Counter Cultures: Saleswomen, Managers, and Customers in American Department Stores, 1890-1940
(Part of the The Working Class in American History Series)
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Book Overview
The luxurious appearance and handsome profits of American department stores from 1890 to 1940 masked a three-way struggle among saleswomen, managers, and customers for control of the selling floor. Counter Cultures explores the complex nature and contradictions of the conflict in an arena where class, gender, and the emerging culture of consumption all came together. The result is a fascinating illumination of the emotional labor of the workplace and the work-culture of consumerism that still defines the workday for millions of Americans.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:025206013X
ISBN13:9780252060137
Release Date:December 1987
Publisher:University of Illinois Press
Length:344 Pages
Weight:1.17 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
An insightful look at a long neglected topics
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Department stores have been too long neglected in the field of U.S. cultural history and when they are examined, tend to be treated in terms of nostalgia or as studies of their wealthy founders. Benson finally gives us a more complete look at the web of relationships -- highly gendered relationships -- that made these emporiums so work. She not only reveals that it took an ever-changing balance of gendered roles to make the stores thrive, but that the department store played a much larger role in shaping American identities than historians typically consider. Thoroughly researched and wonderfully insightful.
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Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
book was as good as described, like new. Shipped on time. recommend seller. I will use in the future with doubt.
An excellent contribution to several historical fields.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 28 years ago
Benson writes about department stores' development as the new purveyors of mass culture and as the setting for a dynamic intersection of class and gender. She describes the encounters of saleswomen, managers, and customers in this retail environment between 1890 and 1940. Benson accomplishes this by combing through various journals and newspapers, and the results of this research are placed into perspective through comparison with other labor historians' work. Although the juxtaposition of Benson's work with others' reveals some flaws, _Counter Cultures_ nevertheless presents an important and vivid picture of a service industry, a neglected area of labor history
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