Wallowing in consumer culture

Our speaker at the August meeting was Justin Jun Tao Chan—who only joined the club the previous month, so his keenness to get involved is exemplary. His subject (delivered to an unexpectedly large crowd for high summer) was the birth of consumer society in the late 19th and early 20th century. At the beginning of this period most shopping by people of quality was conducted using credit; since married women didn’t really have money of their own, they essentially traded on their husbands’ credit, and Justin highlighted some cases where a court had to establish whether a man was obliged to foot the bill for his wife’s extravagances. (Interestingly, in every case he described, the court found that he was not—suggesting that the justice system was biased in favour of aristocratic men and against traders.) He also introduced us to the public outrage felt at department stores that dared to sell all kinds of things to all kinds of people, and the delicate matter of where a provincial woman, in town for a day of shopping, could eat alone or go to the lavatory without creating a scandal. You can see a 40-minute video of Justin’s talk on YouTube at https://youtu.be/FkTQ5MmGUIw.

Photos courtesy of the Loughton Camera Club