9781422281307

Beginnings of Consumerism Consumerism has its origins in ancient times. In the first cen- tury BCE , noble-born Romans acquired a taste for luxury prod- ucts, such as silk from China. By the 13th century CE , European aristocracy had become interested in clothing, goods, and spices from the Far East. Possession of these was often used to display a person’s wealth and status—a key aspect of consumerism. However, unlike today, these early forms of consumerism only affected a small, wealthy minority. Most people in ancient

A classic early consumer product, the umbrella, was first used by the Ancient Egyptians and Romans to shelter them from the weather. During the Middle Ages, however, umbrellas were regarded as something of a novelty, and their use declined. In the seventeenth century, Europeans became discontent with getting wet—something that had never bothered them much before. French nobles began using umbrellas, having borrowed the idea from the Chinese, and their usage gradually filtered down through society. Umbrellas reached rainy England in the 1770s, where they were criticized at first for being unmanly and foreign. However, they soon caught on and are now very much a part of English identity. The Umbrellas

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Consumerism