{"product_id":"9781509561735","title":"Small, Medium, Large How Government Made the U.S. into a Manufacturing Powerhouse","description":"\u003ch1\u003eSmall, Medium, Large\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eHow Government Made the U.S. into a Manufacturing Powerhouse\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eColleen A. Dunlavy\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eHistory \/ United States \/ 20th Century\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe live in a world of seemingly limitless consumer choice. Yet, as every shopper knows without thinking about it, many everyday goods – from beds to batteries to printer paper – are available in a finite number of “standard sizes.” What makes these sizes “standard” is an agreement among competing firms to make or sell products with the same limited dimensions. But how did firms – often hotly competing firms – reach such collective agreements?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn exploring this question, Colleen Dunlavy puts the history of mass production and distribution in an entirely new light. She reveals that, despite the widely publicized model offered by Henry Ford, mass production techniques did not naturally diffuse throughout the U.S. economy. On the contrary, formidable market forces blocked their diffusion. It was only under the cover of collectively agreed-upon, industrywide standard sizes – orchestrated by the federal government – that competing firms were able to break free of market forces and transition to mass production and distribution. Without government promotion of standard sizes, the twentieth-century American variety of capitalism would have looked markedly less “Fordist.”\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSmall, Medium, Large\u003c\/i\u003e will make all of us think differently about the everyday consumer choices we take for granted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlso available as an audiobook.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cb\u003eColleen Dunlavy\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor Emerita of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research explores the historical relationship between political and economic change in the U.S. and Europe. Her publications include the prize-winning \u003ci\u003ePolitics and Industrialization: Early Railroads in the United States and Prussia.\u003c\/i\u003e She lives in Washington, DC.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e05 November 2024\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePolity Press\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePolity\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781509561735\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e240\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e15.2\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Polity Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44314810941580,"sku":"9781509561735","price":26.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9781509561735.jpg?v=1780180685","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9781509561735","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}