Description
Book SynopsisFlexibility, specialization, and niche marketing helped the United States emerge as a global manufacturing leader between the Civil War and World War I. This book recasts the history of this vital episode in the development of American business, by considering the crucial impact of trades featuring specialty, not standardized, production.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1998 "This carefully researched, theoretically informed, and imaginatively structured book will command a broad readership... This volume presents a coherent and compelling alternative to the studies of managerial capitalism and big business that have dominated business history."--Thomas J. Misa, American Historical Review "In contrast to ... stories of mass production, Scranton's Endless Novelty develops a more nuanced and ultimately more convincing account of the second industrial revolution... [This is a] compact and meticulously researched study."--David E. Nye, Nature "Endless Novelty's most provocative challenge to economic orthodoxy ... is its thesis that price competition is not the best route for business to follow. Much of the book can be seen as a brief against the exhalation of price reductions over other business advantages... Ultimately, Endless Novelty is a valuable reminder that a humane workplace can and should exist."--James Surowiecki, Lingua Franca "By subverting the deterministic narrative of mass production, Scranton has helped to make the story of the American economy safe for diversity once again."--Kenneth Lipartito, Technology and Culture
Table of ContentsList of TablesPrefaceCh. 1Introduction3Pt. IEarly Years25Ch. 2Specialty Manufacturing to 187627Ch. 3Institutions and the Context for Specialty Production60Pt. IICentennial to Columbian: Specialty Producers, 1876-189379Ch. 4The 1876 Exposition and Philadelphia Manufacturing81Ch. 5Providence and New York: Jewelry, Silverware, and Printing108Ch. 6Midwestern Specialists: Cincinnati Tools and Grand Rapids Furniture133Pt. IIIDepression and Advance, 1893-1912161Ch. 7Chicago and Grand Rapids: Palace Cars and Furniture163Ch. 8Fashioning the Machine Tool Hub: Cincinnati193Ch. 9Back East: The Electrical Equipment Industry220Ch. 10The Perils of Providence Jewelry's Erratic Course241Ch. 11Workshop of the World: Philadelphia260Pt. IVDiverging Pathways, 1913-1925295Ch. 12War, Depression, and Specialty Production into the 1920s297Ch. 13Looking Ahead344Notes357Index407
