The central argument of this article is that current historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused too narrowly on the retail of durables (perhaps with the exception of colonial groceries) and on retailers' guilds. The role of food-producing and/or food-retailing guilds hitherto has received less attention. Research into retail practices has not connected to an older (but still lively) research tradition in which the consumption of basic foodstuffs received the bulk of attention. We argue that if selling bread is approached as a ‘system of provision’, competing retail circuits and the different ways in which subsequent subsistence crises affected each of those circuits offer an additional explanation (next to well-documented changes in demand) for the inclusion of other basic provisions, colonial groceries, clothing, and even durables in the assortment of traditional food-producing and food-retailing guild masters, in this case the Leuven bakers.

Poll-tax lists and probate inventories from the small town of Lier reveal an expanding middle class with an enduring investment in objects and activities that signaled prudence and trustworthiness. The middle class created a self-image of respectability by consuming hot drinks in tastefully decorated dining rooms and parlors. Rather than curbing the desire for novelty, the adverse economic conditions of the 1720s sharpened the relative importance of participation in activities that signified credibility.

For most of its history Amsterdam securities trading was entirely unregulated and spread over various venues frequented by different social groups, handicapping price transparency. A public price current emerged only in 1796 and then with wide bid-ask spreads to protect margins. To combat the confusion a curious pricing method, the mid-price system, emerged during the nineteenth century. Tied to a market microstructure centring on hoekmannen (market makers), this system transited effortlessly from a public market into a monopoly by 1913, self-governing, still without any government regulation, and offering wide rent-seeking opportunities.

To fully understand and exploit the contents of stock exchange official price lists, an in-depth knowledge of local stock exchange regulations and practices is required. This article offers a comparative perspective on price discovery and quotation on the two most important Belgian stock exchanges, Brussels and Antwerp, from their establishment in 1801 up to the reform of 1935.