Consumers in the Bush

Contributor: Douglas McCalla Douglas McCalla is university professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Guelph.

"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 c --- "[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 --- "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 --- "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 f --- "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 c