The Path to Mechanized Shoe Production in the United StatesIn 1800, shoes in the United States were made by craftsmen, each trained to create an entire shoe. A century later, shoes were mass-produced in factories employing dozens of machines and specialized workers. Ross Thomson describes this transition from craft to mechanized production in one of the largest American industries of the nineteenth century. Early shoe machinery originated through innovations made by shoemakers, tailors, and especially machinists. It continued to evolve through a process of "learning by selling," in which sales of one generation of machines led to technological learning and ongoing invention by those who used, serviced, and sold them. As a result of this process, the mechanization of the shoe industry and the manufacturers of the machinery it used -- including such firms as Singer and United Shoe Machinery -- evolved together. In researching the process of industrialization, Thomson examined nearly 8,000 patents. Comparing the patent information with directories for more than eighty American cities, he was able to find out who the inventors were, who employed them, how many patents they held, and the extent to which their inventions were used. Originally published in 1989. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value. |
Contents
Market Formation and Growth | |
Towns 1832 | |
Production and the Central Shop | |
Markets and the Evolution of Production | |
New Means of Production and the Manufacturing Dynamic | |
Prospects | |
Agencies 1862 1866 1872 and 1882 | |
Repeat Inventors | |
Patents 18621882 | |
The Goodyear Machine | |
WaxedThread Invention as a Whole | |
18621901 | |
Ongoing Shoe Invention | |
Integration by Inventors | |
Prospects and Processes | |
The Virtuous Circle of Failure | |
1880 | |
The Path of Sewing Machine Development | |
Ongoing Mechanization and New Sectors | |
Inventive Leadership and Integration | |
Two Results | |
Old Paths and | |
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Common terms and phrases
agencies barriers Blake Boot and Shoe Boston bottoming capital capitalist chain stitch clothing commodity path commodity usage concentrated craft crossover inventors diffusion directories division of labor dry-thread machines economic evolution factory Goodyear Goodyear Welt heeling Howe’s improved Industrial Revolution innovations knowledge labor power lasting machine Leather Industries Leather Reporter lockstitch Lynn machine inventors machinery firms machinists Mantoux Marx Massachusetts McDermott McKay Middle Atlantic multiple inventors needle nodal companies nodal firms ongoing operations organization pegged shoe pegging machine percent problem putting-out system region repeat inventing repeat patents Scientific American self-usage sewing machine patents share Shoe and Leather shoe industry shoe invention shoe machinery shoe machines shoe manufacturing shoe output shoe patents shoe production shoemaking Singer skills sold sole spread stitch Table technical change techniques technological technologically convergent thread U.S. Census Office U.S. patent U.S. Treasury Department United upper waxed-thread machines welt Wheeler and Wilson workers