Bright Modernity - Color, Commerce, and Consumer Culture

Color is a visible technology that invisibly connects so many puzzling aspects of modern Western consumer societies-research and development, making and selling, predicting fashion trends, and more. Building on Regina Lee Blaszczyk's go-to history of the 'color revolution' in the United States, this book explores further transatlantic and multidisciplinary dimensions of the topic. Covering history from the mid nineteenth century into the immediate past, it examines the relationship between color, commerce, and consumer societies in unfamiliar settings and in the company of new kinds of experts. Readers will learn about the early dye industry, the dynamic nomenclature for color, and efforts to standardize, understand, and educate the public about color. Readers will also encounter early food coloring, new consumer goods, technical and business innovations in print and on the silver screen, the interrelationship between gender and color, and color forecasting in the fashion industry.

Regina Lee Blaszczyk is Leadership Chair in the History of Business and Society at the University of Leeds, UK.  Her nine books include several award-winning titles: Imagining Consumers: Design and Innovation from Wedgwood to Corning; Producing Fashion: Commerce, Culture, and Consumers (editor); and The Color Revolution.

Uwe Spiekermann teaches economic and social history at the University of Göttingen. His research interests in German and American history include consumption, retailing, nutrition, and knowledge. He has published extensively, including Decoding Modern Consumer Societies (coeditor) and The Rise of Marketing and Market Research (coeditor).