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Whether watching baseball or undergoing heart surgery, Americans have bought a variety of goods and services to achieve happiness. Here is a provocative look at what they have chosen to purchase. Stanley Lebergott maintains that the average consumer has behaved more reasonably than many distinguished critics of 鈥渕aterialism鈥� have suggested. He sees consumers seeking to make an uncertain and often cruel world into a pleasanter and more convenient place—and, for the most part, succeeding. With refreshing common sense, he reminds us of what many 鈥渓uxuries鈥� have meant, especially for women: increased income since 1900 has been used largely to lighten the backbreaking labor once required by household chores.

Originally published in 1993.

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