This thesis examines the significance of toy production, distribution, marketing and consumption to Canadian understandings of childhood. Drawing on Patrick J. Ryan’s concept of the discursive landscape of modern childhood and Daniel Thomas Cook’s commercial persona of the child consumer, it explores the effect of toy controversies on a number of social, political and economic issues between the arrival of manufactured toys in Canada in the mid-nineteenth century and the rise of postindustrial capitalism. The toy industry, the social sciences, consumer activists and the Canadian state all played a pivotal role in raising the social significance attached to toy consumption. In the end, debates about toys highlighted popular manifestations of complex political and social issues by placing children and their material culture at the symbolic centre of “adult” conflicts. / Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-15 01:20:03.345
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OKQ.1974/8282 |
| Date | 16 September 2013 |
| Creators | Hutchinson, Braden |
| Contributors | Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Theses (Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.)) |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner. |
| Relation | Canadian theses |
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