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The Confidence Man was a growing social concern for mid-nineteenth century Americans. Fears that young men moving to new urban centers would find themselves pulled in by con men and lured into a life of crime resulted in a number of conduct manuals…

Built in the early nineteenth century, the arcades were the first covered shopping malls, the first use of glass and steel (actually iron) construction. They were the first enclosed, artificial environment. When they were built they were among the…

The Paris arcades were a place that consisted of both market exchange and entertainment. This 'world in miniature' was used by Benjamin to symbolized a particularly new brand of mercantile capitalism experienced by a mobilized urban spectator. The…

Benjamin explains that, "With the close up, space expands: with slow motion, movement is extended. The enlargement of a snapshot does not simply render more precise what in any case was visible though unclear: it reveals entirely new structural…

In Confidence Men and Painted Women, Halttunen describes a crisis in middle class culture during the early nineteenth century brought on by urbanization, market exchange and increased social mobility. These changes challenged traditional social…