The role of the consumer in the history of economic theory is reviewed to derive a number of hypotheses regarding the conditions which might foster a sustained consumer movement. A survey of the consumer advocacy literature and consumer protection legislation of the 20th century supports the hypothesis that a sustained consumer movement did not manifest itself in the United States until the 1960s. Although the continued sustenance of this movement is open to debate, this article cites a number of attributes of the current state of the movement which suggest that it shall endure and flourish.