Credit where cash is due: Christmas on the plastic

xmas16-nearly-here

| By James Alex Waldron, Marketing Communications Manager |

When we covered The Commercialisation of Christmas last year, hundreds of you followed the story of how advertising shifted the mood of the season from religious festival to retail bonanza.

As 2016 became the year of smartphone projectors, Bluetooth headphones, and Minion Pie Faces, I used Gale Primary Sources to provide the next part in our story of evolving buying habits. Following the reflections in the Press to provide part two — from early private brand announcements to full-page menus of big-ticket goods. What happened when the retailers themselves pushed gifts that necessitated new ways to pay.

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The American Civil Liberties Union – foundation, campaigns and contemporary relevance

After the First World War, many Americans feared that the Communist Revolution in Russia would spread to the United States. Fear outweighed rational debate, leading to a clamp down on civil liberties, with thousands arrested without warrants. In response, a small group of individuals set up the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In the years since then, the ACLU has evolved from a small organization to the nation’s principal defender of civil rights, playing a role in some of the most famous events in twentieth-century American history.

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Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Literature, Grammar, Language, Catalogues and Periodicals

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Literature, Grammar, Language, Catalogues and Periodicals, the final module of the Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library collection, launches this month on the 16th December. This module showcases works of Arabic fiction, poetry, grammatical works, catalogues, newspapers and periodicals. Here are some highlights of the collection:

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