Selling British Columbia is an entertaining examination of the
development of the tourist industry in British Columbia between 1890
and 1970. Michael Dawson argues that in order to understand the roots
of the fully-fledged consumer culture that emerged in Canada after the
Second World War, it is necessary to understand the connections
between the 1930s, 1940s, and the postwar era. Cultural producers such
as tourism promoters and the state infrastructure played important
roles in fostering consumer demand, particularly during the
Depression, the Second World War, and throughout the postwar era.
Dawson draws upon promotional pamphlets, newspapers, advertisements,
and films, as well as archival sources regarding government, civic,
and international tourism organizations. Central to his book is an
examination of the representation of popular imagery and of how
aboriginal and British cultures were commodified and marketed to
potential tourists. He also looks at the gendered aspect of these
promotional campaigns, particularly during the 1940s, and challenges
earlier interpretations regarding the relationship between tourism and
nature in Canada. Historians have tended to focus on either the first
wave of consumerism from the 1880s to the 1920s, or else on the era of
economic expansion that followed World War Two. As Dawson shows, the
1930-45 period in particular was an important and dynamic one in the
creation of Canadian and British Columbian consumer culture. Michael
Dawson’s highly readable and engaging account of the development of
the British Columbia tourist industry will be welcomed by British
Columbian and Canadian historians, as well as other scholars of
tourism and consumerism.
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Tourism and Consumer Culture, 1890-1970
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780774851220
Publisert
2020
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
University of British Columbia Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter