The language of value: a comparative approach to newspaper advertisements for auctions of second-hand household goods in eighteenth-century England and the Low Countries

A lot has been written about the spread and significance of newspaper advertisements during the eighteenth century. Indeed, they are often seen as central to the so-called consumer revolution that swept across Europe during this period: they promoted novelty and fashion, encouraged new forms of consumption and formed crucial part of modern retail practice. And yet, alongside advertisements for novelties, new tradesmen and new goods, newspapers also carried notices for a wide variety of old and second-hand goods, including ordinary household goods. These advertisements have received little attention, being overlooked in analyses that focus on novelties and high-end used goods such as books and paintings. Drawing on a new database of advertisements for auctions of second-hand household goods in England and the Low Countries, we intend not so much to describe the practices on these commercial outlets, but rather to explore the cultural values surrounding the objects described. In particular, we focus on the ways in which second-hand goods were described and presented as desirable, useful and valuable goods. In short, we are interested in the language deployed by those advertising auctions of household goods. Through our analysis, we argue that newspaper advertisements are unique sources that allow the cultural construction of different material goods to be studied in a comparative way. As a direct challenge to grand narratives of an eighteenth-century consumer revolution based on new consumers and consumer practices, we show how used goods also appealed to consumers and how specific goods appealed to different bundles of consumer characteristics. Moreover, we highlight the false divide that is seen as separating both new and old goods, and new and traditional consumer practices.