Empire of Things

by Frank Trentmann

  Hoggart, Richard 496

  Holdaway, Bernard 636

  holiday homes 117, 471, 523, 534, 654–5

  holidays 3, 115, 210, 292, 332, 338, 419, 468–9, 479, 688; company holidays 533; on credit 414; for the elderly 505, 506, 510, 511–13; exotic 452, 688; in France 453; German holidays in Italy 603; and identity 453; in Japan 473; for the masses 533–4; paid 301, 450, 451, 456, 457; for residents of old people’s homes 505; Sunday half-day holidays 476; and trade unions 533, 534; and well-being 453, 685

  Holland see Netherlands/the Dutch

  Hollingshead, August B. 497

  Hollywood 211, 348, 351

  Holyoake, George Jacob 206

  home science and economists 256

  homeopathic medicine 555

  homes see housing/the home

  homogenization 219–20, 527 see also standardization

  Honecker, Erich 11, 333

  Hong Kong 351, 359, 595

  Hong Lou Meng (The Dream of the Red Chamber) 26, 52

  Hongwu 48

  Hooper, I. G. 125–6

  Hoover, Herbert 237–8, 240, 375, 487, 634

  Horkheimer, Max 95

  horse racing/betting 477

  Horseshoe Estate, Berlin 222, 223

  Horta, Victor 192

  hotels 655

  Houghton, John 98

  House Beautiful, The 224

  household budgets 147–50, 283, 338–9

  household debt 409, 425, 426

  housewives 24, 66, 202, 223, 249, 250–51, 253, 254, 256, 523, 527; in adverts 180; clubs 277; emancipation of 181, 222–3, 255–6 see also domestic appliances and technologies; ‘emotional fetishism’ of 229; empowerment of 260; German organizations 275; Japanese 378, 383, 386, 393; and missionaries 142; responsibility to help empire 300; as scientific managers 245; shopping 350 see also shopping; Soviet 293; and suffrage 156–7; working class 407–8

  housework 253–6, 258–60, 448, 453, 454, 457, 458, 459, 469 see also laundry; cooking see cooking; dusting 222, 226; and electric labour-saving devices see domestic appliances and technologies; men engaging in 260, 447, 483, 546; and Motivational Research 316

  housing/the home: America 223, 236, 239, 240, 242, 244, 244, 245, 246–7, 248, 259, 262–3, 428, 435; Asia 141, 144–6, 363, 375–7, 386, 391; bathrooms see bathrooms; the bourgeois home 250, 251, 345; ‘cashing out’ on the home 427–8; communal flats 323; company housing 457, 523, 526, 528, 534; condominiums 674; construction 239; and the cult of the ‘ensemble’ 223; cult of the home 291, 309; decor see decor; furnishings; decorating see decorating/decorators; domestic consumer revolution 222–71; domestic interior as centre stage 108; and domestic sociability 30, 87; Dutch townhouses 55–7; eating at home 14, 353, 376, 461; energy consumption 672, 674; and enscripted norms 674; factory homes 457; feeling at home 270–71; furnishings see furnishings; furniture see furniture; Germany 222–3, 330, 331, 335; Greek idea of oikos 269; holiday homes 117, 471, 523, 534, 654–5; home-equity 427, 428–9; ‘Home, Sweet Home’ articles 226; home as prized possession 223; home comforts see domestic comforts; home entertainment 15 see also DVDs; gramophones; radio; television; home exhibitions 250, 256, 307; home improvement 229–30; home leisure 309, 340–41, 459; home magazines 377; home ownership 236–45, 244, 413, 428, 510; home technologies see domestic appliances and technologies; homes for the poor 243; house architecture and the culture of comfort 246–7; household waste see waste: household; households as units of production/consumption 427; housekeeping see housework; ideal-home shows 250; kitchens see kitchens; layout of homes 12; lofts 249, 657, 660, 662, 674; massmanufactured goods invading the home 223–4; and materially intensive lifestyle 689; middle class homes 224, 246, 247, 341; model homes exhibited by the Nazis 291–2; and modern living 245–63; modernist homes 222; mortgages see mortgages; one room per person standard 245, 246, 248; plumbing see plumbing; powering consumer culture 375; and private expenditure 339; privatization and shift in life orientation to the home 376–7; property-owning democracy 236–45; property prices 423, 428; public housing 243, 553–5, 681; rent see rent; repossession 281; retirement/old people’s homes 504, 505, 506, 508, 510, 511; ‘right to buy’ 555; satire on the suburban home 229–30; and security 238, 341; separation of private and public spaces 223, 245–6; in Shanghai 249, 250, 376; shrinking size of British homes 675; slums see slums; and social services/spending 12, 373; under socialism 329, 330, 331, 335, 535; standardized 237, 240, 242, 250, 378, 525; Swiss growth of lush interiors 117; Tenant’s Charter (UK) 555; transformation into ‘consumption junction’ 180, 674; uniting consumption and production 269, 270; utilities 248–9 see also electricity; gas; water, running; wind screens 21; women as creators of the home 222

