
Part 3 - Modern Girls
9 Beauty Advice for the Canadian Modern Girl in the 1920s / Jane
Nicholas
10 (En)gendering a Modern Self in Post-Revolutionary Mexico City,
1920-40 / Susanne Eineigel
11 The Argentine Modern Girl and National Identity, Buenos Aires,
1920-40 / Cecilia Tossounian
Part 4 - Texts and Ideologies of Modernity and
Consumerism
12 Protecting Gender Norms at the Local Movie Theatre: The
Heidelberg Committee, 1919-33 / Kara Ritzheimer
13 Guilty Pleasures: Consumer Culture in the Fiction of Mary Quayle
Innis / Donica Belisle
Selected Readings; Contributors; Index