1890's consumption

This image is reflective of the 1890's because it shows that people had leisure time and had many options at their disposal. This photo is of the Winter Park hotel, which survived for ten years and seems like it was a very popular place. In the photo, well-dressed men and women enjoy themselves lounging around out on the upstairs deck. In the 1890's places like this were very common, since more people than ever before had plenty of money to spend on themselves. The people in the photo are well-dressed, showing their status as either middle or upper class. People of the time had money to do things that they wanted to, such as travel. All of the people in this hotel shows that the locals either liked the place, or that it was recievinng a lot of business. More than likely, it was the second one. In a place such as winter park, which was designed as a resort town in Florida for the rich northerners, a hotel would get a lot of business from the wealthy on vacation. Hotels were the perfect example of how the 1890's flourished, because when hotels are gaining money and growing in size, it means that people have extra money that they can spend on leisure time. Even though this hotel didn't last, other people spent more money building more businesses. The common people had money to start businesses, showing that the economy was very strong at this point in history. after the hotel was closed down, the building was turned into other buildings; first a skating rink in 1900, and then a drugstore. The repetitive business attempts show that people had money to spend. all of these businesses were consumptive, either for leisure or spending. This building, and the people involved with it, show that people were spending money on themselves requently, and during the time period they had money to spend.