During the nineteenth century, Massachusetts was transformed from a
fishing and farming economy into a highly urbanized industrial
state. This book presents an appealing portrait of the diverse
manufacturing enterprises that flourished from 1865 through the
1920s and the colorful trade cards they used to market their goods.
More than thirty years after the Revolutionary War, the United
States remained dependent on Europe for most manufactured goods.
The War of 1812 persuaded a number of Boston merchants to invest in
industries at home. Using waterpower, cotton from the South, and
locally built machinery, they established textile mills at Waltham
and later at Lowell and Lawrence. Following the decline of whaling,
Fall River and New Bedford also became textile towns. With the help
of protective tariffs, Massachusetts mills could compete against
textile imports. Mass-production methods of manufacture were soon
applied to shoes, organs and pianos, parlor stoves and kitchen
ranges, and sewing machines, among many other products. As steam
power replaced water power, factories were built close to railroad
tracks and near town centers. Lynn, Brockton, and Haverhill
developed as shoe-towns. Boston grew rapidly as the financial and
cultural hub and became a world-class center for the raw wool,
cotton, and leather markets, as well as the port of export for
manufactured goods. Springfield and Worcester built the machinery
for the factories and became centers for precision tool making.
With fierce competition, new methods were needed to sell the goods.
Massachusetts-made products were extensively displayed at the 1876
Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and at the 1893 World's
Columbian Exposition in Chicago, as well as at shows in Europe.
Attractive trade cards were widely distributed to introduce these
goods to customers across the United States and abroad. During the
Gilded Age of Massachusetts industry, everything most people needed
was locally made and sold in locally owned stores. Patent
medicines, bicycles, motorcycles, and even automobiles were added
to the list of products made in Massachusetts. Over time, the old
red-brick industry has been replaced by a service economy based on
higher education, financial services, biomedical research, and
healthcare. ""Goods for Sale"" pays tribute to the state's
manufacturing enterprises during their period of greatest
prominence.
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