Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture (Paperback)

by William R. Leach (Author) "They have emerged," wrote economist Edward Mead, husband of Emily Fogg Mead, of the new business corporations, in 1910, "like the trees in the primeval..." (more)
Key Phrases: mind curers, consumer enticements, retail wars, New York, John Wanamaker, Marshall Field (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This NBA nominee is an outstanding cultural history of America's turn-of-the-century transformation into a nation of consumers.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
In an alternate history of modern American life from 1890 to 1927, Leach (History/Columbia; True Love and Perfect Union, 1980) offers an encompassing, learned, and fast-paced account of how entrepreneurs, manufacturers, bankers, clergymen, and government leaders produced a culture of consumers--as well as the rituals, morality, aesthetics, and institutions that identify the good with the goodies, acquisition with virtue. Innovative merchandising--initiated by the great department stores of the 1890's (Wanamaker's, Marshall Field, etc.) and extending in time to hotels, banks, public utilities, service industries, etc.--began with an excess of production: superfluous pianos, lamps, rugs, cheap jewelry, and food. To dispense with the surplus, merchant princes developed a technology of enticement, the arts of display--including posters, outdoor signs, light, color, glass, window trimming, packaging, catalogues, architecture, and, ultimately, an urban geography with entire shopping districts (epitomized in Manhattan in the showmanship of Times Square, the retail establishments of Fifth Avenue, the fashion and garment districts, and on Wall Street, the source of the financing). Beyond the visual were the rituals--holiday seasons, pageants, parades, children's culture--and the escalators and credit-granting through which department stores became democratized. Americans' getting and spending produced a standardization of taste and beauty, as well as colleges for business and design, fashion magazines, hotel chains, and intermediaries--brokers and agencies for everything from models to real estate. In 1932, Herbert Hoover's Department of Commerce and its imposing building in Washington made merchandising part of government--incarnating, as Leach sees it, the ethics and fantasies embodied in the Emerald City of The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum also wrote the definitive text on window trimming). Fascinating, detailed, and evangelical: a yellow brick road full of rare adventures, intriguing characters, and surprising vistas. (Twenty-four pages of photos--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (September 6, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679754113
• ISBN-13: 978-0679754114
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,194 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #44 in	Books > History > United States > 19th Century > Turn of the Century
  #97 in	Books > Business & Investing > Reference > Shopping & Commerce

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, scholarly, beautifully written, August 23, 1998

By	Tom McCarthy (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Ostensibly a history of the department store in America, this book is a revelatory primer for those wishing to understand the origins and growth of the culture of comsumerism in the United States. As Leach convincingly documents, consumerism is an artificial, carefully crafted construct clearly traceable to particular people and places in our history. Their paradigm of consumption, Leach further shows, is one that has come to consume American culture in general--and, increasingly, world cultures beyond it.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfect, July 9, 2001

By	Gigi - See all my reviews

Leach has written a wonderful book on the true roots of modern American society. Ever wonder why the only public meeting place extant is the shopping mall? Because "they" want it that way. Find out who they were - and are. But beware. You're probably one of them!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story, not enough analysis, June 6, 2004

By A Customer

W.R. Leach writes about the beginning of consumerism in the U.S. around 1910/20. He writes with much verve about his theme, which makes the book an ageeable read.
But for my taste the book is somewhat short on analysis. For example: there is much talk of the connection between selling and religion, but if this connection was by random or if there were some deeper links is left open.
If you are new to the subject of this book and you want an interesting read: get it. But be aware, the answers for a lot of questions this book poses are not to be found here.