ABSTRACT
How did shopping contribute to the formation of a modern middle class? Observers frequently bound consumer culture in Argentina to notions of an immensely wealthy nation, illustrated by a popular early twentieth-century dictum, “to be rich as an Argentine.” Gath & Chaves, Harrods, and the other great department stores in Argentina suggested that even as elites cast national political structures, they also determined popular culture trends in their desires and in their purchases. But as this chapter shows, shopping played a vital role in making the rapidly growing Argentine middle class, while the consumption patterns of the middle class shaped national identity. Focusing on consumption in department stores, it illustrates the tensions that existed between people who marketed products for these stores and their consumers. It shows how middle-class shoppers were cautious consumers who took advantage of the sociability that shopping offered. They often avoided the high prices that London-based executives presumed Argentines could afford. Consumers often waited for sales while also frequenting the rapidly increasing smaller, more moderately priced stores in their neighborhoods. Changing consumer practices in cities all over the country had a profound impact on how both citizens and producers engaged with Argentine society.
