Background.

The United States was the first country in the world to have an economy devoted to mass production. It was also the first to create advertising and marketing industries, in order to market and sell mass-produced goods. The most prominent symbol of the new consumerism was the department store. Although the department store existed in the nineteenth century, the early decades of the twentieth century witnessed a phenomenal growth in the retail industry that mirrored the trends shaping more-traditional manufacturing industries. The myth of America as the "land of plenty" captured the imagination of people as the economy produced a dazzling array of new consumer products each year. Consumption was everywhere touted as a means to reach personal satisfaction. Millions of dollars were being spent to institutionalize consumerism through advertising and public relations, indoctrinating the idea in the minds of citizens hungry...