At Home with the Poor
Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in England, C.1650-1850

By (author) Joseph Harley

ISBN13: 9781526194749

Imprint: Manchester University Press

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Published: 20/01/2026

Availability: Not yet available

Description
This book opens the doors to the homes of the forgotten poor and traces the goods they owned before, during and after the industrial revolution (c. 1650–1850). Using a vast and diverse range of sources, it gets to the very heart of what it meant to be ‘poor’ by examining the homes of the impoverished and mapping how numerous household goods became more widespread. As the book argues, poverty did not necessarily equate to owning very little and living in squalor. In fact, its novel findings show that most of the poor strove to improve their domestic spheres and that their demand for goods was so great that it was a driving force of the industrial revolution. -- .
Introduction 1 Accommodating the poor 2 Material wealth and material poverty 3 Building blocks of the home 4 Comforts of the hearth 5 Eating and drinking 6 Non-essential goods 7 Contrasting genders and locations Conclusion Index -- .
  • Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700
  • Material culture
  • General (US: Trade)
  • Professional & Vocational
  • Tertiary Education (US: College)
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List Price: £25.00