Tools of Progress

"Founded in 1865, the Casa Boker is one of the oldest and most prestigious stores in Mexico City. At its peak, it was known as "the Sears of Mexico," a department store that sold 40,000 different products across the republic, including sewing machines, typewriters, tools, cutlery, and even insurance. Managed by the great-grandsons of its founder, the Casa Boker continues in business in Mexico City." "Through a revolution, the Great Depression, and two world wars, the Casa Boker thrived as a Mexican business while its owners clung to their German identity. Today, the family still speaks German but considers itself Mexican." "Buchenau's study transcends the categories of local vs. foreign and insider vs. outsider by demonstrating that one family could be commercial insiders and, at the same time, cultural outsiders. Because the Bokers saw themselves as entrepreneurs first and Germans second, Buchenau suggests that transnational theory, a framework previously used to illustrate the fluidity of national identity in poor immigrants, is the best way of understanding this and other elite families of foreign origin."--BOOK JACKET.