Preindustrial city dwellers read class from appearance effortlessly

Evidence

I suspect that in the preindustrial city, an intelligent and knowledgeable observer would no more have required codification of class indicators than a contemporary adult requires written instructions to distinguish between a Volkswagen and a Cadillac. In any case, portraits such as these are utilized. As we shall see later, however, the particularly skilled urbanite uses them cautiously. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 481

Categorization

• XREF: Sharpens the historical contrast Lofland draws between preindustrial and modern cities throughout; relevant to the reader’s account of how civil inattention replaces legible status cues.