A Shoppers' Paradise: How the Ladies of Chicago Claimed Power and Pleasure in the New Downtown How the Ladies of Chicago Claimed Power and Pleasure in the New Downtown

How women in turn-of-the-century Chicago used their consumer power to challenge male domination of public spaces and stake their own claim to downtown. Popular culture assumes that women are born to shop and that cities welcome their trade. But for a long time America's downtowns were hardly welcoming to women. Emily Remus turns to Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century to chronicle a largely unheralded revolution in women's rights that took place not at the ballot box but in the streets and stores of the business district. After the city's Great Fire, Chicago's downtown rose like a phoenix to become a center of urban capitalism. Moneyed women explored the newly built department stores, theaters, and restaurants that invited their patronage and encouraged them to indulge their fancies. Yet their presence and purchasing power were not universally appreciated. City officials, clergymen, and influential industrialists condemned these women's conspicuous new habits as they took their place on crowded streets in a business district once dominated by men. A Shoppers' Paradise reveals crucial points of conflict as consuming women accessed the city center: the nature of urban commerce, the place of women, the morality of consumer pleasure. The social, economic, and legal clashes that ensued, and their outcome, reshaped the downtown environment for everyone and established women's new rights to consumption, mobility, and freedom. A Shoppers' Paradise Examines The Incorporation Of Women Consumers Into Public Space And Public Culture. The Site Is Chicago At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century--when The City, Rising Like A Phoenix After The Great Fire, Became A Center Of Debate Over Capitalist Urbanism. The Book Explores The New Practices Of Public Consumption That Monied Women Pursued On The Streets Of The City's Burgeoning Retail District And In The Restaurants, Hotels, Department Stores, And Theaters Built By Entrepreneurs Who Invited Their Patronage. It Also Brings To Light The Conflict Evoked By Ladies' Public Presence, As City Officials, Clergymen, And Influential Industrialists Responded To Their Conspicuous New Habits Of Consuming In An Urban Public Sphere That Had Once Been The Preserve Of Men. At Stake, The Book Demonstrates, Were Competing Visions Of Urban Commerce, The Place Of Women, And The Cultural Legitimacy Of New Forms Of Consumption. These Conflicts, Over Gender And Space, Shaped The Creation Of A Built Environment And Cultural Norms That Upheld Women's Consumption And Sustained The Rise Of American Consumer Capitalism.-- Moneyed Women And The Downtown -- The Hoopskirt War Of 1893 -- Consumer Rights And The Theater Hat Problem -- Tippling Ladies And Public Pleasure -- Mashers, Prostitutes, And Shopping Ladies -- The Traffic Of Women. Emily Remus. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A Shoppers' Paradise examines the incorporation of women consumers into public space and public culture. The site is Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century--when the city, rising like a phoenix after the Great Fire, became a center of debate over capitalist urbanism. The book explores the new practices of public consumption that monied women pursued on the streets of the city's burgeoning retail district and in the restaurants, hotels, department stores, and theaters built by entrepreneurs who invited their patronage. It also brings to light the conflict evoked by ladies' public presence, as city officials, clergymen, and influential industrialists responded to their conspicuous new habits of consuming in an urban public sphere that had once been the preserve of men. At stake, the book demonstrates, were competing visions of urban commerce, the place of women, and the cultural legitimacy of new forms of consumption. These conflicts, over gender and space, shaped the creation of a built environment and cultural norms that upheld women's consumption and sustained the rise of American consumer capitalism.-- Provided by publisher

Popular culture assumes that women are born to shop and that cities invite their trade. But downtowns were not always welcoming to women. Emily Remus turns to Chicago at the turn of the last century to chronicle an unheralded revolution in women's rights that took place not at the ballot box but in the streets and stores of the business district.

Frontmatter Contents Introduction 1. Moneyed Women and the Downtown 2. The Hoopskirt War of 1893 3. Consumer Rights and the Theater Hat Problem 4. Tippling Ladies and Public Pleasure 5. Mashers, Prostitutes, and Shopping Ladies 6. The Traffic of Women Conclusion Notes Acknowledgments Index