Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand
for luxury goods and services that took place in eighteenth-century England.McKendrick has explored the Wedgwood firm’s remarkable success
in marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about the
proliferation of provincial theaters, musical festivals, and children’s toys and
books. While the fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key
questions remain: Who were the consumers What were their motives And what were
the effects of the new demand for luxuries In the first
paragraph, the author mentions McKendrick and Plumb most probably in order to:
A. contrast their views on the subject of luxury consumerism in
eighteenth-century England.
B. indicate the inadequacy of historiographical approaches to
eighteenth-century English history.
C. give examples of historians who have helped to establish the fact of
growing consumerism in eighteenth-century England.
D. support the contention that key questions about eighteenth-century
consumerism remain to be answered.
E. compare one historian’s interest in luxury goods such as pottery to
another historian’s interest in luxury services such as musical
festivals.