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Drawing on a study of historical national accounts and statistics, this article shows that a growing supply of mass-consumption textiles and clothing in Sweden during industrialization did not fully meet increasing demand. As a result, high demand for second-hand items remained even at the turn of the twentieth century. Records from a local auction house from 1830 to 1900 show that, even in the 1880s, more affluent urban consumers were still active on the second-hand market. Thereafter, they turned to the market for new goods, while potential demand from labourers and servants continued to be provided for by the second-hand market. Mechanization meant that more items entered this market. It changed the range and quality of objects available, consequently affecting the attractiveness of second-hand textiles and clothing. After the 1870s, falling and converging prices can be discerned, while more durable fabrics largely retained their value. We conclude that the consumer revolution (in a broader sense) had by this stage gained a foothold among ordinary Swedish urban households. The auction trade was part of a democratization of consumption. The general lesson is that understanding mass consumption requires research not only into second-hand consumption, but also into different regional settings. ; Savings in the wardrobe—changes in the value and life cycle of clothes, 1790–1910

AbstractDrawing on a study of historical national accounts and statistics, this article shows that a growing supply of mass‐consumption textiles and clothing in Sweden during industrialization did not fully meet increasing demand. As a result, high demand for second‐hand items remained even at the turn of the twentieth century. Records from a local auction house from 1830 to 1900 show that, even in the 1880s, more affluent urban consumers were still active on the second‐hand market. Thereafter, they turned to the market for new goods, while potential demand from labourers and servants continued to be provided for by the second‐hand market. Mechanization meant that more items entered this market. It changed the range and quality of objects available, consequently affecting the attractiveness of second‐hand textiles and clothing. After the 1870s, falling and converging prices can be discerned, while more durable fabrics largely retained their value. We conclude that the consumer revolution (in a broader sense) had by this stage gained a foothold among ordinary Swedish urban households. The auction trade was part of a democratization of consumption. The general lesson is that understanding mass consumption requires research not only into second‐hand consumption, but also into different regional settings.

What is the history of feminist internationalism? This volume contributes a series of essays to this important question, examining the attempts of feminists and socialists in Western Europe and the Americas to establish meaningful connections with fellow activists across national boundaries, whether through travel, written communication, or face-to-face meetings. Their attempts to communicate transnationally reflected diverse intellectual and political goals, as well as different organizational forms, ranging from the establishment of solid institutions to the most personal and passionate alliances of political friendship. In order to understand the history of feminist internationalism, we must analyze the motives, means, successes, and limitations of women's past efforts to cross the boundaries of nation, situating women' organizing within the historical contexts that shaped their political activism.