Keeping Up with the Joneses
Subtitle: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: November 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 232
ISBN-13: 9780812236866
Subjects: Interdisciplinary Studies; Social History; Social status; History: American; History; History - U.S.; USA; Social values; United States - General; History / United States / 20th Century; Envy; Social aspects; United States
First sentence: In 1900, a Ladies' Home Journal columnist inquired, "How much time do we give to studying our fashionable neighbor's hat, or to making cheap, sleazy imitations of her Doucet confections?"
Description: "Keeping Up with the Joneses traces how attitudes about envy changed as department stores, mail-order catalogs, magazines, movies, and advertising became more prevalent, and the mass production of imitation luxury goods offered middle- and working-class individuals the opportunity to emulate the upper-class life. Between 1890 and 1910 moralists sought to tame envy and emulation in order to uphold a moral economy and preserve social order. They criticized the liberal-capitalist preoccupation with personal striving and advancement and praised the virtue of contentment. They admonished the bourgeoisie to be satisfied with their circumstances and cease yearning for their neighbors' possessions. After 1910 more secular commentators gained ground, repudiating the doctrine of contentment and rejecting the notion that there were divinely ordained limits on what each class should possess. They encouraged everyone to pursue the objects of desire. Envy was no longer a sin but a valuable economic stimulant."--Jacket.