Sold American: Consumption and Citizenship, 1890-1945

At the turn of the twentieth century, an emerging consumer culture in the United States promoted constant spending to meet material needs and develop social identity and self-cultivation. McGovern examines the key players active in shaping this cultural evolution: advertisers and consumer advocates. The result, says McGovern, was a redefinition of the citizen as consumer. The articulation of an "American Way of Life" in the Depression and World War II ratified consumer abundance as the basis of a distinct American culture and history.Charles F. McGovern is the author of 'Sold American: Consumption and Citizenship, 1890-1945', published 2006 under ISBN 9780807830338 and ISBN 080783033X.