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Consumption and gender in the early seventeenth-century household : the world of Alice Le Strange / Jane Whittle and Elizabeth Griffiths

Author:
Whittle, Jane
Published:
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2012.
Edition:
1st ed.
Physical Description:
xvii, 266 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Additional Creators:
Griffiths, Elizabeth

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Contents:
Machine generated contents note: 1.Issues and Context -- History and consumption -- Consumption and gender -- Consumption and the gentry -- The Le Strange family -- Methods and chapter plan -- 2.Household Management -- Alice Le Strange's accounts -- Household and estate management -- Gentlewomen as housewives -- Two other Norfolk families -- Conclusion -- 3.The Acquisition of Goods -- Domestic expenditure -- Urban shopping -- The acquisition of clothing and furnishings -- The acquisition of food -- Conclusion -- 4.Everyday Consumables -- Diet -- The meanings of food -- Medical care -- Household consumables -- Conclusion -- 5.Material Culture -- Textiles and clothing -- Beds and living rooms -- Dining ware and kitchen ware -- The meanings of goods -- Conclusion -- 6.Family Life Cycle and Consumption -- Life cycle and expenditure -- Births, deaths and marriages -- Childhood and childcare -- Education and adult children -- Conclusion -- 7.Elite Consumption -- Political and legal expenses -- Travel and leisure -- Literature, music and science -- Building and estate improvement -- Conclusion -- 8.The Employment of Labour -- Servants -- Day labourers -- Craftsmen and specialist workers -- The Le Stranges and the local community -- Conclusion -- 9.Conclusion.
Summary:
Lady Alice Le Strange of Hunstanton in Norfolk kept a continuous series of household accounts from 1610-1654. The authors have used the Le Stranges' rich archives to reconstruct the material aspects of family life. This involves looking not only at purchases, but also at home production and gifts, and not only at the luxurious, but at the everyday consumption of food and medical care. Here the context of household consumption is illuminated, and instead of finding tradition and stability, it is revealed that this was a life of constant change and innovation. The book looks into details at who managed the provisioning, purchases, and work within the household, how spending on sons and daughters differed, and whether men and women attached different cultural values to household goods. This single household economy provides a window into some of the most significant cultural and economic issues of early modern England, innovations in trade, retail and production, the basis of gentry power, social relations in the countryside, and the gendering of family life.
Subject(s):
ISBN:
9780199233533 (hbk.)
0199233535 (hbk.)
Bibliography Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages [243]-251) and index.
Source of Acquisition:
Purchased with funds from the Anne McDevitt Janiak Endowment for Women's Studies; 2013
Endowment Note:
Anne McDevitt Janiak Endowment for Women's Studies
View MARC record | catkey: 11942658