The Effect Of Advertising On Men As Consumers From 1880-1930 And Its Impact On American Culture - Research Paper Example

and Number of the Teacher’s THE EFFECT OF ADVERTISING ON MEN AS CONSUMERS FROM 1880-1930 AND ITS IMPACT ON AMERICAN CULTURE Introduction The popular notion prevalent in American popular culture, sociology and women’s history was that American men were not major consumers before the 1930s pre-Depression, since most purchasing was undertaken by women. However, Swiencicki (p.207) observes that the leisure activities of white American men between 1890 and 1930 suggests that they were indeed a significant part of the consuming constituency. Further, men’s products were greatly represented in early twentieth-century advertisements in several magazines of the era. At the same time, this consumption and consumerism were not visible because the terms “consumer” and “consumer goods” have been constructed in a greatly gendered fashion. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this research study is to investigate the history of American consumer culture in relation to the impact of advertising on men and their consumption from 1880 to 1930. Significant History of American Advertising and Consumerism Between 1890 and 1930 was the critical timeline when the United States developed into a mass consumer society. This economic transformation was supported by the integration of numerous phenomena, including the “growth of the popular press and advertising, the advent of mail-order catalogues, the expansion of department stores, and the increased availability of mass-produced, cheaper consumer goods” (Matt 3). “Consumption has long been central to American identity, culture, economic development and politics” (Glickman 1), and it has been termed as the national pastime of the United States. Consumerism or the various ideologies and movements built around consumption forms the core of economics and politics. America is known as a ‘consumer society’, this concept includes material wealth, infrastructure, an economy dominated by mass production and mass consumption, political factors and the country’s national identity. It is essential to study the male consumer to break the association of consumerism and consumption with women and feminity which distorts history’s perspective of gendered consumerism. The Role of Men in Consumerism and Advertising Swiencicki (p.238) states that “American men consumed about twice as many recreational and leisure goods as women”, spending about 30 percent of the family’s income for this purpose. Further, male consumption and consumerism are neither marginal nor dependent on women. Late-Victorian, non-rural white men appear to have spent a great deal of free time consuming numerous goods and services. However, it would be inaccurate to consider either men or women as the primary consumers. Men are primary consumers of commercialized leisure, entertainment, and recreation; while women are primary consumers of domestic and family goods (Swiencicki 238). According to Heilmann & Beetham (pp.127-128), women are responsible for 75 percent of purchases, therefore advertising should be subtly modified to motivate women to buy. Women are understood as responsive to visual and emotional appeal. Hence advertisements aimed to offer a positive image of women which they would like to identify with. For example, using New Woman imagery, a series of advertisements for brandy run in BIZ in 1923 featured women several times larger than the men in the picture. These advertisements with an underlying flirtatiousness portrayed men as dependent on women who were stronger than them, and also appeared reassuring. While the woman is depicted as posing coquettishly, the tiny man pleads with her to allow him to have some of the brandy she holds in a bottle behind her back. Similarly, a robin in a top hat perches on a woman’s hand to drink the brandy she holds. On the other hand, Swiencicki (p.214) argues that “pre-Depression, white men consumed many commodities that were not purchased by women”. Many if not most men’s leisure and social activities revolved around consumption itself, consumerism being an important social activity for men. Peiss (p.2) explored the historical relationship between American men and cosmetics. Late 19th and early 20th century discourse of heterosexual masculinity covered up men’s use of cosmetics, and denied their use of beauty products by defining them as toiletries and not cosmetics. Thus, the notion that real men do not use cosmetics became a sustained statement of 20th century culture. Advertisements of men’s clothing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries conceptualized a self-image that combined a need for respect and prestige with a drive to incorporate business tactics. An identification with bourgeois Victorianism was blended with a modern worldview that promoted boldness and change rather than self-restraint and stability. The purpose was to include new norms of urban living and corporate capitalism without rejecting the old methods which had defined success and status for generations. This was necessary because conventional ways of doing business did not work unless modified for a world of mass production and national markets. “The values of character, honesty, diligence, and self-discipline” (Schorman 35) though essential, were no longer considered sufficient to guarantee success. Fig.1. An Advertisement in the Clothing Gazette, August 1894 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No other firm ever did or ever will sell perfect goods at as low prices as H. Kleinhans and Co. Of Interest To Men Any day this week you can walk into H. Kleinhans &. Co's men's clothing department and take your pick and fit of men's fine tailor-made suits that we sold early in the season at $15. $18, $20, $22 and $35 F O R $10/- These Fine Suits Are as near absolute perfection as art and ingenuity can ever hope to attain—v-Styles are cutaways, frocks and sacks—fabrics worsteds, serges, tweeds, cheviots and cassimeres—all colors . and sizes. We guarantee them to be as fine suits as can be boujcht ready made and positively worth $15, $18, $20, $22 and $25. Take choice for $10. H. Kleinhans & Co.H KLEINHANS&CO 259 Main St., betw. Seneca and Swan. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Schorman 29) As in Fig.1. above, the clothing advertisements of the late 19th century were straightforward proclamations about the product. They were often a box of type totally devoted to product descriptions and prices. The few illustrations used were mostly stock drawings. Even when customized illustrations were employed, their relationship to the text of the advertisment was often irrelevant. The price of the product was emphasized in the advertisement, often in bigger and bolder type. This helped to replace direct haggling with an impersonal and standardized cash transaction (Schorman 29). Turbin (p.470) argues that Arrow Man (Figs.2 and 3) was one of the most successful advertising images in early 20th century America. This concept was created by the artist J.C. Leyendecker, to advertise the Arrow Collar and Shirt, portraying the New Man. The new version of detachable collars was a basic wardrobe item for American men, and those in Britain and Europe since the 1840s except the working class. Fig.2. Early 20th Century Advertisement for Arrowman Collars and Shirt (lord_k, 2010) Fig.3. Advertisement for Arrowman Collars and Shirts, Early 20th Century (lord_k, 2010) The Arrow Man represented in part, the transformation in masculine ideals and physical appearance, emphasized by the new visual and consumer culture. The advertising concept underscored men’s self-management of appearance and public performance from the 19th century to the early 20th century, changing from a sign of “European gentility into that of the typically American white-collar man” (Turbin 470). The Arrow Man’s story denotes the basic changes in the United States to new occupational and social classes and emerging American Popular culture. Cultural change was to a certain extent the result of mass produced goods and mass media advertising. The expanding capitalist system helped to bring about a material, cultural and social change in the world, while providing the tools by which the change could be negotiated. The clothing industry began to piece together the cultural values that were shaken out of alignment, “creating a new synthesis that became a dominant form of modern American culture” (Schorman 44). The evidence indicates that the monetary value of men’s consumption may have been twice as much as women’s. Advertisements in magazines such as “Outing, Forest and Stream, and Field & Stream in the period between 1895 and 1925” (Swiencicki 224) were explicitly targeted to male consumers. Focusing on how men of the era 1880-1930 spent their leisure time outside of the house and the type of goods that were used there, lavish consumption and consumerism were commonly incorporated into daily life. These included ”banquets, drinking parties, fraternities, well-equipped men’s clubs and sporting activities” (Swiencicki 208), and “by visiting saloons, dime-museums, pool halls, variety theatres and minstrelsy shows”. Late Victorian men were sports enthusiasts, and consumers of kits for baseball, tennis, golf and other games, as well as body building equipment and membership in expensive gymnasiums. Conclusion This paper is based on the history of American advertising and consumerism. The new consumer historians use ‘consumer society’ to gain a better understanding of a broad range of issues in American history.The impact of advertising on men and their consumerism from 1880 to 1930 was found to be extensive, with men actively participating in the consumption of goods. It is evident that men have always been a strong target for advertising and high rates of consumption. However, it is essential that future research should focus more on early advertisements and their impact on men’s buying behavior during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Works Cited Glickman, Lawrence B. (Ed). Consumer society in American history: A reader. The United States of America: Cornell University Press. (1999). lord_k. Arrowman. Advertisements. Dieselpunks. Retrieved on 7th June, 2011 from: http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/arrowman-1 Matt, Susan J. Keeping up with the Joneses: Envy in American consumer society, 1890- 1930. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. (2003). Peiss, Kathy. Of makeup and men: The gendering of cosmetics. Paper presented at The Material Culture of Gender Conference, Winterthur Museum. (November 1989). Schorman, Rob. The truth about good goods: Clothing, advertising, and the representation of cultural values at the end of the nineteenth century. American Studies, 37.1 (1996): pp.23-49. Swiencicki, Mark A. Consuming brotherhood: Men’s culture, style and recreation as consumer culture, 1880-1930. Journal of Social History, 31.4 (1998): pp.773-808. In Glickman, Lawrence B. (Ed). Consumer society in American history: A reader. The United States of America: Cornell University Press. (1999). Chapter 12: pp.207-240. Trentman, Frank. Beyond consumerism: New historical perspectives on consumption. Journal of Contemporary History, 39.3 (2004): pp.373-401. Turbin, Carole. Fashioning the American man: The Arrow Collar Man, 1907-1931. Gender & History, 14 (2002): pp.470-491. Read More