Beauty and Business: Commerce, Gender, and Culture in Modern America / Edition 1

by Philip Scranton

Overview

Leading historians explore how our ideas of what is attractive are influenced by a broad range of social and economic factors. They force us to reckon with the ways that beauty has been made, bought and sold in modern America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415926669
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/20/2000
Series:	Hagley Perspectives on Business and Culture
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Philip Scranton is the Governor's Board Professor at Rutgers, editor of the journal Enterprise and Society, and director of research at the Hagley Center. He is author of several books, including Endless Novelty: Specialty Production and American Industrialization (1997).

Table of Contents

Contents Preface, Philip Scranton Acknowledgments On Beauty, . . .and the History of Business, Kathy Peiss Part 1: Images and Reforms Any Desired Length: Negotiating Gender Through Sports Clothing, 1870-1925, Sarah A. Gordon Questionable Beauty: The Dangers and Delights of the Cigarette in American Society, 1880-1930, Nancy Bowman Collars and Consumers: Changing Images of American Manliness and Beauty, Carole Turbin Fighting the Corsetless Evil: Shaping Corsets and Cultures, 1900-1930, Jill Fields Part 2: Business and Work A Depression-Proof Business Strategy: The California Perfume Company's Motivational Literature, Katina L. Manko I Had My Own Business . . So I Didn't Have to Worry: Beauty Salons, Beauty Culturists and the Politics of African-American Female Entrepreneurship, Tiffany Melissa Gill At the Curve Exchange: Postwar Beauty Culture and Working Women at Maidenform, Vicki Howard Estee Lauder: Self- Definition and the Modern Cosmetics Market, Nancy Koehn Part 3: Constructing Commodiities Black is Profitable: The Commodification of the Afro, 1960-1975, Susannah Walker Loveliest Daughter of Our Ancient Cathay!: Representations of Ethnic and Gender Identity in the Miss Chinatown U.S.A Beauty Pagent, Judy Tzu-Chun Wu Hiding the Scars: History of Breast Prostheses After Mastectomy Since 1945, Kirsten E. Gardner Notes on the Contributors Index

Editorial Reviews

In this scholarly and illuminating work, Scranton (history, Rutgers Univ.; Endless Novelty: Specialty, Production and American Industrialization, 1865-1925) has compiled 12 essays that document the cross-cultural presence of women in the world of business during the 19th and 20th centuries. One common theme is that while women played a key role in business during this time, their presence was clearly overlooked and, in many instances, exploited. Thus, little is known about the African American women entrepreneurs who created an economic niche for themselves by becoming proprietors of thriving beauty shops. The section on "breast prostheses after mastectomy since 1945" asks, "How did a `surgical appliance' that catered to a narrow and specific consumer base evolve into a beauty product?" The book further notes that to get women to purchase certain restricting undergarments, they had to be imbued with the notion that their bodies were flawed. Well-researched notes follow each of three sections: "Images and Reform," "Business and Work," and "Constructing Commodities." Recommended for business historians and upper-division academic libraries with women's studies programs.--Bellinda Wise, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Historians specializing in business or popular culture in the US focus on the beauty industry, with discussions of images and reforms, business and work, and constructing commodities. In particular, they examine such topics as negotiating gender through sports clothing from 1870 to 1925, postwar beauty culture and working women at Maidenform, the commodification of the Afro 1960-75, and the history of breast prostheses after mastectomy since 1845. The 12 essays combine presentations at a March 1999 conference at Rutgers University and invited studies. The collection launches the series based on the annual conference. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"Recommended for business historians and upper-division academic libraries with women's studies programs." — Bellinda Wise, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
"Recommended for business historians and upper-division academic libraries with women's studies programs." — Library Journal
"This pioneering collection weaves beauty into a capacious commercial net that stretches from the late 19th to the mid 20th century. Expansive in scope but sharply focused to capture the interplay between beauty and business, the volume casts an illuminating light on the individuals, groups and businesses involved in the transformation of modern cultures of consumption. With this volume, a new business history has arrived." — Mary A. Yeager, UCLA
"Eschewing simplistic narratives of corporate victimization in favor of subtlety and complexity, these essays emphasize the role of consumers and small-scale entrepreneurs — many of them women — in shaping America's beauty industry...required reading for anyone interested in the histories of gender, culture, and business." — Wendy Gambler, author of The Female Economy: The Millinery and Dressmaking Trades
"These essays from a conference a the Hagley Museum and Library...attest to the growth of women in business and the welcome incursion of social and gender history into traditional business history...The mix is both interesting and potentially widely useful, not only for the study of business or women in business, but for a variety of other academic pursuits. It is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature." — Choice

From the Publisher