Introduction
It is a common observation that trends in the society that can be ascribed as modern, originate mainly in the cities. The initial growth of these trends remains localized within the cities from which they slowly make inroads into the rural areas. There are two interesting observations that can be made with regard to the spread of modernity. Firstly, elements of modernity are always tested by the urban class who gets the first chance to test it. On the other hand, it suits the relatively conservative rural folks to allow someone to test something before it is consumed by them. The rural people are not influenced by fads as the city dwellers. Hence, fashion and opulence are always tested by the urbanites before they pass on to the rural folks. The two essays in question deals with the growth of consumerism in the cities as well as the rural areas.

Analysis
The arrival of fashion and modern shopping trends has in essence, allowed people to interact with modernity in many different ways. For example Rappaport's (1995) essay explains how the women of modern England found it necessary to spend time at west end as part of their being accepted in the society. Shopping and spending money on opulent symbols of modernity became a fashion that people could not resist, either because of the need to posses these things, or because they were considered as symbols of modernity that people could not avoid. Perhaps this is the reason why shopping, particularly the kind of shopping that is conducted by the high society ladies is considered as unnecessary wastage of money, where the objective is only to flaunt the buying power of the consumer. The huge sums of money that were involved in buying things that may be considered as luxury by many, was in fact a method to flaunt money and position in the society. However, such shopping tendencies also contributed to the growth of business and the overall rise in the standards of living of the society. Rappaport specifically draws our attention to how the shopping spree could attract the attention of the middle class who followed the pastimes of the rich and the famous. The end result was that people often bought more than what they needed. They also bought goods that would never be used by them or which had very low priorities in their lives. Shopping became the means and ends of their action and while it enhanced business and the economy to a certain extent, the general mindset of the people was greatly changed by the developments. Consumerism was allowed to set in, and people became more inclined to buy than to produce. Cheap materialism and the urge to buy more were cleverly exploited by shop owners who played on the sentiments of people who wanted to be exclusive in the society. Rappaport also draws our attention to the fact that shopping was, as a pastime, a gender-specific activity. Hence, it was the women folk who were more influenced by shopping than men, mainly because it was the women who could be affected more by the clever campaigns and tricks of the sellers. Women were featured as models more than men and the trend to use women to attract consumers was perhaps perfected during these days.

Alexandra Keller (1995) in her essay, Disseminations of Modernity: Representation and Consumer Desire in Early Mail-Order Catalogs, shows the other side of the development of the consumer market. While shopping provided urbanites with an outlet to go out and flaunt their status and overblown ego, the mail order revolution was a favorite pastime of the rural folk who were at a disadvantage because of their lack of proximity to the city. The mail order business was a clever ploy to attract the rural folk to the colors of the city. While the mail order campaigns were conducted to make people believe that that it was a method to bring shopping to the people, the truth was that a concerted effort was being made to spread consumerism even to the villages, where fancy buying was never practiced. The mail order business, other than exposing the women to the facilities and choices available in the city, also exposed the vibrant life that was accessible in the city. Hence, the mail order business was not only a window to the life in the city; it was also a medium that allowed the rural folk to indulge in the facilities available in the city. Keller also lets us know that the mail order business was a medium for the rural folk to make themselves available for public interaction. Just like shopping at the West end was a means to socialize, the mail order business was also a method for people for make themselves available to the opportunities of the city.

“Film goers were typically (not exclusively) urban, and film going meant entering the public sphere. Catalogue readers were typically (not exclusively) rural, and catalogue shopping meant connecting to the public sphere - or, rather, the marketplace - from the comfort and relative isolation of home. The two forms offered different means of congress between public and private realms, but in doing so each offered a complimentary discourse of Americanization and ultimately of gender difference” [Keller, 1995, pp 156-182.]