Horse Trading in the Age of Cars

Steven M. Gelber is a professor of history at Santa Clara University and author of Hobbies: Productive Leisure and the Culture of Work in America.

Preface
Introduction: The Cowboy and the Flapper
1. Horse Trading: During the Buyer
Horses as Masculine Symbols
The Manly Art of Horse Trading
The Reputation of Horse Traders
The Horse Trading Business
Horse Trading as a Game
The Rules of the Game
Hiding Faults
Warranties
2. Retailing: Satisfying the Buyer
Manufactured Transportation: Carriages and Bicycles
Negotiated (Discriminatory) Prices
Single (Democratic) Prices
Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Cheerfully Refunded
3. Cars: Joining the New Marketplace
Coachmen to Chauffeurs: The Male Lineage
Cars in Stores
One Posted Price to All
One-Price by Law
Advertising List Prices
4. Used Cars: Undermining the New Marketplace
Origins
Trade-In Allowances and Over-Allowances
Controlling Over-Allowances
Cheating: "Buyers Are Liars"—And So Are Sellers
5. The Triumph of the Price Pack: Selling the Deal
Price Padding with the Pack
After-Sales Packing
The 1950s: ". . . for Thieves to Sell to Mental Defectives"
Advertising and Blitz Marketing
Posting a Price
The Great Warranty War
6. Bad Guys
The Car Seller's Career: Nasty, Brutish, and Short
The Sales Game: Tactics
The Sales Game: Strategy
Car Dealers' Reputation and Character
7. Bargaining and Gender
"The Great American Sport of Bargaining"
Brokers
Cars and Masculinity
Women as Buyers and Sellers
Epilogue: Still Horse Trading in the Internet Age
The Dealer's Cost
Make Me an Offer!
Notes
Index