Carrier brings together a wealth of information on the history of the retail trade & the rise of consumer society in Britain & the US. Using both anthropology & sociology he looks into the ways we use and relate to objects in 20th century culture.

Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Gifts and Commodities, People and Things; Chapter 3 Changing Production Relations; Chapter 4 Changing Circulation Relations; Chapter 5 Changing Circulation Relations; Chapter 6 The Work of Appropriation; Chapter 7 Presenting Commodities in Catalogues; Chapter 8 The Ideology of the Gift; Chapter 9 Christmas and the Ceremony of the Gift; Chapter 10 Conclusion;