Endless Novelty: Specialty Production and American Industrialization, 1865-1925

431 Pages·2000·7.657 MB·English

by  Philip Scranton

ENDLESS NOVELTY

ENDLESS NOVELTY
SPECIALTY PRODUCTION AND
AMERICAN INDUSTRIALIZATION,
1865-1925
PHILIP SCRANTON
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright © 1997 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
3 Market Place, Woodstock, Oxfordshire 0X20 1SY
All Rights Reserved
Second printing, and first paperback printing, 2000
Paperback ISBN 0-691-07018-0
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of
this book as follows
Scranton, Philip.
Endless novelty : specialty production and American
industrialization, 1865-1925 / Philip Scranton,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-691-07018-6
1. Manufacturing industries—United States—History.
2. Specialty stores—United States—History. I. Title.
HD9725.S39 1998
338.4'767'0973—dc21 97-11479
This book has been composed in Palatino
The paper used in this publication meets the
minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
(R1997) (Permanence of Paper)
www.pup.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
,
To Virginia McIntosh
WITHOUT WHOM, NOTHING,
AND WITH WHOM, EVERYTHING

CONTENTS
List of Tables ix
Preface xi
CHAPTER 1
Introduction 3
PART I: EARLY YEARS 25
CHAPTER 2
Specialty Manufacturing to 1876 27
CHAPTER 3
Institutions and the Context for Specialty Production 60
PART II: CENTENNIAL TO COLUMBIAN:
SPECIALTY PRODUCERS, 1876-1893 79
CHAPTER 4
The 1876 Exposition and Philadelphia Manufacturing 81
CHAPTER 5
Providence and New York: Jewelry, Silverware, and Printing
CHAPTER 6
Midwestern Specialists: Cincinnati Tools and
Grand Rapids Furniture 133
PART III: DEPRESSION AND ADVANCE, 1893-1912 161
CHAPTER 7
Chicago and Grand Rapids: Palace Cars and Furniture 163
CHAPTER 8
Fashioning the Machine Tool Hub: Cincinnati 193
CHAPTER 9
Back East: The Electrical Equipment Industry 220
CHAPTER 10
The Perils of Providence: Jewelry's Erratic Course 241
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER 11
Workshop of the World: Philadelphia 260
PART IV: DIVERGING PATHWAYS, 1913-1925 295
CHAPTER 12
War, Depression, and Specialty Production into the 1920s 297
CHAPTER 13
Looking Ahead 344
Notes 357
Index 407
TABLES
1. Product Groups by User Classes and Producer Formats
(Selected Examples, ca. 1890-1920) 12
2. Specialty Production Sectors, 1909 13
3. Mixed Format Sectors, 1909 14
4. Routinized Production Sectors, 1909 15
5. Leading Specialty Sectors in Philadelphia, by Employ­
ment, Output, and Value Added, 1880 and 1890,
with Citywide Totals 96
6. Changes in Output, Workforce, and Sectoral Shares, Four
Sectors and All Manufacturing, Providence, 1880-1890,
in Percent 115
7. Printing and Publishing Industry, New York City, 1880 127
8. Printing and Publishing Industry, New York City, 1890 128
9. Leading Industrial Sectors, Cincinnati, 1880, by
Production Format 135
10. Leading Industrial Sectors, Cincinnati, 1890, by
Production Format 136
11. Leading Industrial Sectors, Grand Rapids, 1880, by
Production Format 141
12. Leading Industrial Sectors, Grand Rapids, 1890, by
Production Format 142
13. Specialty Production Sectors, $10 Million+ in Output,
by Value Added and Employment, 1890 147
14. Mixed Format Sectors, $10 Million+ in Output, by
Value Added and Employment, 1890 149
15. Routinized Production Sectors, $10 Million+ in Output,
by Value Added and Employment, 1890 150
16. Format Summary, 1890 151
17. Format Summary, 1909 151
18. Gray Planer Orders, by Sales Outlet, 1897-1912,
in Percent 199
19. Gray Planer Orders, Domestic Revenues by Agent,
1897-1912, in Percent 199
20. Gray Planers, by Size and Proportion of Specials,
1897-1912, in Percent 200
X LIST OF TABLES
21. Specialty Production Sectors, by Value Added and
Employment, 1923 341
22. Mixed Format Sectors, by Value Added and
Employment, 1923 342
23. Routinized Production Sectors, by Value Added and
Employment, 1923 343