THE TEXTURE OF INDUSTRY This page intentionally left blank THE TEXTURE OF INDUSTRY An Archaeological View of the Industrialization of North America Robert B. Gordon Patrick M. Malone New York Oxford • Oxford University Press Oxford University Press Oxford New York Athens A nek land Bangkok Bogota Bombay Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town l)ar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madras Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc. t'irst published in 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc., 198 Madison Avenue, Ne\v York, New York 10016 I'irst issued as an Oxford University Press paperback 1997 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gordon. Robert B. (Robert Hovel), 1929- 1 he texture oi industry : an archaeological view of the industriali/ation of North America / Robert B. Gordon. Patrick M. Malone. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 19-50S8HS-2; ISBN 0-19-51 U41-9 (pbk.J 1. Industrial archaeology- North America. 2. Industriali/ation—North America. I. Malone. Patrick M. 1!. 'Title. T21.G67 1994 609.7-—dc20 92-17396 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 Printed in the United Stales o! America on acid-free paper For Margaret, Matthew, and Penelope This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Many of our ideas have been developed in the course of eonversations with Carolyn Cooper and Michael Raber, our colleagues and collaborators in numerous industrial archaeology projects. Robert Vogel, one of the first practitioners of industrial archaeology in the United States, has generously shared his extensive experience and insights, helped us with machine-tool studies, and allowed us to use his collections of photographs and documents. Charles Hyde read the first draft of the manuscript and helped us with many valuable suggestions. He also shared his extensive knowledge of the industrial archaeology of Detroit and northern Michigan. Peter Licbhold assisted in our experiments with historic machine tools and helped us locate many illustrations. A number of scholars have discussed interpretation in industrial archae- ology with us, including Richard Anderson, Martin Blatt, John Bowditch, John Bowie, Pierre Bureau, James Celenza, Bruce Clouette, John Cotter, Victor Darnell, Susan Douglas, Edward Ezell, the late Michael Folsom, Robert Friedel, Greg Galer, Richard Greenwood, Laurence Gross, Richard Hills, Donald Hoke, David Hounshell, Donald Jackson, Emory Kemp, David Killick, Larry Lankton, Thomas Leary, Svante Lindqvist, Carter Litchiield, Steven Lubar, Judith iVlcGaw, Patrick Martin, Peter Molloy, Sandra Nor- man, Charles Parrott, Theodore Pcnn, Edward Pershey, Fredric Quivik, Terry Reynolds, Matthew Roth, Theodore Sande, Bruce Sinclair, Merritt Roe Smith, Myron Stachiw, David Starbuck, Robert Weible, David Weit/,- man, Dennis Zembala, and Michael Zuckcrman. Scholars who have shared unpublished manuscripts, reports, and re- search findings with us include Robert Asher, Betsy Bahr, Paul Bigelow, Lindy Biggs, Julia Bonham, Anne Booth, Nancy Cleary, Edward Connors, viU ACKNOWLEDGMENTS James Conrad, Kim Dawson, Mary Donahue, Emma Dyson, Robert Frame, Kingston Heath, Michael Herbert, Demian Hess, Louis Hutchins, Steven Kasierski, (Jinny Leslie, John Light, John Lozier, William Mass, John MeGrain, Mark Newell, Scott Nixon, Douglas Reynolds, Victor Rolando, Edward Rutseh, Roch Samson, Helen Schcnck, George Sellmer, Peter Stott, Alan Steiner, and Bonnie Stepenoii. Institutions and individuals who allowed us to use specific illustrations are acknowledged in the figure captions, but there are others who deserve special credit for taking photographs, creating maps, or producing drawings. 