Figured Tapestry

Focusing on the Philadelphia textile trades from the era of the Knights of Labor through World War II this book is a study of industrial maturity and decline. The author assesses the significance and limits of industrial versatility owner-operated businesses craft labor and its organizations and the agglomeration of specialized mills in urban districts. An interdisciplinary blend of business labor urban and economic history industrial geography and the history of technology the book illuminates the hidden world of batch production the other side of American industrialization and highlights both the benefits and the hazards of flexibility.