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

Lilja, Kristina,Docent,1968-Uppsala universitet,Ekonomisk-historiska institutionen (författare)

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

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.

Jonsson, PernillaStockholms universitet,Institutionen för ekonomisk historia och internationella relationer(Swepub:su)pejon (författare)
Uppsala universitetEkonomisk-historiska institutionen (creator_code:org_t)

Ingår i:Economic history review: John Wiley & Sons73:1, s. 78-1050013-01171468-0289

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