Consumers in the Bush

The everyday material world of rural Canadian families in the nineteenth century.

General stores are essential to the image of a colonial village. Many historians, however, still base their stories of settlement on the notion of rural self-sufficiency, begging the question: if general stores were so common, who were their customers?

To answer this, Consumers in the Bush draws on the account books of country stores, rich evidence that has rarely been used. Douglas McCalla considers more than 30,000 transactions on the accounts of 750 families at seven Upper Canadian stores between 1808 and 1861. These customers were typical of rural society - farmers, artisans, labourers, and often women. At village stores they found a wide variety of products, most imported from Britain, a few from the United States, and a surprising number that were produced locally. Three chapters focus on the major product categories of dry goods, groceries, and hardware; a fourth considers local products, and a fifth addresses a variety of items - from household goods to footwear to school books. In telling us about the goods colonists bought, this book explores what they were used for and the stories they allow us to tell about rural lives and experience.

By seeing rural Upper Canadians as consumers, Consumers in the Bush reveals them as full participants in the rapidly changing nineteenth-century global world of goods.

Details

Part of the McGill-Queen's Rural, Wildland, and Resource Studies Series (number 3 in series)

312 Pages, 6 x 9

7 photos, 39 tables, 1 map

ISBN 9780773545007

March 2015

Formats: Paperback, eBook

“Offers a unique perspective on early rural Ontario that shows that “Upper Canadian men and women were consumers of goods that were modern in the context of their times” and were fully engaged in the nineteenth century international world of consumer goods. This is an important lesson for all scholars working on frontier settlement and consumption history. Of immense value to future scholars of nineteenth century material and consumer life are the tables and appendices that McCalla provides at the end of the book.”Journal of Economic History

“McCalla’s groundbreaking findings lead him to question the emigrant guides, descriptions of colonial life, policy documents, and reminiscences that have shaped understandings of this society. Rejecting the myth of the self-sufficient pioneer farmer, he concludes that “household production should not be contrasted with market involvement. “This book,” the author tells us, “represents an experiment in bringing retail accounts fully into the study of consumption. It contributes to the debates about trends and transitions in consumption and market orientation by showing how some rural families used a specific store.” In this stated purpose, McCalla succeeds beautifully.” Journal of Social History

“[A] solid and useful starting point to promote additional investigations of early Canadian consumer history. The findings are summarized in seven extremely detailed chapters, a thirty-six-table appendix, and a list of purchased goods indicating the dates when they appear in the stores’ account books. On that count alone, the volume is invaluable, as we know next to nothing about what was actually retailed and consumed in Ontario in the first half of the nineteenth century.” American Historical Review

“A most welcome book carefully crafted around some inventive approaches to archival resources. [Consumers in the Bush is] valuable reading for anyone interested in the variation of rural life in the mid-19th century [and] a great example of how historians can capture the experience of ordinary people in the past.” The Peterborough Examiner

“Here is a book which offers in extraordinary detail the consequences of pursuing a very simple idea. McCall set out to mine … retail account data for an economic study of Upper Canada. Compiling and analyzing this data produced 36 different tables plus four appendices. All this statistical information is prefaced by a clear, thoughtful, and altogether humane narrative which, explores and explains the implications of the whole study” Ontario History

“Douglas McCalla constructs a vivid and unparalleled portrayal of consumption patterns through analysis of general store sales in rural Upper Canada, while also providing sound analysis of the existing historiography. Consumers in the Bush is a valuable contribution to many fields of historical investigation and an excellent foundation for further scholarship.” Elizabeth Mancke, University of New Brunswick

“Consumers in the Bush promises to help historians as well as museums and historical societies do a better job of interpreting community dynamics and life on the frontier. Succinct and persuasive, it is a significant contribution to public history, material culture, rural history, and the settlement history of nineteenth-century Canada.” Canadian Journal of History

“This book complicates our understanding of the settlement period, challenging us to rethink the material and economic lives of settlers and retailers. Rural consumers were no different than urban consumers in their willingness to buy new kinds of goods when they had the opportunity to do so. From a retail perspective, the past was not so different than the present.” Canadian Business History Association

Douglas McCalla is University Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Guelph.

Illustrations ix
Tables xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Preamble: Consumers in the Bush 3

1 Crusoe in Upper Canada? Stories of Rural Consumption 8
2 Places, Stores, and People: Village Stores and Their Customers 23
3 Fashion in the Countryside? Textile and Clothing Purchases 37
4 A World without Chocolate: Purchases of Groceries and Medications 67
5 Iron in a “Wooden Age”: Hardware and Related Purchases 89
6 Local Goods: Importers and the Market for Local Products 114
7 Household Goods, Footwear, and Other Purchases 129

Conclusion: “Essentials” and Everyday Life 148
Tables 155
Appendices 201
Notes 225
Bibliography 269
Index 287