From Goodwill to Grunge: A History of Secondhand Styles and Alternative Economies

343 Pages·2017·13.6 MB·English

by  Jennifer Le Zotte

From Goodwill to Grunge
studies in united states culture
Grace Elizabeth Hale, series editor
Series Editorial Board
Sara Blair, University of Michigan
Janet Davis, University of Texas at Austin
Matthew Guterl, Brown University
Franny Nudelman, Carleton University
Leigh Raiford, University of California, Berkeley
Bryant Simon, Temple University
Studies in United States Culture publishes provocative books that explore U.S.
culture in its many forms and spheres of influence. Bringing together big ideas,
brisk prose, bold storytelling, and sophisticated analy sis, books published in
the series serve as an intellectual meeting ground where scholars from dif er ent
disciplinary and methodological perspectives can build common lines of inquiry
around matters such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, power, and empire in an
American context.
jennifer le zotte
From Goodwill to Grunge
A History of Second hand Styles and
Alternative Economies
The University of North Carolina Press C hapel Hill
This book was published with the assistance of the Authors Fund of the
University of North Carolina Press.
© 2017 Jennifer Le Zotte
All rights reserved
Set in Arno Pro by Westchester Publishing Ser vices
Manufactured in the United States of Amer i ca
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the
Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Le Zotte, Jennifer, author.
Title: From Goodwill to grunge : a history of second hand styles and
alternative economies / Jennifer Le Zotte.
Other titles: Studies in United States culture.
Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2017] |
Series: Studies in United States culture | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016024923 | ISBN 9781469631899 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781469631905 (pbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469631912 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Second hand trade— Social aspects— United States. | Vintage
Clothing—S ocial aspects— United States. | Thrift shops— Social
Aspects— United States. | Used clothing industry— Social aspects—
United States.
Classification: LCC HF5482 .L42 2017 | DDC 381/.190973— dc23 LC rec ord
available at https: / / lccn . loc . gov / 2016024923
Cover illustrations: top, © Shutterstock/hifashion; bottom, © Shutterstock/Anthony Hall.
For Melita and Bud Gardner, my mom and dad
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Contents
Acknowl edgments xi
Introduction 1
chapter one
Thrift Stores and the Gilded Age Shopper 17
chapter two
Dressing Dada and the Rise of Flea Markets 52
chapter three
Garage Sales and Suburban Subversiveness 92
chapter four
The Invention of Vintage Clothing 122
chapter five
Elective Poverty and Postwar Politics 153
chapter six
Genderfuck and the Boyfriend Look 183
chapter seven
Connoisseurs of Trash in a World Full of It 214
epilogue
Popping Tags in the Twenty- First Century 239
Notes 245
Index 317
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Figures
1.1 Salvation Army Industrial Homes pushcart, New York City,
circa 1900 30
1.2 Cover of The Goodwill Magazine, Milwaukee edition, 1924 35
1.3 Major Emma Bown with tenement child and a fellow “slum sister,”
circa 1890 41
1.4 Evangeline Booth posing in rags with a pedal harp, circa 1910 44
1.5 Promotional pamphlet, circa 1920 50
2.1 Baroness Elsa Von Freytag- Loringhoven working as a
model, 1915 64
2.2 Merchants and shoppers along Maxwell Street, Chicago, 1917 72
2.3 D addy Stovepipe on Maxwell Street, Chicago, November 1959 73
2.4 Man Ray, “Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Sélavy” 8 8
3.1 The Ericksons’ garage sale, Life magazine, 18 August 1972 93
3.2 “Use It Up— Wear It Out— Make It Do!” poster 1941–45 99
4.1 Sue Salzman posing for “Raccoon Swoon,” Life magazine,
9 September 1957 129
4.2 Reprints of vari ous vintage raccoon coat ads, Life magazine,
9 September 1957 130
4.3 “Jane Ormsby- Gore: Fashion Original,” Vogue (U.K.),
January 1966 146
4.4 The Charlatans, 1964 1 50
5.1 Advertisement for Truth and Soul Fashion, Rags, February 1971 1 80
6.1 José Sarria performing at the Black Cat, circa 1963 187
6.2 José Sarria dressed “straight” on a promotional flyer when running
for city and county supervisor, 7 November 1961 190
6.3 Jack Smith, Untitled, circa 1958–62 1 95
6.4 The Cockettes, circa 1970 201