Refined tastes: Sugar, confectionery, and consumers in nineteenth-century America

In nineteenth-century America refined sugar changed from being a rare substance enjoyed by the rich and coveted by the poor at the beginning of the century to a common commodity within the reach of everyone by century\u27s end. Looking at how refined sugar reached consumers in the form of confectionery—penny candies, ice cream, chocolates and bonbons, ornamental sugar, and homemade candies and desserts—tells us as much about how Americans incorporated new commodities into their lives as it does about the democratization of sugar itself. In effect, Americans animated the commodities appearing in the marketplace, endowing them with human-like qualities that eventually linked specific products with specific consumers. At the same time, people came to define themselves more through the material objects they associated with, blurring the line between animate and inanimate. Although refined sugar itself could be considered a generic good, the cultural products made from it—confections—were highly differentiated and gained “appropriate” consuming audiences. Further, as refined sugar became cheaper and more readily available, it shifted from being a symbol of male economic prowess to a substance associated with women and children. Looking at refined sugar in nineteenth-century America as a case study helps to reveal some of the meaning-making processes that determine people\u27s relationships to the material universe around them