Main entry:

Cohen, Deborah, 1968-

Title & Author:

Household gods : the British and their possessions / Deborah Cohen.

Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, ©2006.

Description:

xvii, 296 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-284) and index.
The British at home -- Material good : morality and the well-to-do -- Cathedrals to commerce : shoppers and entrepreneurs -- Art at home : how the house became artistic -- In possession : men, women, and decoration -- Home as a stage : personality and possessions -- Designs on the past : antiques as a faith -- Modern living : the triumph of safety first -- Your neighbour's house.

Summary:

"At what point did the British develop their mania for interiors, wallpaper, furniture and decoration? Why have the middle classes developed so passionate an attachment to the contents of their homes? This book offers surprising answers to these questions, uncovering the roots of today's consumer society and investigating the forces that shape consumer desires. Richly illustrated, Household Gods chronicles one hundred years of British interiors, focusing on class, choice, shopping and possessions. Exploring a wealth of unusual records and archives, Deborah Cohen locates the source of modern consumerism and materialism in early nineteenth-century religious fervour. Over the course of the Victorian era, consumerism shed the taint of sin to become the pre-eminent means of expressing individuality. The book ranges from musty antique shops to luxurious emporia, from suburban semi-detached houses to elegant city villas, from husbands fretting about mantelpieces to women appropriating home decoration as a feminist cause. It uncovers a society of consumers whose identities have become entwined with the things they put in their houses."--Jacket.

Resources:
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Book review (H-Net)
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
Table of contents only
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

0300112130 (alk. paper)
9780300112139 (alk. paper)
0300136412 (pbk.)
9780300136418 (pbk.)

Subject:

Decorative arts Great Britain History 19th century.
Decorative arts Great Britain History 20th century.
Social values Great Britain.
Materialism Great Britain.
Retail trade Great Britain.
Arts décoratifs Grande-Bretagne Histoire 19e siècle.
Arts décoratifs Grande-Bretagne Histoire 20e siècle.
Valeurs sociales Grande-Bretagne.
Matérialisme Grande-Bretagne.
Commerce de détail Grande-Bretagne.
Commerce Social aspects
Decorative arts
Manners and customs
Materialism
Retail trade
Social values
Wohnungseinrichtung
Kunsthandwerk
Geschichte.
Gesellschaftsleben.
Haushalt.
Innendekoration.
Kunstgewerbe.
Wert.
Great Britain Social life and customs 19th century.
Great Britain Social life and customs 1918-1945.
Great Britain Commerce Social aspects.
Grande-Bretagne Mœurs et coutumes 19e siècle.
Grande-Bretagne Mœurs et coutumes 1918-1945.
Grande-Bretagne Commerce Aspect social.
Great Britain
Großbritannien
Grossbritannien.
GroÇbritannien.

Form/genre:

History
Books.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 249883
Call No.: BIB 179419
Status: Available