  Huber, Antje 509

  Huebner, Douglas 636

  Huizinga, Johan 284

  Hum Aapke Hain Koun! (Who am I to You!) 382

  humanitarianism 523–4

  Hume, David 101–2, 104, 413, 568

  humours, bodily 84, 85

  Hung family 52

  Hungary 199, 327, 333, 334, 458–9, 461, 547, 558–9; Ombudsmen 557; waste/recycling 643, 645

  Hutt, William 285

  hydrants 179, 180

  hygiene 177–8, 188, 189–90, 226, 689 see also cleanliness; and domestic technologies 252–3 see also washing machines

  hyper-activism 341, 466–7, 469, 483, 527

  hypermarkets 371, 618

  hypochondria 106–7

  Hyundai 535

  IBEC 348

  Iceland 543

  ideal-home shows 250

  identity see also class; generations; self: and affluence 344; age identities see generations; and alienating effect of consumption 230; class identities see class; and clothes 94, 296–8; and consumer culture in India 380–81; consumption/possessions and the finding and expression of 6, 104–5, 231–5, 314–15, 320, 344, 375, 484, 677, 681, 686; consumption and social identities in African cities 347; crisis with rise of commerce and industry 269; and division of self from things 95–7, 230–31, 235–6; and dress 94, 296–8; First World War and consumer identity 275–6; gender identities see gender; men; women; and holidays 453; imperial 144; Irish 600; and migrant food cultures 596–7; migration and tribal identity 347–8; Muslim 618; national see national identity; non-church-going people defining themselves as Christian 612; and pleasures 463; a pure self 101; self-alienation 100; of self and things: ‘things are us’ 231–5; self as a fiction (Hume) 101–2; split identity in consumer society 128–9; things as handmaidens of 96; in urban life 94; Western goods and colonial identity 131; women’s 6; and work 1

  ideologies: affluence, the harnessing of consumption and 273–337; anticolonial see anti-colonialism; fascist see fascism; Nazism; liberal see liberalism; socialist see communism; Marxism; socialism; Stalinism

  idleness 97, 150, 216, 258, 449, 450, 504–5, 506, 527; idle Sundays 450, 482; Japanese view of 516; as a mark of success in Hong Kong 595

