REFINED TASTES - SUGAR, CONFECTIONERY AND CONSUMERS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA

American consumers today regard sugar as a mundane and sometimes even troublesome substance linked to hyperactivity in children and other health concerns. Yet two hundred years ago American consumers treasured sugar as a rare commodity and consumed it only in small amounts. In 'Refined Tastes: Sugar, Confectionery, and Consumers in Nineteenth-Century America', Wendy A. Woloson demonstrates how the cultural role of sugar changed from being a precious luxury good to a ubiquitous necessity. Sugar became a social marker that established and reinforced class and gender differences.