From Goodwill to Grunge: Secondhand Consumerism in the Twentieth-Century United States

"From Goodwill to Grunge" argues that secondhand exchange in the twentieth-century United States was a defining social mechanism and important economic tool. Early in the century, used goods markets helped to craft the infrastructure of a thriving industrial economy, saved the public marketplace, and restructured charitable institutions. Especially after the end of World War II, these so-called “shadow economies” gained a substantial, voluntary consumer following. Secondhand markets became an important resource for the public articulation of minority opinions, including those of anti-capitalists, war protesters, advocates of gender and sexuality equality, and environmentalists.