Description
Macmillan Company, New York, Published date: 1927. Hardcover. viii, 285 pp; 20 cm. First edition.
Rare, out-of-print & unusual books · Since 1997
118
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Catalog notes
Condition & notes
In good condition/ NO dust jacket. Black cloth boards with a red paper spine label and matching red paper title label on front cover; spine label present but moderately worn, with some small chipping to edges and overall rubbing and toning; front cover label intact with light rubbing. Cloth shows light edge wear, minor fraying at spine ends, and scattered small spots. Binding intact with some very thin cracks. Interior pages lightly toned with age; occasional light foxing; otherwise unmarked. Influential early consumer protection study examining the waste, fraud, and inefficiencies embedded in American consumer markets during the 1920s. Written by economist Stuart Chase and engineer F. J. Schlink, the book analyzes deceptive advertising, product adulteration, price manipulation, patent medicines, and the lack of meaningful standards affecting everyday goods. Drawing on laboratory testing, government reports, and case studies, the authors argue for scientific evaluation, standardization, and institutional oversight to protect consumers. A foundational work in the consumer movement that helped shape later advocacy organizations and regulatory thinking in the United States. Contents include: Alice in wonderland; The new competition; Along main street; One hundred billion dollars; The acrobatics of quality, price and cost; Adulteration and misrepresentation; Quack, quack; More quacks and cure-alls; Standardization-good and bad; The consumer's stake in standards; Outposts-governmental; Outposts-private; First aid; In summary.