I’ve been talking with J.D. of Get Rich Slowly about the rise of (the social acceptance of) personal debt in the twentieth century, which was somewhat spurred on by my MoneyBloggerPodcast interview.
J.D. has included a passage from a book, Ain’t We Got Fun, in his recent post, The Dawn of the Age of Credit. The book looks at the changes in American society of the 1920s that led to the way people view credit cards and personal debt today. That is to say, most of this country holds personal debt as socially acceptable, rather than in previous centuries when a social stigma was attached to those who owed money.
The book seems a little difficult to come by, otherwise I’d add Ain’t We Got Fun to my wish list.
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6:29 pm (reply)
Hey, Flexo.
One key point: Ain’t We Got Fun? isn’t really about credit and debt. It merely mentions it in passing as part of establishing background for the changes in the 1920s. The book is really about the massive social upheavel that occurred during the decade as a result of peace, a rising middle-class, and advances in technology and mass media. It sounds boring, but it’s not. It’s a lot of fun. And the book probably is hard to come by, though it shouldn’t be expensive. (It’s not collectible in any way.)
I’m making a trip to Powell’s tomorrow. If they have a copy, I’ll pick it up and mail it to you.
2:22 am (reply)
Thanks, J.D. The book does sound interesting. Let me know if you come across it, but don’t go to any trouble, though. :-)
6:07 pm (reply)
Did you try the library? There appear to be ninety copies – go here to search your zip code: http://worldcat.org/oclc/6686154&tab=holdings?loc=united+states#tabs and if your library doesn’t have it they should be able to get it for you at little to no cost via Inter Library Loan.
-b