Shopping in Eighteenth-Century Europe
Experiences and Identities
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
This volume explores the practices of shopping in Europe during the long eighteenth century, a period during which consumption choices expanded to encompass much larger groups than before. Shopping functioned as an act of social distinction, where retail practices not only reflected and reinforced social aspirations and identities but also were a means of creating relationships through shared information and exchanges.
Bringing together ten diverse case studies, the collection provides in-depth insights into the transformation of shopping practices across Western and Northern Europe. The production of made-to-order goods gave way to a range of ready-made objects that could be viewed, browsed and touched in shops, booths, workshops and markets. Together, the chapters highlight a crucial historical nuance: the concept of 'shopping' as understood in England—with its associations of pleasure and socialising—did not exist in other major European languages during this period. From actors in Stockholm to aristocrats in Paris, this study rigorously contextualises the practice of consumption, leaving readers with an enriched understanding of how shopping shaped identities and social relationships throughout eighteenth-century Europe.
This collection is an essential resource for scholars, students and non-specialists interested in the material culture, economy, everyday life and social dynamics of Europe during the long eighteenth century.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Half Title page
- Series Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- 1 Shopping in European Towns: A Prism of Everyday Life
- 2 Visiting a Backwater?: Consumer Attractions, Shopping Experiences and the Enlightened ‘Tourist Gaze’ in the Low Countries (c.1715–c.1840)
- 3 Courtly Needs and Commercial Instincts: Shopping in Provincial Germany in the Eighteenth Century
- 4 Expense, Obligation and Extravagance: Aristocrats and Shopping in Eighteenth-Century Paris
- 5 Shopping and Widowhood at Court: The Case of Three French Ladies-in-Waiting at the End of the Eighteenth Century
- 6 Shopping, Life-Stage and Hierarchy: Practices and Experiences of a Household in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Stockholm
- 7 Interior Décor and Neutrality Politics in a Time of War: Charlotte Schimmelmann’s Redecorations of Schimmelmann House in Copenhagen, 1789 and 1806
- 8 Make, Mend, Alter and Share: Shopping Practices of a Swedish Royal Household from the 1780s to the early 1800s
- 9 A Performative Act of Shopping: Identity and Self-Image amongst Actors and Actresses in Stockholm, c.1760–1840
- 10 Hidden Shopping in the Public Sphere: Deciphering a Theft and a Shopping Episode in Eighteenth-Century Finland
- 11 The Haircare Market in Stockholm, 1770–1850: Hair Fashion and Opportunities for Choice
- Bibliography
- Index