This book provides a timely examination of the role that consumer credit has played in maintaining inequality, at a time when the gap between the rich and the rest is increasing in the political west. It does so through the prism of the Australian department store, using archival material from across the twentieth century to trace how large retailers used class and status hierarchies, technological innovation, and loyalty programs to embroil the Australian masses in credit culture. Increasing numbers of Australians enthusiastically embraced retail credit, but their experiences of the democratisation of credit varied greatly. Hierarchies of credit are as strong in Australia today as they have ever been and, despite the growing use of debit cards and BNPL, most of us still carry a credit card and the threat of indebtedness that entails.
1. Introduction.-
2. Class, Gender, and the Early Department Store.-
3.
Credit Innovation and Retail Hierarchies.-
4. The Cash-Order System:
Targeting the Workers.-
5. Exclusivity and the Store Charge Card.-
6. Plastic
Fantastic: The Arrival of the Credit Card.-
7. A New Culture of Loyalty.-
8.
Destined For the Shredder.-
9. Conclusion.
Jackie Dickenson is an Honorary Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She has published widely on Australian history, labour history, and advertising history, including Australian Women in Advertising in the Twentieth Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).