  IKEA 377

  Illinois 203, 505, 524, 612, 661

  IMF 619

  imitation 14, 43, 50, 58, 64, 70, 74, 76, 89, 94, 225, 228 see also emulation

  immanentism 609

  immigration see migration

  imperialism 75, 90 see also anti-colonialism; colonialism; and 1770 flow of goods and slaves 82–3; American 322, 618–19; ‘atavistic’ 141; and by-laws 141; classical theorists of 119; consumer welfare and critique of 160; consumption in era of high imperialism 146–7; fashion denounced as scheme for imperialist subjugation 379; finance imperialism 160; imperial spectacle 140–41; imperialist monoculture 348; interplay of consumption, flow of goods and imperial power 120; liberal imperialism of free trade 91, 120–21, 122, 140, 141, 146, 161, 163–4, 167, 572 see also British empire; and the mass market 140, 155, 173; and material hierarchy 173; ‘new imperialism’ (1880s–1890s) 119, 171; and racism 129; as regression 136; scramble for Africa 121, 129–30, 133; seesaw effect on consumption 135; setting up home in the colony 144–6; and slavery see slavery/
slaves; and social equality 161–2; and split identity in consumer society 128–9; Stalinism as an internal imperialism 296; suspension of market laws to suit imperialists 133

  inbuilt obsolescence 258

  incineration/incinerators 625, 627, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 642, 644, 646–7

  income: and affluence see affluence; American 409, 411; Britain’s shrinking disposable income as share of GDP 423; channelled to the poor 12; Chinese disposable income 368, 374; department stores and families with disposable income 199; disposable, 1880s to 1920s 210; disposable, 1950s and ‘60s 10; Dutch 57; earning power 309; family 147–50, 409, 425, 519; and happiness 452; household debt as share of gross disposable income 409, 425; inequalities 374, 436, 437, 449; Japanese 384, 386; labourers’ earnings divided by the cost of subsistence 72; low income with high credit rates 432; pensions see pensions; realignment between private debt and 426; and rising expectations 554; share of the rich 436, 437; spent on clothing 68; trade and disposable income 93; trading of leisure for 6–7; wages see wages; and well-being 452

  India: adoption of Western clothes by affluent Indians 143; anti-colonialism 296–8, 379–80; artisans 44, 139; baboos 143; banks 367; Bengal division 297; Bengali women 142–3; British marketing of an airbrushed ‘India’ 601; British rule in 137–46, 296–8; buying of British textiles 139–40; cars 366, 382; caste 143–4, 298, 381–2; cities 141, 392; clothes and anti-colonialism 296–8; clothes sent to India for copying 70; consumer groups 390–91, 392, 393; Consumer Guidance Society of India 390; consumer movements and politics 393, 552; consumer protection/rights 387, 388; consumption 355, 357, 365–7, 379–82, 390; cottons 4, 10, 23, 24, 60, 64–7; Department of Consumer Affairs 388; development aid 367, 368; droughts 366; elderly people 518–19; electricity 367–8, 391–2; elites 139, 140, 141, 142, 381; excess 390; exodus of Indians from East Africa to Britain with decolonization 596; families 365, 367; Family Planning Programme 365; and the food market 380, 601; GDP 357; Government of India Act (1850) 141; ‘green revolution’ 366; housing/homes 141, 144–6, 391; identity and consumer culture 380–81; importing British ideas of urban living 141; independence 357; Indian merchant diaspora in Ceylon 146; individualism 380; industry 44; inequalities 366; investment 372; Kerala 365, 379–80, 381; legacy of empire 379; liberalization (from 1991) 357, 379–80, 381, 389–90; material advances 11; middle class 140, 142, 143, 373, 375, 380, 392, 519; modernity in 379–82; Monopolies Commission 388; Mughal empire 137, 138, 142; municipal bodies 141; Mutiny (1857) 129, 137; nationalism 129, 137, 143, 144, 268, 296–8, 379–80; noble leisure 137; pauperization under the Raj 140, 297; peasants 137, 361–2, 366; post-Mutiny European inhabitants 144–6; poverty 140, 143, 366; radio 366, 388; Rajput 362; Right of Information Act (2005) 389; savings 372; schools 391; shopping 141, 371, 375; state assistance 366; swadeshi (home industry) 297, 298, 380; tea 79, 169; television 366, 367, 368, 375, 382, 388; women 142–3, 380; workers in Middle East from 590, 596

