Packaged Pleasures

How Technology and Marketing Revolutionized Desire

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century, Business & Finance, Marketing & Sales
Cover of the book Packaged Pleasures by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor ISBN: 9780226147383
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: September 30, 2014
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
ISBN: 9780226147383
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: September 30, 2014
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

From the candy bar to the cigarette, records to roller coasters, a technological revolution during the last quarter of the nineteenth century precipitated a colossal shift in human consumption and sensual experience.  Food, drink, and many other consumer goods came to be mass-produced, bottled, canned, condensed, and distilled, unleashing new and intensified surges of pleasure, delight, thrill—and addiction.

In Packaged Pleasures, Gary S. Cross and Robert N. Proctor delve into an uncharted chapter of American history, shedding new light on the origins of modern consumer culture and how technologies have transformed human sensory experience.  In the space of only a few decades, junk foods, cigarettes, movies, recorded sound, and thrill rides brought about a revolution in what it means to taste, smell, see, hear, and touch.  New techniques of boxing, labeling, and tubing gave consumers virtually unlimited access to pleasures they could simply unwrap and enjoy. Manufacturers generated a seemingly endless stream of sugar-filled, high-fat foods that were delicious but detrimental to health.  Mechanically rolled cigarettes entered the market and quickly addicted millions.  And many other packaged pleasures dulled or displaced natural and social delights. Yet many of these same new technologies also offered convenient and effective medicines, unprecedented opportunities to enjoy music and the visual arts, and more hygienic, varied, and nutritious food and drink. For better or for worse, sensation became mechanized, commercialized, and, to a large extent, democratized by being made cheap and accessible. Cross and Proctor have delivered an ingeniously constructed history of consumerism and consumer technology that will make us all rethink some of our favorite things.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

From the candy bar to the cigarette, records to roller coasters, a technological revolution during the last quarter of the nineteenth century precipitated a colossal shift in human consumption and sensual experience.  Food, drink, and many other consumer goods came to be mass-produced, bottled, canned, condensed, and distilled, unleashing new and intensified surges of pleasure, delight, thrill—and addiction.

In Packaged Pleasures, Gary S. Cross and Robert N. Proctor delve into an uncharted chapter of American history, shedding new light on the origins of modern consumer culture and how technologies have transformed human sensory experience.  In the space of only a few decades, junk foods, cigarettes, movies, recorded sound, and thrill rides brought about a revolution in what it means to taste, smell, see, hear, and touch.  New techniques of boxing, labeling, and tubing gave consumers virtually unlimited access to pleasures they could simply unwrap and enjoy. Manufacturers generated a seemingly endless stream of sugar-filled, high-fat foods that were delicious but detrimental to health.  Mechanically rolled cigarettes entered the market and quickly addicted millions.  And many other packaged pleasures dulled or displaced natural and social delights. Yet many of these same new technologies also offered convenient and effective medicines, unprecedented opportunities to enjoy music and the visual arts, and more hygienic, varied, and nutritious food and drink. For better or for worse, sensation became mechanized, commercialized, and, to a large extent, democratized by being made cheap and accessible. Cross and Proctor have delivered an ingeniously constructed history of consumerism and consumer technology that will make us all rethink some of our favorite things.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book Truth and Beauty by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Demolition Means Progress by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book The Accommodated Animal by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Not Tonight by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book You'll Know When You Get There by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Far Afield by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Common Ground by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Symbolic Power, Politics, and Intellectuals by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Hierarchy by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Engineering the Eternal City by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Capital Culture by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Eternally Vigilant by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book Gravity's Ghost by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
Cover of the book The Open Mind by Gary S. Cross, Robert N. Proctor
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy