Trams or tailfins? : public and private prosperity in postwar West Germany and the United States / Jan L. Logemann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Logemann, Jan L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consumer behavior--United States--History--20th century.

Consumer behavior.

Consumer behavior--Germany (West)--History.

United States--Economic conditions--1945-.

United States.

Germany (West)--Economic conditions.

Germany (West).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (318 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the years that followed World War II, both the United States and the newly formed West German republic had an opportunity to remake their economies. Since then, much has been made of a supposed "Americanization" of European consumer societies-in Germany and elsewhere. Arguing against these foggy notions, Jan L. Logemann takes a comparative look at the development of postwar mass consumption in West Germany and the United States and the emergence of discrete consumer modernities. In Trams or Tailfins?, Logemann explains how the decisions made at this crucial time helped to define both of these economic superpowers in the second half of the twentieth century. While Americans splurged on private cars and bought goods on credit in suburban shopping malls, Germans rebuilt public transit and developed pedestrian shopping streets in their city centers-choices that continue to shape the quality and character of life decades later. Outlining the abundant differences in the structures of consumer society, consumer habits, and the role of public consumption in these countries, Logemann reveals the many subtle ways that the spheres of government, society, and physical space define how we live.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Figures

Tables

Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction. Divergent Paths to Mass Consumer Modernity: Comparing West Germany and the United States

Part One. State-Private Consumption and the Framework of Public Policy

Part Two. Society-The Social Significance of Consumption

Part Three. Space-Urban and Suburban Spaces of Consumption

Conclusion

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:

9781283733243

1283733242

9780226491523

0226491528

OCLC:

816562857