  Indian Hill, Massachusetts 525

  Indian National Congress 298

  Indian Ocean 23, 120, 357

  Indian Terrain 380

  individualism/individualization 9, 135, 225, 308, 315, 369–70, 380, 520, 548; and choice in public services 549; versus fairness 549; Hoover’s American Individualism 237; ‘progressive individualism’ 237–8; selfish individualism 549

  Indonesia 27, 620

  Indore 381–2

  industry: Asian 356; British 66, 77, 120, 170; canning 638–9; and China’s Great Leap Forward 376; coffee and industrialization 166; and European demand 173; identity crisis with rise of commerce and 269; Indian 44; industrial development/industrialization 43, 72, 73, 76, 115, 135, 161, 165–6, 215, 223, 356, 376, 456; Industrial Revolution 43, 72, 73, 356; industrial waste 642; and leisure 215, 456 see also company leisure activities; music 263, 265, 267–8, 294, 464, 466–8, 685; nationalizing of 277; second industrial revolutions 161; silk 32, 58, 67; Soviet 330; swadeshi (home industry) 297, 298, 380; US industrial worker hours 216; and waste 634–5, 642; wool 29, 32

  inequalities 32, 37, 161, 338–9, 344, 403, 434–9 see also caste; class; Asian 366, 368, 371, 374, 438; and bank branch locations 432; Britain as unequal society 73; cultural divide over food and drink 340; in Germany 438; in global food distribution 573; growth repressed by 679, 681; and luxury 434–9; and over-consumption 434–5; and overindebtedness 434; and poverty 438 see also poverty/the poor; and social transfers 541–2; of time and income 449; in wealth 37, 434–9, 436, 437 see also millionaires; poverty/the poor

  inflation 274, 275, 343, 415, 614, 619

  information and communication technology (ICT) 685, 686, 687 see also computers; email; internet; mobile phones; social networking; and leisure 460, 464–5, 471; sharing networks 682 see also social networking

  innovation 10, 88, 89, 358, 463–4 see also novelty; and acceleration of life 442, 471; and cheap energy 72; fashion as driver of 22; innovative north-west European consumer culture 53–63, 65–6, 70–77; and religious revival 621

  instant gratification 5, 284, 290, 311, 373, 405, 443, 460, 606, 607

  International Co-operative Alliance 207

  International Coastal Clean-up day (2011) 622

  International Monetary Fund 619

  International Organization of Consumer Unions (IOCU) 552

  International Trading Agency 573

  internet 346, 354, 442, 654, 682, 685, 686, 687 see also email; social networking; and e-commerce 481–2, 654, 658; shopping 481–2

  inventories 31, 34, 38, 42, 56, 60, 61, 61, 87, 145, 251, 300, 510

  Iran 616–17, 618

  Ireland 511, 539, 543, 547, 599–600, 612

  iron 122, 124, 125, 203, 664, 665, 669; containers 633, 638; global trade in 683; ‘Old iron’ traders 633; pig iron 683; pipes 185; scrap/waste 633, 638, 645, 652

  Iron Curtain 301, 327

  irons 180, 247, 248, 257, 262, 265, 294, 365

  Islam/Muslims 130, 142, 300, 616–21; dress 130, 617, 618, 619, 620; fundamentalist 616, 617–19; and Indian restaurants 601; Islamic revival 607, 617–20; Jihad 616, 618–19; middle class women 620; Muslim identity 618; popularization of Islam via audiotape 619; prayer 618, 619; Quran see Quran; Ramadan 618; shopping 618, 619; women 202, 617, 619, 620

