Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>As an island in the mid-Atlantic, Iceland was far removed from the major centres of production and consumption that characterized the modern world. How then, can consumption in Iceland be addressed, without resorting to tired narratives of delayed or lagged development explained by remoteness and conservatism of a farming community? In this chapter, the need for a different take on consumption is suggested, one that focuses on the way things, especially new consumer goods, were integrated into lifeways and everyday practices. What matters is not how or when the consumer revolution took place in Iceland, but rather how consumer goods affected and entered local spheres of valuation. In this chapter, people’s investment strategies in Iceland during the eighteenth and nineteenth century will be explored by looking at two zones of intersection: one between market and household, and the other within the household itself.</jats:p>