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Book Cover
E-book
Author Mackintosh, Will B., author.

Title Selling the sights : the invention of the tourist in American culture / Will B. Mackintosh
Published New York : New York University Press, [2019]

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Description 1 online resource : illustrations
Contents Describing the terraqueous globe : tourists and the culture of geographical knowledge -- Yesterday the springs, to-day the falls : tourism and the commodification of travel -- I find myself a pilgrim : commodified experience and the invention of the tourist -- I'll picturesque it everywhere : the archetype of the tourist in satire -- Traveling to good purpose : the invention of the true traveler
Summary A fascinating journey through the origins of American tourismIn the early nineteenth century, thanks to a booming transportation industry, Americans began to journey away from home simply for the sake of traveling, giving rise to a new cultural phenomenon --the tourist. In Selling the Sights, Will B. Mackintosh describes the origins and cultural significance of this new type of traveler and the moment in time when the emerging American market economy began to reshape the availability of geographical knowledge, the material conditions of travel, and the variety of destinations that sought to profit from visitors with money to spend. Entrepreneurs began to transform the critical steps of travel--deciding where to go and how to get there--into commodities that could be produced in volume and sold to a marketplace of consumers. The identities of Americans prosperous enough to afford such commodities were fundamentally changed as they came to define themselves through the consumption of experiences. Mackintosh ultimately demonstrates that the cultural values and market forces surrounding tourism in the early nineteenth century continue to shape our experience of travel to this day
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on June 27, 2019)
Subject Tourism -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Tourists -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Travelers -- United States -- 19th century
Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 19th century
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Cultural Policy.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Popular Culture.
Popular culture
Tourism -- Social aspects
Tourists
Travelers
Urlauber
Tourismus
United States
USA
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781479833146
1479833142