Chapter 11. Frugality versus Conspicuous Consumption
1. One might anticipate finding such expectation of moderation in wealthy consumption out of respect
for the unemployed in Henry George’s book Progress and Poverty, published at the end of the depression of
the 1870s, but it is not there. Instead, he seems to think just the opposite, for he says, if inequality is
someday reduced: “With this abolition of want and the fear of want, the admiration of riches would decay,
and men would seek the respect and approbation of their fellows in other modes than by the acquisition and
display of wealth” (George, 1886 [1879], chap. 4). One might also expect to see some recognition of
moderation, in the extended depression of the 1890s, in Thorstein Veblen’s influential 1899 book The
Theory of the Leisure Class, the book that coined the term “conspicuous consumption.” But a new modesty
with that depression is not mentioned. Indeed, the panic of 1893 and the ensuing depression are not even
mentioned in that book. Veblen, too, seems to think just the opposite, writing, “Freedom from scruple, from
sympathy, honesty and regard for life, may, within fairly wide limits, be said to further the success of the
individual in the pecuniary culture” (Veblen, 1899, chap. 9).
2. “Financial Crash Left Them Deeply in Debt,” Daily Boston Globe, March 10, 1930, p. 21.
3. “Family Breakdowns Reported Increasing,” New York Times, March 21, 1932, p. 2.
4. “Women Make Plea for Family Relief,” New York Times, May 17, 1936, p. N2.
5. Ruth Ellicott, “Household—Season for Home Refurbishing Arrives: Coziness Is Requisite for Winter,
Entire Family Morale May Be Boosted by a Changed Household Environment,” Baltimore Sun, October 1,
1933, p. TM8.
6. Allen, 1964 [1931], p. 289.
7. Carol Bird, “We’re getting ‘ANCHORED’ Again Says Rita Weiman,” Washington Post, July 10, 1932, p.
SM3.
8. “Keeping Up Appearances: DARE TO BE POOR!” Manchester Guardian, October 9, 1931, p. 6.
9. Catherine Hackett, “Why We Women Won’t Buy,” Forum and Century, December 1932, p. 343.
10. Anne O’Hare McCormick, “The Average American Emerges,” New York Times, January 3, 1932, p.
SM1.
11. “Crime Decrease Noted in Depression Years,” New York Herald Tribune, February 23, 1934, p. 32,
and “Crime among Young Shows No Increase,” Globe and Mail, November 22, 1937, p. 3.
12. “Citizens Advised Not to Give Money to Street Beggars,” Globe (Toronto), January 14, 1931, p. 14.
“Begging in City Increases Daily, Survey Reveals,” New York Tribune, July 30, 1930, p. 4.
13. “Panhandling,” Washington Post, November 3, 1932, p. 6.
14. “Bars Apple Sellers from Busy Streets,” New York Times, April 16, 1931, p. 25.
15. “Apple Sale by Jobless Starts Friday: Unemployed Will Vend Fruit on Hartford Streets as a Way of
Providing for Their Families,” Hartford Courant, November 27, 1930, p. 1. ProQuest Historical
Newspapers: Hartford Courant.
16. “Holdup in Car Panhandler’s Thanksgiving,” Washington Post, April 28, 1932, p. 18. “Drive Begun
on Peddlers,” Los Angeles Times, December 17, 1932, p. A10.
17. Roth, 2009, p. 12.
18. Stachura, 1986.
19. http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/40-45/background/auschwitz.html.
20. Grace Kingsley, “Display of Luxury Is Out,” Los Angeles Times, March 31, 1932, p. A9.
21. “Display of Wealth Viewed as Offense,” New York Times, December 26, 1932, p. 21.
22. “1932’s Bargains Different from Those of 1931: To Claim Poverty No Longer Chic—Furs and Shoes
Are Discussed,” Washington Post, April 7, 1932, p. S6. However, not everyone was enthusiastically
involved in modeling poverty: “While poverty has become very chic, it is a prevailing negative excuse, the
devotees of pleasure find it very hard to refrain.” “Baltimoreans Find Europe Alluring,” Baltimore Sun,
June 14, 1931, p. SA13.