In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: CONTEXT & OVERVIEW @ The Philadelphia of To-Day, 1908. This publication celebrating the 225th anniversary of Philadelphia’s founding proclaims it “The World’s Greatest Workshop.” In this aerial view of the city, the Delaware River is in the foreground, the Schuylkill River in the background. The island on far left is League Island, site of the U.S. Navy Yard. GEOGRAPHY & MAP DIVISION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Of the many nicknames that have been bestowed on the City of Philadelphia—Quaker City, Cradle of Liberty, City of Neighborhoods, and of course its literal translation, City of Brotherly Love— there is one that was popular around the turn of the twentieth century that best captures the city’s role at that time as a manufacturing powerhouse: Workshop of the World. The phrase is not an exaggeration. While Philadelphia may be renowned today for its history, its arts and culture, and its sports teams, for the better part of a century it was known primarily as one of the world’s most important manufacturing centers. “Philadelphia is the greatest manufacturing city in the world,” wrote Arthur Shadwell, English author of a comprehensive two-volume study of industry in Europe and America that was published in 1906. Philadelphia was the city that produced everything from the iconic hats worn by American cowboys to ships that sailed the seven seas and locomotives that powered trains on five continents to tools, clothing, and textiles used all over the world. IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBERTY 8
This is a history of manufacturing in Philadelphia, from its beginnings in the late seventeenth century to the “postindustrial” city of the early twenty-first. It is intended as a broad overview of the subject for the general reader; it is by no means a scholarly or comprehensive study. To fully cover the rich and complex story of manufacturing in Philadelphia over the course of its 330-plus year history would take several volumes. This is a brief version of that long, multi-faceted story, an overview of the key developments and significant narratives in the history of Philadelphia manufacturing, with a special focus on the people and companies that have had a particularly important role in shaping that history. It is very much a pictorial history, highly illustrated with archival photographs, prints, and other images. OVERALL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING IN PHILADELPHIA In its simplest form the history of manufacturing in Philadelphia can be summarized as follows: the commencement of manufacturing on a mostly small scale by artisans and craftsmen working in shops in the colonial period, followed by the introduction of machine-based factory production methods in the early years of the nineteenth century, leading to Philadelphia’s central role in America’s industrial revolution of the early to mid-nineteenth century, followed by the development of manufacturing on a massive scale and Philadelphia’s emergence as an industrial giant in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The latter period of intense industrial activity was followed by a dramatic downsizing in manufacturing in the second half of the twentieth century and the city’s transition to a much smaller, more specialized manufacturing sector in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Within this broad, over-simplified story line lays a myriad of individual narratives, a web of interrelated stories that unfold in intriguing and, in some cases, surprising or dramatic fashion. The history outlined above is similar in many ways to that of any number of other northern American cities that were once major manufacturing centers. There are, however, several specific characteristics to the growth and development of manufacturing in Philadelphia that make its history unique. Chief among these is that Philadelphia has always supported an amazing variety of manufacturers. Unlike some cities—Detroit and automobiles, Pittsburgh and steel— Philadelphia was never dependent on just one or two industries. The range of products the city was a world leader in making is truly extraordinary, encompassing textiles and garments, hats, carpets, iron and steel products, machine tools and hardware, locomotives, street and rail cars, ships, saws, medical @ Above: Aerial view of the massive Baldwin Locomotive Works at Broad and Spring Garden Streets, c. 1884. Baldwin was the largest locomotive works in the world and Philadelphia’s biggest employer at this time. From History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, by Thomas Scharf and Thomson Westcott. Below: Hog Island Shipyard, South Philadelphia, 1918. Hog Island was a huge naval shipyard during World War I, employing over 35,000 workers who assembled military vessels. It closed soon after the War and the site later became Philadelphia International Airport. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SHIPBUILDING COLLECTION, INDEPENDENCE SEAPORT MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA. CHAPTER ONE 9
