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Introduction | Questions to Consider | Source | Related Links

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Consumerism
(1890-1926)


Introduction
The late Victorian years witnessed dramatic social and economic changes that led to an altered class structure and new patterns of consumption as Americans spent the wealth created by a modern industrial economy. Reacting to this opportunity, business developed creative distribution systems to exploit untouched markets. The marketing innovations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries played an important role in the creation of modern mass culture.

This document contains census figures on annual earnings by industry and occupation from 1890 to 1926.

Questions to Consider

1. Identify the years the table covers.
   
   
2. Why do you think that the first two columns of figures make a distinction between farm and non-farm income?
   
   
3. From looking at the table, what do you think are the most common occupations from 1890 to 1926? Explain the relevance of these choices.
   
   
4. What category of occupation increased its income the most between 1890 and 1926? Why are there no figures for some occupations in particular years?
   
   
5. Why did the wages of some occupations go up more than others? Justify your answer.
   
   
6. From the information presented in this table, which occupational groups would be most likely to buy newly advertised consumer goods as they became available?
   
   

Source

Year	All Industries		Wage earners, manu- facturing	Wage earners, steam railroads	Street railways	Tele- phones	Tele- graphs	Gas and electricity	Clerical workers, mfg. and steam railroads	Bitumi- nous coal mining	Farm labor	Federal em- ployees	Postal em- ployees	Public school teachers	Ministers
	Including farm labor	Excluding farm labor
	603	604	605	606	607	608	609	610	611	612	613	614	615	616	617
1926	$1,376	$1,473	$1,309	$1,613	$1,566	$1,117	$1,215	$1,477	$2,310	$1,247	$593	$1,809	$2,128	$1,277	$1,826
1925	1,336	1,434	1,208	1,597	1,565	1,108	1,161	1,448	2,239	1,141	587	1,776	2,051	1,263	1,769
1924	1,303	1,402	1,240	1,570	1,544	1,104	1,150	1,436	2,196	1,120	574	1,708	1,934	1,247	1,678
1923	1,299	1,393	1,254	1,585	1,493	1,069	1,133	1,355	2,126	1,246	572	1,658	1,870	1,224	1,620
1922	1,201	1,305	1,149	1,591	1,436	1,064	1,110	1,343	2,067	954	508	1,625	1,844	1,188	1,622
1921	1,233	1,349	1,180	1,632	1,539	1,038	1,159	1,364	2,134	1,013	522	1,593	1,870	1,082	1,556
1920	1,407	1,489	1,358	1,817	1,608	980	1,145	1,432	2,160	1,386	810	1,648	1,844	1,936	1,428
1919	1,201	1,272	1,158	1,509	1,387	844	967	1,291	1,914	1,097	706	1,520	1,618	810	1,238
1918	1,047	1,115	980	1,424	1,111	690	831	1,092	1,697	1,211	604	1,380	1,339	689	1,186
1917	830	887	774	989	872	616	769	853	1,477	976	481	1,295	1,207	648	1,069
1916	708	765	651	867	798	567	806	679	1,359	750	388	1,211	1,175	605	1,017
1915	633	687	568	815	748	529	792	644	1,267	589	355	1,152	1,162	578	984
1914	627	682	580	795	737	476	742	651	1,257	543	351	1,140	1,157	564	938
1913	621	675	578	760	704	438	717	661	1,236	631	360	1,136	1,124	547	899
1912	592	646	550	721	674	438	669	641	1,209	614	348	1,128	1,091	529	879
1911	575	629	537	705	685	419	670	648	1,213	553	338	1,116	1,071	509	856
1910	574	630	558	677	681	417	649	622	1,156	558	336	1,108	1,049	492	802
1909	543	594	518	644	671	430	622	618	1,136	524	328	1,106	1,021	476	831
1908	516	563	475	667	650	420	639	595	1,111	487	324	1,102	987	455	833
1907	524	595	522	661	658	412	635	623	1,091	580	319	1,094	944	431	831
1906	520	569	506	607	662	412	592	581	1,074	537	315	1,084	921	409	773
1905	503	554	494	589	646	401	581	543	1,076	500	302	1,072	935	392	759
1904	490	540	477	600	610	392	601	556	1,056	470	290	1,066	931	377	759
1903	489	543	486	593	582	397	573	......	1,037	522	277	1,067	928	358	761
1902	467	519	473	562	576	408	544	......	1,025	490	264	1,061	934	346	737
1901	454	508	456	549	601	......	......	615	1,009	564	255	1,047	936	337	730
1900	438	490	435	548	604	......	......	620	1,011	438	247	1,033	925	328	731
1899	428	480	426	543	491	......	......	612	1,004	379	239	1,017	924	318	731
1898	417	468	412	542	558	......	......	698	1,010	316	228	1,025	939	306	739
1897	411	462	408	543	552	......	......	703	940	270	224	1,057	950	298	750
1896	411	462	406	544	531	......	......	665	954	282	220	1,084	944	294	764
1895	415	468	416	546	509	......	......	640	941	307	216	1,104	935	289	787
1894	400	448	386	546	508	......	......	670	928	292	214	1,110	919	283	824
1893	430	480	420	563	526	......	......	627	923	383	232	1,101	902	276	809
1892	445	495	446	563	535	......	......	625	885	393	238	1,096	899	270	793
1891	438	487	442	554	529	......	......	587	882	377	236	......	894	264	786
1890	438	486	439	560	557	......	......	687	848	406	233	......	878	256	794

Source: "Average Annual Earnings in All Industries and in Selected Industries and Occupations:
1890 to 1926," Statistical History of the United States, Colonial Times to the Present
(Stamford: Fairfield Publishers, Inc., 1965), pp. 91-92.

 

Related Links

• History of Affluenza
  This site prepared to accompany a PBS special on consumerism includes a timeline, "Consuming Moments in American History," which helps put this topic in context.