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This paper examines the obstacles to studying and using displaced radio archives, taking as a case study a collection of historic recordings from Nazi Germany that is held at the Czech Radio archive in Prague. This so-called 'Loot Collection' (Kořistní fond) occupies an awkward position between established categories and is confronted simultaneously by the challenges common to historic sound archives, and those specific to collections which have been displaced from their point of origin. The paper shares some early analysis of the history and content of this collection, and argues for a transnational approach to 'activate' other overlooked archival collections whose history and relevance spreads across contemporary national borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of Swedish mail-order catalogues in the everyday life of the early twentieth century, and in the development of consumer culture. The study deals with the materiality, content and distribution of the mail-order catalogues as well as their use in everyday life. The case of Åhlén & Holm, a major Swedish mail-order company, and its audience is relevant beyond the national context, since it demonstrates how extensive distribution of and interaction with commercial media can induce a crucial societal change such as the development of consumer culture. Arguing for a 'media history from below', the source material consists of responses to a qualitative questionnaire, besides catalogues and other material from the company archive. The result shows that the mediated encounter with Åhlén & Holm provided its audience with a commercial literacy that entailed both an emancipation from the economic, geographical and social constraints of everyday life and a confinement in a commercial world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]