Page 1 and 2: IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
Page 3 and 4: IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTS 4 FOREWORD 6 ACKNOWLEDGEME
Page 7 and 8: @ Michael A. Nutter, Former Mayor,
Page 9: For the historical images that enli
Page 13 and 14: While other manufacturing centers w
Page 15 and 16: @ Above: Workers at Midvale Steel p
Page 17 and 18: aircraft that dates to the earliest
Page 19 and 20: would hold into the early nineteent
Page 21 and 22: technology, transportation, and com
Page 23 and 24: age had joined the Religious Societ
Page 25 and 26: Philadelphians lived in the city’
Page 27 and 28: “and many boats, which are useful
Page 29 and 30: Quaker merchant Thomas Masters purc
Page 31 and 32: INDUSTRY INVENTORS Manufacturers in
Page 33 and 34: Quaker upbringing. Known as the “
Page 35 and 36: MAKING A CASE FOR AMERICAN MANUFACT
Page 37 and 38: up cotton manufacturing operations
Page 39 and 40: After receiving a patent for the en
Page 41 and 42: The Globe Mill on the Cohocksink Cr
Page 43 and 44: @ Opposite: Detail from 1849 map sh
Page 45 and 46: of the town’s total population. S
Page 47 and 48: On a positive note, a group of Fran
Page 49 and 50: factories with a powerful energy so
Page 51 and 52: and flagship for Commodore Matthew
Page 53 and 54: @ Left: Penn Steam Engine & Boiler
Page 55 and 56: Garrett & Eastwick Locomotive Works
Page 57 and 58: seen. The episode brought Hagner co
Page 59 and 60: United States, the nation’s de-fa
Page 61 and 62:
The turn of the twentieth century p
Page 63 and 64:
in various categories at the Centen
Page 65 and 66:
makers, 20 stove manufacturers, 12
Page 67 and 68:
and lace, in which Kensington manuf
Page 69 and 70:
through exploitation of their worke
Page 71 and 72:
@ Left: Yard locomotives at Midvale
Page 73 and 74:
among the largest in the world at t
Page 75 and 76:
factory nearby. This became the lar
Page 77 and 78:
she writes of the sad circumstances
Page 79 and 80:
@ Clockwise, starting from the top:
Page 81 and 82:
BEER AND TOBACCO Beer making contin
Page 83 and 84:
MILK AND ICE CREAM Like any major c
Page 85 and 86:
the Philadelphia Phillies. Located
Page 87 and 88:
and a half later from a city of man
Page 89 and 90:
After major cutbacks in the auto in
Page 91 and 92:
into countless lunchboxes throughou
Page 93 and 94:
hangar space in 1980 at Northeast P
Page 95 and 96:
is the nation’s largest manufactu
Page 97 and 98:
fuel for local industries, current
Page 99 and 100:
centralize operations in the buildi
Page 101 and 102:
BOOKS AND ARTICLES Bridenbaugh, Car
Page 103 and 104:
Sutcliffe, Andrea J. Steam: The Unt
Page 105 and 106:
Penrose, Bartholomew & Thomas shipy
Page 107 and 108:
PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA H
Page 109 and 110:
@ Left: An early Kingsbury advertis
Page 111 and 112:
PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA 1
Page 113 and 114:
Aerodynamics. The name DeVal was a
Page 115 and 116:
packaging and shipping; and nondest
Page 117 and 118:
Another step in product advancement
Page 119 and 120:
PHILLY CASE From the basement of a
Page 121 and 122:
Under Yost’s direction, The Rowla
Page 123 and 124:
The story of Tioga Pipe is a classi
Page 125 and 126:
neighborhood. The increased product
Page 127 and 128:
Humphrys is one of the oldest manuf
Page 129 and 130:
The Doherty brothers realized, to s
Page 131 and 132:
Centrally located off the Pennsylva
Page 133 and 134:
Jersey and Delaware. Outgrowing the
Page 135 and 136:
Philadelphia is famous for its appr
Page 137 and 138:
injection molded plastic to enter t
Page 139 and 140:
had expanded from smaller pieces fo
Page 141 and 142:
for many years and they know the fi
Page 143 and 144:
furnace as well as a custom flame h
Page 145 and 146:
and Salmon Streets. The company wou
Page 147 and 148:
The company capitalized on the stra
Page 149 and 150:
discharges. The supercapacitors are
Page 151 and 152:
products that are custom designed t
Page 153 and 154:
Today manufacturing matters, now mo
Page 155:
LEADERSHIP SPONSORS Historical Publ
show all

In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?