'Shifting currency. The culture and economy of the second hand trade in England, c1600-1850' in A Palmer & H Clark (eds), Old Clothes, New Looks. Second hand fashion

Notes:

A cultural and societal account but sheds some light on the business activity. Considers the second hand trade in goods as a 'medium through which to appraise great societal transformations, seen from the perspective of the everyday practices of common people, where the nuances of gender and social rank found clear expression'. Here the 'second hand trade [is] considered first as a socially defined tool enabling consumption but without seeing the purchase itself as the end game. The mechanics of a trade that fulfilled a number of complex intersecting needs for generations of plebeian and more affluent men and women will be summarized ...'