The Library
Men, women, shops and 'little, shiny homes' : the consuming of Coventry, 1930-1939
Tools
Whitworth, Lesley (1997) Men, women, shops and 'little, shiny homes' : the consuming of Coventry, 1930-1939. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
|
PDF
WRAP_THESIS_Whitworth_1997.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (23Mb) |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b1362843~S1
Abstract
In the 1930s many people leaving the United Kingdom's depressed areas in
search of work were drawn to Coventry. Companies involved in the
manufacture of motor cars, electrical goods, artificial silk and machine
tools were typical of those located in the city. Most incomers found work:
unemployment remained at a low level whilst the city's population exploded.
The city boundaries were extended, and Coventry was rapidly suburbanised
in response to the heightened demand for accommodation. Private developers
noted with surprise how few of the new houses were built to let. The 1936
edition of Home Market placed Coventry first on its national index of
purchasing power. From the middle of the decade, the city was closely
associated with rearmament and four shadow factories provided further
employment opportunities.
This research addresses changes in the processes and practices of
(primarily non-food) shopping amongst prosperous working-class Coventry
people in the 1930s. It assesses the development of new spending patterns
In relation to new products and services, and examines the role played by
gender in determining the who, what, when, where and why of shopping. The
thesis asks how these men and women negotiated financial power and consumer
choice between them and discovers that the families who benefitted most
from new material opportunities were those which placed a value on
togetherness'.
A range of source material is utilised to interrogate and contextualise
oral testimony, and to explore the development of local retail provision.
relationship is established between the city's manufacturing, retail and
domestic environments. The research suggests that men spent slightly more
time in the home, and women slightly less during this period. It also
asserts that going shopping was not necessarily about acquiring goods; that
acquir1ng goods did not necessarily involve going to the shops; and that
the shopper was not always a woman.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Shopping -- England -- Coventry -- History -- 20th century, Coventry (England) -- Economic conditions -- 20th century, Coventry (England) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century | ||||
Official Date: | September 1997 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Social History | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Steedman, Carolyn ; Mason, Tony, 1938- | ||||
Sponsors: | Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC) (R00429334382) | ||||
Extent: | 301 leaves | ||||
Language: | eng |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year