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
Markets and the Evolution of Production | |
New Means of Production and the Manufacturing Dynamic | |
Prospects | |
Potential Usage | |
The Birth of the Sewing Machine | |
The Virtuous Circle of Failure | |
Repeat Inventors | |
The Goodyear Machine | |
18621901 | |
Estimates of Annual Shoe Output 18591899 | |
Internal versus External Determinants | |
Inventive Leadership and Integration | |
Two Results | |
Old Paths and | |
The Path of Sewing Machine Development | |
Ongoing Mechanization and New Sectors | |
Agencies 1862 1866 1872 and 1882 | |
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Common terms and phrases
agencies barriers Boot and Shoe Boston capital capitalist chain stitch chain-stitch channeling commodity path commodity usage concentrated craft crossover inventors diffusion directories division of labor dynamic economic evolution factory Goodyear Goodyear Welt History Howe’s improved Industrial Revolution innovations inventors took knowledge labor power lasting machine learning by selling Leather Industries Leather Reporter leather-sewing machine patents lockstitch Lynn machine inventors machinery firms machinists Mantoux Marx Massachusetts McDermott McKay machine 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 machines shoe manufacturing shoe output shoe patents shoe production shoemaking Singer sold sole spread stitch Table technical change techniques technological technological convergence thread U.S. Census Office U.S. patent U.S. Treasury Department upper waxed-thread machines welt workers