Excerpt from Saleswomen in Mercantile Stores: Baltimore, 1909 N the latter part Of 1908 the Consumers' League of Maryland, desiring to prepare a white list Of stores, asked the Russell Sage Foundation to send Miss Elizabeth B. Butler, who had recently investigated for the Pittsburgh Survey the conditions under which Pittsburgh women worked, * to make a similar study in mercantile stores in Baltimore. The Foundation readily acceded to this request, believing that it Offered an Opportunity to Obtain important in formation that would be Oi general value. The investigation was begun in January, 1909, on a co-operative basis. The Consumers' League Of Maryland paid Miss Butler's salary and expenses for the months during which she was engaged in the examination Of stores in Baltimore, while the Foundation assumed the responsibility for her report and for its publication. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The luxurious appearance and handsome profits of American department stores from 1890 to 1940 masked a three-way struggle among saleswomen, managers, and customers for control of the selling floor. Counter Cultures explores the complex nature and contradictions of the conflict in an arena where class, gender, and the emerging culture of consumption all came together. "Counter Cultures is a path-breaking and imaginative social history. Benson has made an original and sophisticated contribution to the study of the work process in the service sector." -- Journal of American History "Counter Cultures advances our understanding of the history of women and work, and it does so in an engaging way that should command the attention not only of historians but of a general readership as well." -- Women's Review of Books