Consumerism

Premodern Consumerism

Signs of consumerism crop up very early in the human experience. Some hunting and gathering societies clearly used material objects to help denote status, as in placing ornaments alongside the buried bodies of presumably elite tribesmen, even children. As aristocracies formed in early civilizations, again diverse material adornments—in housing, furnishing, clothing, and jewelry—resulted from their prosperity but also served to mark their privilege both to other members of the class and to society at large. Many early efforts at interregional trade resulted from the same acquisitive interests, on the part of the wealthy. Thus various Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies sent merchants to what is now Afghanistan, the only source of lapis lazuli. Gold and various precious stones served as major trading items. By the time of the classical period, what historians have labeled the Silk Roads, running from western China to India, Persia and the rest of the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, served elite consumer trade first and foremost. By the time of the Roman Empire, use of Chinese silks to embellish clothing for the wealthy, including the prestigious though by now politically impotent Roman senators, was well established for men and women alike. Soon, Chinese silks, as objects of consumer-oriented trans-regional trade, were joined by Chinese porcelains and vividly colored printed cotton cloth from India. By the postclassical period (600–1450), elite consumerism as a foundation of rising trade and production was well established. Mongol leaders used rare bird feathers from East Africa as fashion symbols, while wealthy women in western Europe adopted conical hat styles that had first emerged in China. European travelers to China, like Marco Polo in the 14th century, were astounded and deeply attracted by the consumer living standards in major cities, and the same thing applied to Western crusaders when they encountered the urban opulence of the Middle East. Consumerism, in other words, goes well back in human history, and it served as a major economic motivation well before modern times.

There were also, however, several limitations on premodern consumerism that distinguish the early stages of the phenomenon from what has developed, globally, in more recent times. In the first place, is it important to recognize that the boundary line between essentials and consumer items is not always easy to establish. Romans and others developed a deep interest in pepper from India, but this largely reflected the dubious preservation of many foodstuffs, whose early deterioration could be masked by spices. Interest in wine—and the Mediterranean was trading wine widely not just within the region but to the Indian Ocean by the later classical period—could obviously surpass any kind of necessity, but drinking weak wine also helped provide an alternative to polluted drinking water.

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