Nineteenth Century Childhoods in Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives by Meredith Ellis Jane Baxter

Author:Meredith Ellis, Jane Baxter [Meredith Ellis, Jane Baxter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, History, Modern
ISBN: 9781785708442
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Published: 2018-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Creating desire and little consumers: doll advertising in U.S. newspapers, 1860–1900

Katherine Mumma and Jane Eva Baxter

Creating new consumers in the late 19th century

One of the well-known consequences of the Industrial Revolution is the constant need to expand markets for mass produced goods, both through the introduction of novel products into the market place and the identification of new consumer populations to target through advertising and product development. In the latter half of the 19th century, toys were one such type of product and children were such a population. Scholars have traditionally emphasized the maturation of consumer capitalism in the early 20th century as the time when children and adolescents became a significant consumer force (Cross 1997; 2004; Jacobson 2008), but the targeting of young people and their purchasing power began much earlier in the 19th century (Ringel 2008; 2015; Schultz this volume). Nineteenth century parents understood that children needed to succeed in an urban, market driven world and using commodities to make them thrifty, savvy consumers was a popular and accepted parenting strategy (Ringel 2015, 8–9). Parents also had to balance exposure to the consumer market place with the dominant cultural ideal of maintaining children’s innocence from the world of adults for as long as possible (Calvert 1992). The never ending desire for material things was one of the many corrupting forces that awaited children when they transitioned to adulthood. Separating 19th century American children, especially middle class children, from the consumer market place may have certainly been a goal, but it was ultimately an unrealized one (Mintz 2004, 76–77).

Advertisers began marketing to children through magazines, books and product trading cards in the early half of the 19th century, connecting children to consumer goods designed for entire households either directly or through ancillary products and incentives (Schultz, this volume; Fig. 7.1). It was not until the latter half of the 19th century, however, that toys and goods specifically for children became widespread (Calvert 1992). Much of the early diversification of manufacturing industries into toy making was a way to use up scraps of material and was largely an afterthought in terms of sales and products, but as the need for new markets expanded the specialized production of objects for children’s entertainment and education became an industry in its own right (Cross 1997, 21–22). The Montgomery Ward Catalog had no toy section in the earlier part of the century, but the 1892 catalog’s “Toy Department” had blossomed to a significant 36 page spread including eight full pages of dolls and doll furniture (Cross 1997). Brick and mortar department stores installed permanent toy departments around the same time. These departments were often separated into sections for boys and girls highlighting the gendered expectations for children’s play and socialization (Pursell 2015). Prior to this boom in retail, the acquisition of toys and playthings was not a quotidian, everyday transaction, and it was not directly child-driven. Parents would purchase toys for children only at certain times of the year, most typically at Christmas and occasionally for a birthday (Calvert 1992; Jacobson 2008; Fig.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.