Jennifer Le Zotte
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781469631905
- eISBN:
- 9781469631929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469631905.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter enunciates the social, moral, and hygienic anxieties plaguing popular perceptions of secondhand trade at the end of the nineteenth century and the steps taken to placate such concerns. ...
More
This chapter enunciates the social, moral, and hygienic anxieties plaguing popular perceptions of secondhand trade at the end of the nineteenth century and the steps taken to placate such concerns. As firsthand production of everyday goods increased in availability and decreased in cost, more still-viable discarded goods made secondhand economies attractive to a broader range of entrepreneurs. Protestant-run salvage businesses, known as "thrift stores" by the 1920s, used contemporary marketing tools to advertise Christianized, sanitized, and Americanized venues for secondhand products. The links between charity and profit created a new breed of business, which I call “philanthropic capitalism,” and established some of the earliest, still-existing American chain businesses. Meanwhile, style’s role in society shifted without diminishing; it grew in general economic, personal aesthetic, and political expressive value while declining as a clear indication of luxury and exclusivity. From the start, clientele included voluntary secondhand shoppers who used secondhand venues to expand their sartorial options.Less
This chapter enunciates the social, moral, and hygienic anxieties plaguing popular perceptions of secondhand trade at the end of the nineteenth century and the steps taken to placate such concerns. As firsthand production of everyday goods increased in availability and decreased in cost, more still-viable discarded goods made secondhand economies attractive to a broader range of entrepreneurs. Protestant-run salvage businesses, known as "thrift stores" by the 1920s, used contemporary marketing tools to advertise Christianized, sanitized, and Americanized venues for secondhand products. The links between charity and profit created a new breed of business, which I call “philanthropic capitalism,” and established some of the earliest, still-existing American chain businesses. Meanwhile, style’s role in society shifted without diminishing; it grew in general economic, personal aesthetic, and political expressive value while declining as a clear indication of luxury and exclusivity. From the start, clientele included voluntary secondhand shoppers who used secondhand venues to expand their sartorial options.
Jennifer Le Zotte
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781469631905
- eISBN:
- 9781469631929
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469631905.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In this surprising new look at how clothing, style, and commerce came together to change American culture, Jennifer Le Zotte examines how secondhand goods sold at thrift stores, flea markets, and ...
More
In this surprising new look at how clothing, style, and commerce came together to change American culture, Jennifer Le Zotte examines how secondhand goods sold at thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales came to be both profitable and culturally influential. Initially, selling used goods in the United States was seen as a questionable enterprise focused largely on the poor. But as the twentieth century progressed, multimillion-dollar businesses like Goodwill Industries developed, catering not only to the needy but increasingly to well-off customers looking to make a statement. Le Zotte traces the origins and meanings of “secondhand style” and explores how buying pre-owned goods went from a signifier of poverty to a declaration of rebellion.
Considering buyers and sellers from across the political and economic spectrum, Le Zotte shows how conservative and progressive social activists--from religious and business leaders to anti-Vietnam protesters and drag queens--shrewdly used the exchange of secondhand goods for economic and political ends. At the same time, artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt.Less
In this surprising new look at how clothing, style, and commerce came together to change American culture, Jennifer Le Zotte examines how secondhand goods sold at thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales came to be both profitable and culturally influential. Initially, selling used goods in the United States was seen as a questionable enterprise focused largely on the poor. But as the twentieth century progressed, multimillion-dollar businesses like Goodwill Industries developed, catering not only to the needy but increasingly to well-off customers looking to make a statement. Le Zotte traces the origins and meanings of “secondhand style” and explores how buying pre-owned goods went from a signifier of poverty to a declaration of rebellion.
Considering buyers and sellers from across the political and economic spectrum, Le Zotte shows how conservative and progressive social activists--from religious and business leaders to anti-Vietnam protesters and drag queens--shrewdly used the exchange of secondhand goods for economic and political ends. At the same time, artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt.
