Packaged pleasures : how technology and marketing revolutionized desire /

This outstanding history chronicles the efforts of "pleasure engineers" such as Thomas Edison, John Cadbury, George Eastman, and Walt Disney to intensify and optimize sensory pleasure in modern societies. Targeting primarily the senses of taste, hearing, and sight, historians Cross (Penn State) and Proctor (Stanford) analyze technological and marketing advances, particularly in the critical period between 1880 and 1910. They focus their analysis on such inventions and innovations as cigarettes, soft drinks, candy bars, the phonograph, photographs, movies, and the multisensory amusement park, all of which concentrate sensory pleasure well beyond that afforded by nature. Though they concede the democratizing influence of mechanization making possible the fulfillment of desire for the masses, the authors contend that the packaging of these items, both materially through manufacturing and symbolically through advertising, has led to such contemporary problems as obesity, decreased socialization, the homogenization of taste, the dizzying pace of life, ennui, and the transcendence of impermanence. In a final chapter, the authors offer modest solutions to these seemingly overwhelming problems. Some complementary readings might include the excellent histories of David Nye, such as American Technological Sublime (CH, May'95, 32-5054) and Electrifying America (CH, Jun'91, 28-5853), and David Kessler's more recent analysis of the problem of obesity, The End of Overeating (2009). Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. --David M. Gilbert, Maine Maritime Academy

Cross (history, Pennsylvania State Univ.; An All-Consuming Century) and Proctor (history, Stanford Univ.; Value-Free Science) examine mass production's impact on consumer goods through the lens of their packaging. They argue that technological innovations in the delivery of these objects, particularly in the early 1900s, have profoundly altered consumption by freeing distribution from seasonality, geography, and exclusivity. Topics include the development of containers for food preservation (canning), the invention of the cigarette, the rise of processed sugar-based "foods" including candy and soda, sound recording and the phonograph (packaged sound), photography and moving pictures (packaged sight), and the modern amusement park which they describe as the packaging of fantasy. The authors add that package-driven consumer culture has led to a loss of social and natural connection, and that rampant choice, overconsumption, and immediate gratification have significant psychological and environmental effects. VERDICT The authors' conclusions about how technology has transformed human desire and expectation are compelling. The book is also rife with historical anecdotes and links to other developments such as the rise of food transport, celebrity culture, trademark advertising, and the privatization of formerly social activities. A solid choice for students and scholars of industrial history, marketing, and consumer psychology as well as general interest readers. Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.