Counter Cultures: Saleswomen, Managers, and Customers in American Department Stores, 1890-1940 (Working Class in American History) [Paperback]

Susan Benson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Benson's insightful interpretation of a twentieth-century women's culture based on consumerism and the affluence of the department store, as well as the interpersonal relationship between women as consumers and as workers, offers a new perspective in American cultural and economic history." -- American Historical Review.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (December 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025206013X
• ISBN-13: 978-0252060137
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent contribution to several historical fields., December 22, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Counter Cultures: Saleswomen, Managers, and Customers in American Department Stores, 1890-1940 (Working Class in American History) (Hardcover)

Benson writes about department stores' development as the new purveyors of mass culture and as the setting for a dynamic intersection of class and gender. She describes the encounters of saleswomen, managers, and customers in this retail environment between 1890 and 1940. Benson accomplishes this by combing through various journals and newspapers, and the results of this research are placed into perspective through comparison with other labor historians' work. Although the juxtaposition of Benson's work with others' reveals some flaws, _Counter Cultures_ nevertheless presents an important and vivid picture of a service industry, a neglected area of labor history

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent contribution to several historical fields., December 22, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Counter Cultures: Saleswomen, Managers, and Customers in American Department Stores, 1890-1940 (Working Class in American History) (Hardcover)

Benson writes about department stores' development as the new purveyors of mass culture and as the setting for a dynamic intersection of class and gender. She describes the encounters of saleswomen, managers, and customers in this retail environment between 1890 and 1940. Benson accomplishes this by combing through various journals and newspapers, and the results of this research are placed into perspective through comparison with other labor historians' work. Although the juxtaposition of Benson's work with others' reveals some flaws, _Counter Cultures_ nevertheless presents an important and vivid picture of a service industry, a neglected area of labor history

5.0 out of 5 stars An insightful look at a long neglected topics, October 8, 2009

By 

Leslie Goddard (Darien, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Counter Cultures: Saleswomen, Managers, and Customers in American Department Stores, 1890-1940 (Working Class in American History) (Paperback)

Department stores have been too long neglected in the field of U.S. cultural history and when they are examined, tend to be treated in terms of nostalgia or as studies of their wealthy founders. Benson finally gives us a more complete look at the web of relationships -- highly gendered relationships -- that made these emporiums so work. She not only reveals that it took an ever-changing balance of gendered roles to make the stores thrive, but that the department store played a much larger role in shaping American identities than historians typically consider. Thoroughly researched and wonderfully insightful.