Apart from houses and land where mortgages have been around for hundred(s?) of years, loans for consumer items were never a common thing until about the end of

Apart from houses and land where mortgages have been around for hundred(s?) of years, loans for consumer items were never a common thing until about the end of WW2. You either paid cash for something or you went without it. There was no 'Buy Now, Pay Later' until laws were changed to allow that to happen somewhere around the 1950s when "Hire Purchase" became a thing. Not long after that, the first Credit Cards appeared, which made purchases possible without having to go through the rigmarole of a specific loan arrangement each and every time you bought something. Arrange one credit card loan and buy whatever you want up to the limit on the credit card.