THE GREAT AMERICAN CUSTOMER

I suppose there is actually nothing very new in the content of this book, but the approach is new -- the combination of content is new. Carl Crow has told the story of American industry from the angle that we discarded the ""carriage trade"" idea of business with our colonial relation to England, and that American industry has been built on the need to bring cost within the range of the mass consumer. To prove his point he tells the story of early ventures in mass production, -- Whitney's first assembly line musket; Terry's clocks, in large quantities at low prices; Paul Revere, pioneer industrialist; machine made tacks and nails; methods of selling; ready to wear grows out of second hand clothing business; cheap newspapers and advertising; transportation slowly approaches low freight costs; the department store is born; oil, cheap steel, electricity revolutionize the home. Fascinating reading, human, anecdotal. Plus juvenile sale.