The Scramble for the Teenage Dollar: Creating the Youth Market in Mid-Century Canada

Studies how the identity of the Canadian teenager shifted in the twentieth century into that of a consumer.

Co-ed, junior miss, grad, teenster. From the late 1930s to the 1950s, the teenager emerged as a distinct and ideal market segment. The Scramble for the Teenage Dollar explores how consumption became an integral part of being a teenager.

This nascent consumer—always a white, middle-class, heterosexual high school student—had purchasing power that demanded recognition. At least, that wa...