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Working‐class consumer credit in the UK, 1925–60: the role of the check trader 1
Author(s) -
O'CONNELL SEAN,
REID CHRIS
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.014
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1468-0289
pISSN - 0013-0117
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2005.00308.x
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , popularity , class (philosophy) , working class , business , scale (ratio) , clothing , commerce , economics , marketing , computer science , law , political science , artificial intelligence , physics , quantum mechanics , politics , programming language
This article provides fresh insights into working‐class credit by examining the history of check trading. It explains the system's origins, and its dependence on a series of relationships involving check traders and their agents, retailers, and customers. Data from the market leader— Provident Clothing and Supply Co. Ltd—is analysed to explore the scale and scope of the sector, and to examine its history from the early 1920s to the 1960s. Check trading was both an important and controversial supplier of credit to working‐class families, and the article explores criticisms of the system, and the reason for its popularity.