‘Irish Linen Direct - Belfast to any point in the United States’: Home Selling to the Affluent American Consumer.

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract

Historically the American market was of immense value to the Irish linen industry; it took around half of all linen exports from Ulster before 1914. The Great War inevitably disturbed the trade and it was in the post war period that a swell of initiatives was implemented to improve sales to the US. In one novel bid to secure orders, a troop of sales staff travelled across America and into the homes of the wealthy. Contrary to the conventional door-to-door salesman, during the 1920s, American saleswomen were engaged to seduce potential female consumers with high quality linen merchandise in the comfort of their own homes. Competing against unfettered consumption in the larger metropolitan areas, the mobile sales woman could divine the attention and it was hoped, open up the purse strings of affluent consumers who had neither the time nor the inclination to consume publicly.

Armed with a ‘Sample Case’ which held fifteen ranges of over one hundred patterns and countless shades in hand woven, best quality Irish Linen (household textiles) these women promised a service both bespoke and direct from Belfast, “No service approaching this in magnitude is provided by any store” claimed the accompanying brochure. The case also contained didactic instruction on how to sell to the wealthy, what characteristics to emphasize and even how to handle the samples. This paper focuses on the Sample Case as a paradigm of market differentiation, the merits of the female sales staff and considers the broader impact of this American style of selling.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusUnpublished - 20 Apr 2016
Event Irish Association for American Studies/British Association for American Studies Annual Conference
- Queen's University, Belfast, United Kingdom
Duration: 20 Apr 201622 Apr 2016

Conference

Conference Irish Association for American Studies/British Association for American Studies Annual Conference
Abbreviated titleIAAS/BAAS Annual Conference
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityBelfast
Period20/04/1622/04/16

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