Trams or Tailfins? – Public and Private Prosperity in Postwar West Germany and the United States

“This intriguing book will provide much for social, cultural, and comparative historians to consider, not least for showing some of the limits of the concept of cultural ‘Americanization, ‘ but also for providing a template for evaluating the interactions of planning, regulation, and culture in other countries. The book deserves a wide audience among postwar historians.” — “Choice”

“In this wonderfully evocative account of American and West German consumerism, Jan Logemann demonstrates clearly and convincingly that even within the capitalist west the paths taken to mass affluence varied significantly during the era of the Cold War. Trams or Tailfins? shows that governments, citizens and shoppers faced real choices in the types of consumer society they wished to build. Logemann’s excellent account–encompassing the political, economic, social and cultural aspects of consumption–is a significant and important contribution that will ensure we all remember that affluence is about both private and public goods.”
–Matthew Hilton “University of Birmingham, Edgbaston”

“Jan L. Logemann persuasively reevaluates the American and the West German varieties of consumerism as they emerged after 1945. This is comparative history at its best.”
–Hartmut Berghoff “Director, German Historical Institute”

“Jan L. Logemann provides an outstanding contribution to the history of consumption that will be an important read for scholars of European and American history. Trams or Tailfins? is an excellent model for how consumer history can be embedded within the history of public policy.”
–Katherine Pence “Baruch College, City University of New York”