Adapting to Abundance

Between 1880 and 1914, Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York's Lower East Side defined themselves as American not only by their occupations or education but by their spending practices as well. Jewish immigrants assimilated into American culture through the purchase of fashions, material goods, and resort vacations, combined with Jewish social and religious traditions to create a unique and innovative American identity.

An analysis of immigrant life in the USA which focuses on the habits of consumption. The author describes how Jews responded to the prospect of mass consumption, familiarizing themselves with such activities as installment buying, advertising and vacationing.This is the first large-scale analysis of immigrant life in America to focus on habits of consumption. Hienze relies on primary sources to show how Jews responded to the prospect of mass consumption in America, familiarizing themselves with activities such as installment buying, vacationing, and advertising. Heinze examines the relationship between American consumption and holidays; the importance of the immigrant Jewish woman as director of family spending; the significance of clothing; and the high status of the parlour and the piano in Jewish homes.