"The old-fashioned home-made cloth has given way to the fine broadcloth coat: the linsey-woolsey dresses of females have disappeared, and English and French silks [have been] substituted; the nice clean-scoured floors of the farmers' houses have been covered by Brussels carpets; the spinning wheel and loom have been superseded by the piano; and, in short, a complete revolution in all our domestic habits has taken place."
R.L. Jones, History of Agriculture in Ontario, 1946
By the late 19th century, consumers--even in Antigonish--were tempted by an ever-growing cornucopia of products. As you look at the following advertisements, keep these questions in mind. What do these ads reveal about marketing, retailing, popular tastes and consumer culture in 19th-century Antigonish? When do you see the most pronounced shift to factory-made mass-manufactured items? At what point does the sheer variety and amount of goods increase? Do you see a shift to gender advertising, national-brand advertising or mail-order merchandising? During what decade did salesmanship become more aggressive and when did visual images begin to compete with print for the consumer's attention?

  

   

   

   






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