ABSTRACT
This chapter considers nineteenth-century conceptions of the child and consumer culture in relation to the image of the youngsters as particularly open to, and in need of, shaping and direction. It then turns to examples from history, visual culture, literature and science in order to consider some of the ways in which youngsters and the concept of the child influenced nineteenth-century British consumerism. The child and childhood also fulfilled a range of important roles in abetting consumerism’s saturation of the social framework. Aspects of consumerism existed before the eighteenth century and, as historians have argued, were partial catalysts for the rise of industrialization. Early hints of the traits that would define consumer culture specifically can be found in the eighteenth century among the British middle class. The presence of consumerism within even the seemingly private lives of girls and boys is perhaps most readily established through a consideration of their playthings.
