Faux materials and aspirational identity

Celluloid combs and working class dreams in the Pennsylvania anthracite region

Bibliographic Data

ID2391179
AuthorsCamille Westmont (0000-0003-4229-6340, University of Maryland, College Park, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume25
Issue1
Pages93-107
Publication date2020-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1359183519858377
OpenAlexW2953678438
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited13

The introduction of synthetic and semi-synthetic materials in the late 19th and early 20th centuries opened a world of new possibilities for consumer objects. The abundance of new goods ushered in a new age of consumption: one in which identities were not only expressed through material culture, but could be actively made through material culture. One avenue that has not been thoroughly explored is the role of synthetic and semi-synthetic objects in negotiating both association with and distance from different forms of identity in the archaeological record. This article explores the cultural connotations underlying a small find recovered from a working class household in the anthracite coal company town of Eckley, Pennsylvania. Using the example of a celluloid lice comb, the author discusses the ways that mass production fundamentally changed status signaling in the Western world at the beginning of the 20th century and offers thoughts on improving our interpretations of the social consequences of objects within historical archaeological research

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Class (philosophy · Consumption (sociology · Identity (music · Negotiation · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History