Booze, Babe, and the Little Black Dress: How Innovators of the Roaring 20s Created the Consumer Revolution

Booze, Babe, and the Little Black Dress: How Innovators of the Roaring 20s Created the Consumer Revolution by Jason Volovich

477 Pages

Publisher: BooksGoSocial

Release Date: April 4, 2023

Nonfiction (Adult), History, Financial, Capitalism, Consumerism, Commercialism, Promotion, Marketing

The book is divided into the following parts.

Part 1: Booze

Manufacturing Desire, The Manipulation Messiah, Flash Food, Cars on Time, Consumer Rebellion, Opening the Big Box, and Housing Feminism

Part 2: Babe

When Advertising Grew a Pair, America’s First Equal Opportunity Employer, Subscribing to Culture, The First District Court of Public Opinion, Happy Feet, Swampland, Changing the Game, Marketer in Chief, Five-Cent Trip to Hell, Mad Women, The Sensemakers

Part 3: The Little Black Dress

Family for Sale, How You Got Your Kicks, All-Natural Ingredients/Artificial People, Democratizing Fashion, Buying a Better You, Capitalism without the Capitalists, “Please can I….”, Five-Star Wonderland

Conclusion: “The Customer Is Always Right”

I was slightly confused when I got this book. For some reason, I thought it was a historical fiction book. I was so wrong. The author takes us through the history of consumerism, capitalism, promotions, and marketing. I learned the ladder of products was originally a concept from GM. He talks about the effect brands and celebrities have on people’s perspective. We use this viewpoint to determine how successful we are.

I felt as if I was in my college marketing course which was a favorite of mine. This is a book everyone should read. The author does an amazing job showing us how the public is led by commercialism. It is well written and easy to understand. Hopefully after reading the book, people will change how they feel about buying stuff.