Case Study Questions, March 17, 2011.

1. Explain the following references:

a. "a state of prosperity" (source A) - this refers to the fact that the country was experiencing a cultural and economic boom, in particular at this time there was an increase in literature, music, and television in a way that made the culture seem far more modern and innovative.

b. "a mother's little helper" (source B) - this is a tongue-in-cheek reference to a housewife dealing with a demanding husband and bratty children.

2. Compare and contrast the views of Britain's consumer society expressed in Sources A and C.

Source A presents the idea of the state of Britain's consumer society as a positive, and a time where everyone is happy and benefiting. The source states "Most of our people have never had it so good", which implies that the new innovations are something that everyone is happy about (things such as shopping offers and consumer goods). The reference to a state of prosperity furthers this idea. On the other hand, Source C presents the other point of view, that which all of this is excess, hence "I can no longer shop happily" and "Long distance callers make long distance calls and the silence makes me lonely". It sounds as if this point of view is that there is nothing personally gained and that Britain's consumer society is rich in goods and things to buy and do, but that there is less intrinsic value and contrary to Source A, not everyone is happy about it. However, the thing both sources have in common is that they both acknowledge that there has been change.


3. Assess the origin, purpose, value, and limitations of sources A and C as historical documents.

Source A is a speech to a rally of Conservative supporters, made by Prime Minister Harold MacMillan in 1957. The purpose of this portion of the speech is to demonstrate that there have been positive changes in Britain and that the people are happy and that everything seems financially sound. The value of this to someone looking at it as a historical document is that it does acknowledge change, and that there was indeed some sort of cultural/economic change that indeed made some people happy. It provides context and gives one an idea of how some people in Britain felt about the changes. The limitation, however, is that this is only one portion of the speech, thus it is unknown if other valuable information was stated before, and also the most important limitation is that the speaker is assessing other people's happiness ("our people have never had it so good"), when that is subjective and depends on how many people you survey and ask. I think as a historical document, this has some value but the limitations make it more of an opinion or one point of view than a fact.

Source C is part of the song "Lost in the Supermarket", by the Clash, from 1979. The purpose was to convey the other side of all of the changes to Britain's consumer society, and the fact that not everyone was necessarily happy about it, as the speaker in the song is not. The value is that this is one other point of view that works contrary to that in Source A, but similarly to Source A, the limitation encountered is that it is someone's opinion and shows their PERSONAL feelings ("I can no longer shop happily", for instance). Also, this was a song that was written most likely in part with the purpose of sales and profit, so it is unknown if this is entirely how the writer of the song felt, or if they presented a point of view that would sell. Additionally you must consider that with songs come rhyme scheme and keeping a meter, so the choice of words might depend on that more than trying to prove a point in some places. This is, like Source A, valuable as context more than as fact.

4. Using these Sources and further research, evaluate the consumer economy as it developed in Britain between the years 1950 and 1980.

The consumer economy of Britain had greatly increased over these years, as evidenced by the increase of television, literature, and music which can be seen as culturally enriching. This is evident in Source C most of all, with references to long distance calls, and supermarkets with "special offers" and "coupons" as well as "all the programmes" on TV. This sounds like a society that has become more filled with things that customers could purchase, watch, see etc. American music also became popular in the UK, too. The film industry is an example; during the 1950s and 1960s in Britain, more films were made that were directed toward younger audiences, which brought about the increase of young people who went to the movies and purchased films. This is just one example. Additionally it is important to note that there were poorer industrial relations and vocational trading, so the economy was still at risk and the British had relatively low growth during this period overall, hence making the statement that the British had "never had it so good" seem very hollow.

Source: http://webspace.webring.com/people/gj/jlinwood/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_United_Kingdom#1960.E2.80.931979:_the_Sixties_and_Seventies