The Emperor hurried home. Tonight they would be playing the Eroica. Although we go shopping, and we go to the mall, we learn to shop at home. When Dr. America asks people how they learned to shop, most of their stories include parental advice and example, and family values and rituals. Home is where the heart is, and it's also the heartbeat of American consumer culture.
Shopping begins at home, and it begins early.
In America, the way we make a house a home is to fill it up with stuff that's ours. We go to the mall to buy carpets and curtains, furniture and appliances, antiques and accents, shelves and knickknacks to fill the shelves. In India, this relationship between home and possessions is different, according to Marilyn Halter, author of Shopping for Identity . Thus, the American home depends on virtually every department of the department store. Even before our babies come home from the hospital, we've begun the process of teaching them how to consume.