  Islamic State 617

  Israel 619

  Istanbul 89, 192, 620

  Italy: cars 324; credit 409, 414, 424; cultural state support 547; elderly people 508; fair trade 564, 565, 575; films made in 312–13; flyer ban 648; gender gap in leisure and unpaid work 450; German holidays in 603; global expansion of ‘Italian’ coffee 173; home ownership 245, 413; household debt 425; Italian migrant diets in America 598–9, 602; Italians in New York 599, 608; leisure spending 342; local and organic food 585–6; localism 587; mobile phones 464; under Mussolini 11, 414, 418, 587; non-church-going people defining themselves as Christian 612; pensions 542; Renaissance 22, 28–38; savings 418, 420, 421; song 351–2; supermarkets and Americanization 348–9, 350; television 321, 324

  Itôchû 516

  Izhavas 381

  J. Walter Thompson agency 288

  Ja Ja 130

  Jackie 312

  jade 49, 51

  Jago Grahak Jago! (Awake, Consumer, Awake!) 388

  Jahoda, Marie 279–80

  Jaleel company 582

  Jamaica 79, 92, 161, 162, 170

  James I 59

  James II 100

  James, Henry 231–3, 463

  James, William 231, 233, 234, 235, 288, 471, 612

  Japan: advertising 378; American post-war occupation 378; Americanization 377–8; bankruptcy 431; banks 362, 363; beriberi 543; civic rights 393; co-operative movement 206; and coffee 165; company leisure 536; company perks 534; computers, used 660; consumer choice 372; consumer culture 358, 383–4, 386; consumer politics/activism 392–4; consumer protection/rights 387, 393–4; consumption 355, 359, 362–3, 364–5, 371, 372, 383–4; credit-card spending and indebtedness 371–2, 424; department stores 358, 384, 534, 634, 685;
discount stores 372; dress 358, 359; economic crisis and ‘lost decade’ of the 1990s 371, 384, 498, 534; elderly people 508, 509, 516–17; electric goods 247, 364–5, 370, 383; electricity 367; equality 383; Everyday Life Reform League 250, 256–7; families 363, 364, 384, 520; fitness wave 544; food 543, 585; GDP 357, 363; and German houses 222–3; and German power 358; and German rights in Shandong 299; and the home as place of consumption 223; home science 256; household debt 371–2, 409, 424, 425, 426; household savings rate 362–3, 372, 417, 420, 421; household wealth 426; housewives 378, 383, 386, 393; housing 363, 386; and idleness 516; income 384, 386, 436; inequalities 371, 436; Japanese workers in Hawaii 602; leisure 472–3, 545; lifestyle 257, 383–4; localism 585; Ministry of International Trade and Industry 363, 393, 545; modern living 257; national strength 383; nationalism 363; opening to the West 472–3; outsourcing environmental burden 669; Pachinko as national pastime 473; peasants 383; play culture 489; popular music 379; post-war denunciations of luxury 363; price destruction policy (kakaku hakkai) 372; radio 268; recession 384; recreation 359, 473; recycling 644, 647; redefinition of women’s roles 256; religious rituals interwoven with purchases 616; rice 383, 585; save and spend model of consumption 362–3; savings promotion 11, 417, 418, 679; Seikatsu Club 585; seikatsusha 393; shopping hours 372; silver mines 25; social spending 12, 537, 539; sport 545; standard of living, Tokugawa period 108; tax exemptions on savings 415; tea hour 473; teenage consumers 498; television 363, 364, 365, 378, 379, 383, 393, 473; trade with China 23, 47; washing machines 253; waste 627, 640, 643, 644, 646–8; youth 378, 384; Yugioh 492

  Japan Consumers Association 363

  Japan Productivity Centre 363

  Java 164, 172

  jazz 268, 293, 303, 327, 351, 378, 467

  jeans 138, 310, 327, 329, 333, 436–7

  Jefferson, Thomas 165

  Jena, Germany 407

  Jesuits 80, 84

  Jesus of Nazareth 36

  Jevons, W. S. 3, 151–2

  jewellery 41, 47, 48, 123, 138, 143, 146, 206, 228, 362, 381, 434, 511, 527

  Jews 86, 290, 598, 600, 615; department stores owned by 196, 300

  Jiangnan 44, 46

  Jihad 616, 618–19