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Advancements Of The Middle Class

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Innovations grounded in industrialization paved the way for shifting lifestyle for Europeans and Americans. Between 1700 and 1830, much of America and Europe experienced a rise in innovation, propelling product design. Previously, manufacturers utilized basic tools and machinery. As a result, mass production, improved transportation and communication surfaced. There was an increased volume and variety of products. Because of the varietal increase among products, designed objects helped distinguish social hierarchy both nationally and individually. Nationally, in the sense that the object was owned by most people perhaps among the middle class. Individually, in the sense that most members of the upper class wanted objects specifically…show more content…
The middle class began to own objects otherwise considered luxuries, including tea and tea tables. Tea became cheaper to produce, which was previously restricted to the powerful. “All the excitement of fashionable social gatherings became bound up in one item–the tea table.” This tilt-top tea table enabled people to engage in social interaction and display their refinement, while allowing equal say in conversation. Also, “[…] they were being built inexpensively for a mid-level market.” Artisans collaborated with other specialists to make their jobs easier, reduce costs and raise profits. Tilt-top tea tables became a staple in American parlors. As their equity grew, the colonists desired a more fashionable household, including new structures like the aforementioned. These tables were shipped mostly everywhere in the colonies, becoming a national trend, which attests to “the form’s popularity with mid-level consumers throughout the colonies.” A tilt-top tea table was a signifier of refinement. “The popularity of tilt-top tea tables may have helped spread the consumerist impulse that made possible later increases in stylish goods.” The desire for material objects among middle class people increased. Although during the Industrial Revolution, in America, the middle class saw an emergence, the upper class was still quite prevalent. Some objects were specifically designed for individuals of wealth. The McIntire chair, created by
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