Peter Gurney's already extensive contribution to the study of consumerism in Britain is now well embedded in the historiography. It is thus unsurprising that his latest contribution to this growing field, The Making of Consumer Culture in Modern Britain, is comprehensive and meticulous in equal measure. His aim to describe the evolution of consumer culture in Britain over two centuries is extremely ambitious, but one that he deftly pulls off. Gurney manages to challenge the reader while providing a detailed account that is accessible to both experts and beginners to the study of consumer culture. While recent decades have seen a large influx of studies on consumer culture, Gurney's book has plenty of new and interesting things to say. It helps historians and general readers understand the changing nature of consumer culture in Britain, together with how the preferences of buyers and the marketing of products have played their part in the evolution of the marketplace in Britain.
Gurney organizes the book into three substantive sections that analyze consumerism both chronologically and thematically. It is a useful and interesting approach that sets the major changes in consumer culture in their wider context. Touching on major political developments, together with the changes in consumer practices, Gurney illustrates how both the business and political world responded to the vast changes in society and economics over the decades of the nineteenth and twentieth century. These changes produced a range of different and varied shopping experiences to meet the needs of consumers. From the development of department stores to the construction of consumer cooperatives (the so-called co-op), Gurney shows how consumption became an act of “pleasure” for consumers, while also creating a sense of inclusiveness, especially in working-class communities, through the creation of cooperative networks. Furthermore, the role of advertising, especially in gender focus and branding, was particularly significant in gaining the attention of consumers and targeting products toward certain consumer groups.
One of Gurney's key themes is the role of Americanization in the consumer marketplace. This phenomenon began with the arrival of American businessmen in Britain toward the end of the nineteenth century. Harry Gordon Selfridge was one famous example, spending £36,000 on advertising for the opening day of his London department store. He realized the importance that the press would have in gaining favorable coverage for his venture. Advertising took a new direction in British consumer culture at the beginning of the twentieth century. Unlike in other areas of society, where women were deemed to be at a disadvantage to their male counterparts, the new consumer culture placed women at a higher level. Gurney argues that “department store bosses often played on the idea of female empowerment, presenting themselves as champions of women's rights” (64) Nevertheless, this typically applied to only certain sections of the social structure and was largely attributed to the middle class, whose purchasing power reflected their greater financial means.
Gurney's chapter on the cooperative movement not only highlights the huge juxtaposition between consumer habits of the social classes, but also acts as an effective corrective to arguments that a consumer movement could work to unite the population. Gurney highlights tensions within liberal consumer movements, especially concerning the principle of free trade in the late nineteenth century. These tensions led to reforms introduced by Chamberlain that included imperial preference and tariff reform. Free trade was preserved by the Liberals going into the twentieth century. However, consumer society was changing, especially among the working class, who, thanks to the development of the cooperative movement, were given a platform to pursue and develop their own form of consumerism. This served to unite the working class at a time when many forms of consumerism, especially banking, was not open to those from the lower classes. Thus, the opening of the cooperative bank, together with the development of the Post Office Savings Bank, served to fill this void in the life of the working-class consumer. Moreover, these developments demonstrated the extent to which the working class distrusted state intervention in the consumer market and the cooperative movement signaled the way in which consumer society, especially for the working class, evolved through the development of movements that united communities in a sense of cooperation and mutual benefit.
The final two chapters show how consumerism developed into a mass movement in twentieth-century Britain. Consumer activity grew significantly in the interwar period. Nevertheless, this growth was unequal. In more prosperous areas of the East Midlands, for instance, life was different from that experienced by the unemployed in the now-impoverished industrial areas of northern England and South Wales. The end of the First World War saw many women return from the public sphere to the private sphere, where their role as homemakers was emphasized. With this moment, Gurney identifies a major shift in consumer culture. The publication of magazines such as Good Housekeeping (the British version of which launched in 1922) encouraged women to keep a high-standard and good-quality home. While this strategy ensured that the nature of consumers was heavily gendered, it also meant that consumer activity, even within the working class, was directed toward purchasing products for the improvement of life at home. With banks more willing to loan, mortgages more easily available, and living standards improving, the desire for purchasing products for an ideal home increased across all social classes. Furthermore, with the opening of shops such as Marks & Spencer, people of all social classes had a platform to purchase all the required products for their home and their family.
Gurney concludes by showing how consumerism has permeated all areas of British society. Identifying major changes that occurred in the 1980s, he demonstrates how wealth was once again used as a way of defining social class. While the changes in the 1980s firmly established the strength of the consumer within the society, disparities in wealth ensured that the nature of society became greedy—a phenomenon seized upon by opposition Labor party leaders throughout the decade. Nevertheless, understanding consumers’ needs was central to the victories of the Conservative party throughout the 1980s, and it was this model that the Labor party needed to copy to successfully defeat the conservatives in the 1997 general election.
The range and depth of Gurney's study are hugely impressive. He writes in an accessible way that challenges the reader to think deeply about the concepts and ideas raised. He shows that the nature of the consumer society is both complex and varied. This book will undoubtedly become essential reading for students of consumer culture and appeal well beyond the history discipline. It should come highly recommended for all interested in the history of consumerism in Britain, especially the ways in which gender and Americanization have played significant roles in shaping the behavior of the modern consumer.
