HIST115 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Chintz, Colour Fastness, Kerchief
20 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
The modern developed world is overwhelmingly a consumer society, and many of its problems come from this consumption of things we don"t need and/or can"t afford. It is thus quite difficult, culturally, to turn the clock back and imagine life prior to the "consumer revolution". In this, we started to buy things rather than make them. Beforehand most things used by people were manufactured if not in their own household, then on a local level. Now, goods increasingly came from further and further away. Goods in pre-consumer were also repaired, rather than replaced, this is demonstrated by archaeological evidence. Consumer societies tend towards non-essential purchasing, of luxury goods, and an awareness of fashions. Fashions had always been around, but had been a marker of elite status, now they effect every aspect of society. In feudal societies, some peasants migrated to urban environments, particularly after the black death because their labour was in more demand.
