Imagining Consumers: Design and Innovation from Wedgwood to Corning

Abstract

This volume tells the story of American consumer society from the perspective of mass-market manufacturers and retailers. It relates the trials and tribulations of china and glassware producers in their contest for the hearts of working- and middle-class women, who made up more than 80 per cent of those buying mass-manufactured goods by the 1920s. Following a model pioneered by Josiah Wedgwood during Britain's 18th-century industrial revolution, successful American manufacturers closely collaborated with retailers to sort out consumer priorities and tailored their products accordingly. These firms cast aside elitist notions of good taste to generate the stylistic variety that suited the nation's diverse working population, which frequented chain stores such as F.W. Woolworth & Company. In contrast, companies which tried to stimulate desire, reshape taste and encourage profligate spending using mass advertising, extravagant styling and instalment selling found their efforts thwarted by consumers, who refused to buy products that they did not really want. Based on research in corporate archives, this work seeks to shed new light on the history of American business, culture and consumerism. Case studies illuminate the actions of decision-makers in key firms, including the Homer Laughlin China Company, the Kohler Company and Corning Glass Works, and consider the design and development of ubiquitous lines such as Fiesta tableware and Pyrex Ovenware.