1 ,yn Malone used her cartographic skills to produce four of our figures. Charles Parrott drew the Wilkinson waterwheel and provided copies of other illustrations. Bill Sacco, Greg Galer, Charles Hyde, Matthew Roth, Brooke Hammcrle, and Charles Francis did photography at our request. David Wcitzman, who provided a number of photographs from his personal collec- tion, made a special trip to photograph a California mining site for us. Many colleagues at Yale have helped us with discussions and counsel, including Michael Coc, William Nordhaus, Turan Onat, Brian Skinner, and William Smith. William Cronon, Leo Hickey, and the other members of the faculty seminar on the environment have given us new insights, as have Abbott Cummings, Frank Hole, Howard Lamar, Jules Provvn, and other members of the Yale American Art and Material Culture discussion group. Arthur Goodhue has given us an oral history of toolmaking. We have re- ceived help from Barbara McCorklc at the Sterling Memorial Library map room, Aida Rodriguez at the Kline Geology Laboratory, William Sacco of the Peabody Museum, Renee Kra, Barbara Narendra, and Stephen Victor. Colleagues at Brown have been equally helpful. Joseph Steim read the petroleum sections, provided important sources and suggestions, and an- alyzed historic photographs. Susan Smulyan, Barrett Hazeltine, Hunter Dupree, and the late Carl Bridenbaugh were very generous with counsel and support. Richard Could, Patricia Hubertone, and Larry Murphy provided anthropological insights. Peter Heywood helped with ecological theory. Paul Kahn and Cooper Abbott used the Intermedia computer program to model some of our ideas on wood technology. Kathy Franz assisted in research and with captions. Ned Connors proofread galleys. Carol Frost assisted in the preparation of the indexes. The American Civilization Department and the university administration provided a most welcome sabbatical leave at a critical point in this project. The Smithsonian Institution has important collections of artifacts, draw- ings, and photographs. We have benefited from access to these collections and from assistance given by many members of the Smithsonian staff, in- cluding Nanci Edwards, Edward Ezell, Bernard Finn, Harry Hunter, Peggy ACKNOWLEDGMENTS j x Kidwcll, Gary Kulik, Peter Liebhold, Steven Lubar, Arthur Molclla, Robert Post, Jim Rowan, Terry Sharrer, Carlene Stephens, Jeffrey Stine, Susan Tolbcrt, Deborah Warner, John White, William Worthington, and Helena Wright. A Regents' fellowship at the Smithsonian provided time for comple- tion of the manuscript. Hric Delony, Kllen Minnich, and Gray Fitzsimons helped us with access to the Historic American Engineering Record (HAKR) collections of the National Park Service. Stephen Ostrow expedited the duplication of photo- graphs from the HAF,R collections at the Library of Congress. At the Slater Mill Historic Site, Holly Begley, William Johnson, and Gail Mohanty cooperated with enthusiasm. In addition, we got valuable help from former curatorial staff (Gary Kulik, Sandra Norman, Thomas Leary, Stephen Victor, Priscilla Brewer, John Johnson, and Robert Macieski) and from trustees such as Walter Pulawski, David Macaulay, Judith Benedict, and Dana Newbrook. At the Museum of American Textile History, Laurence Gross read several sections of the manuscript, generously shared the results of his research on the textile industry, and found important documents, artifacts, and photo- graphs for us. Glare Sheridan and her staff provided wonderful access to the library and graphics collections. Diane Affleck supplied information on fab- rics. Directors Thomas Leavitt and Paul Rivard were highly supportive, and the museum awarded a generous Sullivan fellowship for research on incre- mental innovation in the textile industry. Members of the Old Sturbridge Village research and curatorial staff who have given us new ideas on the transformation of American life from agri- cultural to industrial and helped us locate sources and photographs include Jack Larkin, John Worrell, Myron Stachiw, Garoline Sloat, Tom Kelleher, and Frank White. At the Hugh Moore Museum, Lance Met/ and Mike Knies helped us examine photographs. At the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, John Bowditch gave us a tour of the machinery collections, and archivists provided access to Ford Motor Company photographs. At the Hagley Muse- um, we were assisted by Frank McKelvey and Robert Howard. Stuart Frank, Mary Malloy, and Gare Reid at the Kendall Whaling Museum let us partici- pate in several whale-oil renderings and provided data on the results of these imitative experiments. Greg Galer and James Parkinson showed us artifacts and videotapes at the Valentine Museum and helped us examine the site of the Trcdcgar Iron Works. At the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, John McCabe, William Meuse, Richard Harkins, Larry Lowenthal, and Stuart Vogt answered many questions and located artifacts for us.