Stitching and shopping: The material literacy of the consumer

State of the Field: Material Culture

“…Children learnt to differentiate flax from wool through play, and adults continued to engage in a world of making as both producers and consumers of material goods throughout the life cycle. 42 Consumers could visit potteries and manufactories, and the wealthy might even invite industrialists into their homes to explain their inventions. 43 Similar to the performative display of artisanal craft today, making was demonstrated and enacted, even in elite consumption.…”