Tradition and Innovation in English Retailing, 1700 to 1850

Tradition and Innovation in English Retailing, 1700 to 1850
Author: Ian Mitchell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2016-02-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317008499

Three decades of research into retailing in England from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries has established a seemingly clear narrative: fixed shops were widespread from an early date; 'modern' methods of retailing were common from at least the early eighteenth century; shopping was a skilled activity throughout the period; and consumers were increasingly part of - and aware of being part of - a polite and fashionable culture. All of this is true, but is it the only narrative? Research has shown that markets were still important well into the nineteenth century and small scale producer-retailers co-existed with modern warehouses. Many shops were not smart. The development of modern retailing therefore was a fractured and fragmented process. This book presents a reassessment of the standard view by challenging the usefulness of concepts like 'traditional' and 'modern', examining consumption and retailing as inextricably linked aspects of a single process, and by using the idea of narrative to discuss the roles and perceptions of the various actors in this process - such as retailers, shoppers/consumers, local authorities and commentators. The book is therefore structured around some of these competing narratives in order to provide a richer and more varied picture of consumption and retailing in provincial England.

Reader's Guide to British History

Reader's Guide to British History
Author: David Loades
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 4319
Release: 2020-12-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000144364

The Reader's Guide to British History is the essential source to secondary material on British history. This resource contains over 1,000 A-Z entries on the history of Britain, from ancient and Roman Britain to the present day. Each entry lists 6-12 of the best-known books on the subject, then discusses those works in an essay of 800 to 1,000 words prepared by an expert in the field. The essays provide advice on the range and depth of coverage as well as the emphasis and point of view espoused in each publication.

Cambridge and Its Economic Region, 1450-1560

Cambridge and Its Economic Region, 1450-1560
Author: John S. Lee
Publisher: Univ of Hertfordshire Press
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2005
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781902806525

Lee studies the population, wealth, trade and markets of Cambridge and its region, and the changes that took place over a century of economic and social transition are detailed.

A Cultural History of Shopping in the Early Modern Age

A Cultural History of Shopping in the Early Modern Age
Author: Tim Reinke-Williams
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2022-06-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1350278491

A Cultural History of Shopping was a Library Journal Best in Reference selection for 2022. Across Europe, the Early Modern period was marked by political, religious and cultural upheaval, and saw the emergence of the first global economy, developments which profoundly impacted how people shopped and what they were able to buy. This volume engages with the key debates around continuity and change in consumer behavior in the 'long 16th century' and the ways in which shopping became an educational and exciting act for many women, men and children across the social spectrum: shops and market stalls were filled with an increasingly wide range of goods made by skilled craftspeople and transported by merchants making evermore ambitious and lucrative journeys across the world. Even servants and the poor were exposed to these new things, for they could consume by eye and ear what they could not afford to take home in material form. Although they did not yet have a word for the activity of “shopping,” in this period men and women came to understand that this activity was more than a functional act to acquire necessities. A Cultural History of Shopping in the Early Modern Age presents an overview of the period with themes addressing practices and processes; spaces and places; shoppers and identities; luxury and everyday; home and family; visual and literary representations; reputation, trust and credit; and governance, regulation and the state.