Middle-ranking household food acquisition

The impact of marketplaces on purchasing patterns and networks of supply in eighteenth-century Bristol and Boston

Bibliographic Data

ID22124752
AuthorsCatherine V Talbot (0000-0001-9353-8990, History Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK), Catherine Ann Talbot (0000-0001-7053-1163, University of Exeter, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume9
Issue1
Pages1-18
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Retailing and Consumption (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2373-5171 • E-ISSN: 2373-518X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/2373518x.2023.2214053
OpenAlexW4381166838
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

Studies of consumption have historically focused on the ways early modern consumers acquired fashionable and novel goods. More recently, the focus has shifted towards the consumption of everyday commodities by rural households. This study addresses the most central component of household consumption, food, and assesses the impact of urban marketplaces on its acquisition. Using a comparative analysis of food provision for middle-ranking households in Bristol and Boston, 1734-1742, it highlights the complexity and range of considerations required to ensure regular, fresh supplies of food. This study demonstrates that, despite the greater prevalence of advertising and conventional retailing in the food marketplace in Boston, factors peculiar to food provision, such as perishability and authenticity, meant both households continued to acquire this essential commodity through trusted, local, often familial, suppliers

Agricultural economics · Business · Commodity · Commodity chain · Economics · Perishability · Purchasing · Social science · Sociology · American History and Culture · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Marketing

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Open DOI