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- Lilja, Kristina, Docent, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Inadequate supply and increasing demand for textiles and clothing : second-hand trade at auctions as an alternative source of consumer goods in Sweden, 1830–1900
- 2020
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Ingår i: Economic history review. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0013-0117 .- 1468-0289. ; 73:1, s. 78-105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Drawing on a study of historical national accounts and statistics, this article shows that a growing supply of mass-consumption textiles and clothing in Sweden during industrialization did not fully meet increasing demand. As a result, high demand for second-hand items remained even at the turn of the twentieth century. Records from a local auction house from 1830 to 1900 show that, even in the 1880s, more affluent urban consumers were still active on the second-hand market. Thereafter, they turned to the market for new goods, while potential demand from labourers and servants continued to be provided for by the second-hand market. Mechanization meant that more items entered this market. It changed the range and quality of objects available, consequently affecting the attractiveness of second-hand textiles and clothing. After the 1870s, falling and converging prices can be discerned, while more durable fabrics largely retained their value. We conclude that the consumer revolution (in a broader sense) had by this stage gained a foothold among ordinary Swedish urban households. The auction trade was part of a democratization of consumption. The general lesson is that understanding mass consumption requires research not only into second-hand consumption, but also into different regional settings.
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