McFall, Liz and Dodsworth, Francis
(2009).
Fabricating the market: The promotion of life assurance in the long nineteenth-century.
Journal of Historical Sociology, 22(1)
pp. 30–54.
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Abstract
The market for life assurance did not emerge "naturally" from a particular problem of the allocation of resources, it had to be made. Life insurance had to appear desirable and reliable. This involved the circulation of a variety of advertising media, one aspect of which was the fabrication of grand offices as headquarters for life assurance companies. These buildings and their widely-circulated images were part of a process of making life assurance appear prudent and proper, but more importantly secure. Through this fabrication of the liberal market, the City of London was transformed into a centre of commerce and finance.
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