Nailing Down the Niche

When beginning to think about Coining For Capital, as a History major, I often think to the milieu of the point in time which is being discussed.  The early works discussed by Kapur, such as the original version of The Little Princess, were first distributed around the time of the second World War.  This was a time, especially after the war, when Americans, and America itself, found their lot for the most part improved.  With this came not only faith in they system of capitalism, but also, due to the general increase in money, children could attend more school.  Also individuals, perhaps more significantly children, wielded much larger purchasing power.  As companies began to notice this they often began to specifically target children, attempting to shape individuals from childhood into rabid consumers, this would only be exacerbated by subsequent improvements in advertising.  Ideas about what children should be and act like grew more and and more concise.  Similarly, it seems companies would stretch further and further to sell their version of reality to kids and adults alike.  An example of this is the complete lack of historical accuracy in Pocahontas.  As Kapur points out, their was no love interest between John Smith and Pocahontas in real life, they were many years apart in age.  This among things like the seeming agreement of Native Americans and English Colonizers to live in peace and harmony.  While I understand that everyone is entitled to poetic licensing, I feel that we must not allow History to be whitewashed by sweet sounding falsehoods.