Imagining Consumers

<p>Originally published in 1999.<em> Imagining Consumers</em> tells for the first time the story of American consumer society from the perspective of mass-market manufacturers and retailers. It relates the trials and tribulations of china and glassware producers in their contest for the hearts of the working- and middle-class women who made up more than eighty percent of those buying mass-manufactured goods by the 1920s.</p><p>Based on extensive research in untapped corporate archives <em>Imagining Consumers</em> supplies a fresh appraisal of the history of American business culture and consumerism. Case studies illuminate decision making in key firms--including the Homer Laughlin China Company the Kohler Company and Corning Glass Works--and consider the design and development of ubiquitous lines such as Fiesta tableware and Pyrex Ovenware.</p><p>--Nic Maffei "Ethics Place and Environment"</p>