Kim Humphery- Shelf Life

I had already briefly visited Humphery's work within level 4, and I really enjoyed Humpherys writing style and in depth investigation of packaging and consumption. I looked at her book in more depth and really absorbed all of her writings. I found several key points which will be very useful during the construction of my argument within my dissertation. However, Shelf Life was written in 1998, and it does feel fairly dated in its viewpoints. I definitely need to use some more contemporary literature and some online resources to ensure that what I am discussing is reflective of current affairs.

Below are some of the key quotes which I will be able to use within my essay:

'the package is an extremely important substitute for the personal relationship that people desire'- Humphery p.65

'now the package must do its own selling job, and for that reason a great deal more interest must be taken in the proper packaging of merchandise... the package must 'get attention, arouse interest, create desire, get action'' - Humphery p.87

‘As incomes rose in the second half of the nineteenth century in Britain, the priority for the working class was the consumption of better quality and easily available everyday goods’ p.26

‘Many of these products were imported’ p.27

‘the luxurious, the convenient and the economical, all of which were emphasised in the manufacturers’ efforts to promote their products’- p.27

‘The supposed cleanliness and uniformity of manufactured goods were also sources of celebration’- p28

‘To these packets can be added colours, company logos, promotional spiels, and images. The identity of the product as a material thing becomes increasingly drawn into the cultural realm until even the most everyday of products seems to lose some of its materiality and becomes bound up with ideas and emotions to do with cleanliness, uniformity, convenience, progress, modernity, class status, gender roles and identities, luxury, sensuality and so on’ p.33

‘the meanings attached a product rather than simply the product itself becomes the central part of retailing’ p.33

 ‘by the late nineteenth century large food manufacturing concerns had become an important part of Australia’s industrial landscape. Their products were also becoming household names’ p.41