Knowing the shape of demand: Britain's exports of ponchos to the Southern Cone, c. 1810s–70s

Abstract

British textile exporters have supplied South America since well before the Napoleonic Wars. However, only from the 1810s onwards did British merchants establish houses in the region, quickly mastering the market. As far as the demand for coarse cloaks was concerned, both creoles and natives stuck firmly to ponchos. Because of the intrinsic characteristics of ponchos, local demand led British supply and, in an innovative process of adaptation, British manufacturers exported ponchos on a considerable scale to the markets of southern South America.