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'The Courtship of Seven Million Married Women': Direct sales in late-twentieth century Britain & Fair Shares? Women Stockbrokers in Britain since the 1880s - Dr Amy Edwards & Professor James Taylor
Event details
'The Courtship of Seven Million Married Women': Direct sales in late-twentieth century Britain
In 1965, the Financial Times reported that countless industries had begun assiduously seeking out 'women-power' - that is to say women workers - in an attempt to secure business growth. Direct sales companies like Tupperware and Avon Cosmetics sat at the forefront of such moves. They promised economic independence and flexible working conditions suited specifically to women in the form of the self-employed sales representative. Their advertising efforts provided a source of inspiration for those eager to ‘go it alone’, or at the very least, make some money of their own.
This paper interrogates the figure of the home sales rep in popular culture, and her role in promoting new economic practices and norms in contemporary Britain. Direct sales broke down barriers between work and private life, exploited women's social networks, and brought capitalist social relations into the home. It thus offers a case study for how we might usefully study the business practices that constituted late twentieth century capitalism and the enterprise-centred cultural formation that fortified a shift towards a neoliberal political economy in Britain.
Fair Shares? Women Stockbrokers in Britain since the 1880s
Historical research on women as investors has flourished over the past two decades, but much less attention has been given to their role as financial intermediaries. Though women were excluded from the nation’s stock exchanges this did not – as is sometimes assumed – entirely prevent them from acting as stockbrokers, managing investments and giving advice to male and female clients. This paper explores the careers of stockbroking women, the kinds of businesses they established, and their efforts to gain official recognition, from the 1880s through to their belated admission to the London Stock Exchange – fifty years ago – in 1973. Though few in number, the paper argues that these financial women are significant to histories of female entrepreneurship and professional identity.
Discussant: Dr Mark Billings, University of Exeter
About the speakers
Dr Amy Edwards, University of Bristol - Professor James Taylor, University of Lancaster
Amy Edwards
Amy Edwards is a Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Bristol. Her research interests concern culture of business, finance, and capitalism in the twentieth century. Her recent book, Are We Rich Yet (California University Press, 2022), focused on a history of mass investment culture in contemporary Britain. Her current project 'The Secret of My Success' seeks to investigate the history of women's self-employment in Britain since the 1970s through a focus on business franchising, direct sales, and solo self-employment.
James Taylor
James Taylor is Professor in Modern British History at Lancaster University. His most recent (co-authored) book, Invested: How Three Centuries of Stock Market Advice Reshaped Our Money, Markets, and Minds, was published by Chicago University Press in 2022. He is currently completing a book on the history of women stockbrokers for Oxford University Press.