Building a market : the rise of the home improvement industry, 1914-1960 / Richard Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, Richard, 1952-

Series:

Historical Studies of Urban America

Historical studies of urban America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Construction industry--United States--History--20th century.

Construction industry.

Building materials industry--United States--History--20th century.

Building materials industry.

Dwellings--Remodeling--United States--History--20th century.

Dwellings.

Dwellings--United States--Maintenance and repair--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (446 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Each year, North Americans spend as much money fixing up their homes as they do buying new ones. This obsession with improving our dwellings has given rise to a multibillion-dollar industry that includes countless books, consumer magazines, a cable television network, and thousands of home improvement stores. Building a Market charts the rise of the home improvement industry in the United States and Canada from the end of World War I into the late 1950s. Drawing on the insights of business, social, and urban historians, and making use of a wide range of documentary sources, Richard Harris shows how the middle-class preference for home ownership first emerged in the 1920s-and how manufacturers, retailers, and the federal government combined to establish the massive home improvement market and a pervasive culture of Do-It-Yourself. Deeply insightful, Building a Market is the carefully crafted history of the emergence and evolution of a home improvement revolution that changed not just American culture but the American landscape as well.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

List of abbreviations

Preface

ONE. Introduction

TWO. The Foundation of Home Ownership

THREE. An Industry Unready to Improve

FOUR. The Realm of the Retailer

FIVE. The Birth of the Home Improvement Store

SIX. A Perfect Storm for the Building Industry

SEVEN. Manufacturers Save the Retailer

EIGHT. The State Makes Credit

NINE. Mr. and Mrs. Builder

TEN. Help for the Amateur

ELEVEN. The Improvement Business Coalesces

TWELVE. A Zelig of the American Cultural Economy

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786613896148

9781283583695

1283583690

9780226317687

0226317684

OCLC:

809044694