When We Used To Manufacture Things In The United States

U.S. Manufacturing And Industry In Cities In The 1930s

When The U.S.A. Did Not Rely Upon Imports

See What 16 Cities Of The United States Used To Produce

Worker at furniture factory, Arthurdale, West Virginia 1937 photo: Ben Shahn via Library of Congress

As the Covid-19 debacle made clear to Americans we are now dependent upon foreign countries for many of the things necessary to conduct our daily lives.”Supply-chain” issues have been one of the main reasons given to explain the shortages of thousands of products.

This situation did not occur overnight, but slowly and steadily as the search for less expensive products would drive our industries to other shores where workers wages are lower and raw materials abundant and cheaper.

We created our foreign dependence by off-shoring jobs and more importantly product production.

It’s a result of consumers searching for the lowest prices, manufacturers looking for a way to keep workers wages at a minimum and stockholders wanting profits and dividends as high as possible.

All of this deconstructing of manufacturing capability was done without considering the ramifications to the communities and cities where people live and work.

Underlying this move away from manufacturing there is an unspoken belief that manufacturing jobs are only fit for and held by the lower classes. Working at a blue collar, assembly line or factory job is looked down upon by many and is somehow thought of as a way of keeping people in line or a more nefarious thought- keeping people economically disadvantaged. There has been a shift in thinking of what comprises a good job. We’ve been told in order to succeed and advance up the ladder of success in the modern world you need a college education and degree.

It’s a bunch of malarkey.

Industrial cities used to be highly productive. The goods manufactured in cities supported the livelihoods of the people while keeping communities stable. Cities are now just crime plagued shells of what they once were, with their manufacturing days long behind them.

In New York for example, there were over 780,000 manufacturing wage earners in 1935. The garment industry, once employing over a quarter of a million people back then, is now practically dead. The same moribund situation currently exists for many of the other manufacturing jobs that we list below.

So what exactly did the big cities once produce?

This following summation of the primary industries within these 16 city areas is from the 1939 World Almanac.

New York City area—Women’s Clothing: printing and publishing, newspaper and periodical
men’s, youths’ and boys’ clothing (except work clothing); bread and other bakery products;
printing and publishing, book, music and job meat packing, wholesale; petroleum refining: cane-sugar refining; gas, manufactured, illuminating and heating.

Chicago area—Meat packing, wholesale: steel works end rolling-mill products; petroleum refining; printing and publishing, newspaper and periodical; printing and publishing, book, music and job; foundry and machine-shop products: bread and other bakery products; confectionery: electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies.

Philadelphia area—Petroleum refining: knit goods; printing and publishing, newspaper and
periodical; cane sugar refining; bread and other bakery products; men’s, youths’ and boys’ clothing (except work clothing); worsted goods: foundry  and machine-shop products; meat-packing, wholesale. The radio apparatus and phonographs industry is one of the leading industries in this area, but its rank cannot be given without the possibility of disclosing (by comparison with census reports) approximations of the data for individual establishments.

Detroit area—Motor vehicles, not including motorcycles; motor vehicle bodies and motor vehicle parts.

Boston area—Worsted goods; boots and shoes, other than rubber; leather, tanned, curried and finished; bread and other bakery products: printing and publishing, newspaper and Periodical printing and publishing, book, music and job; meat packing, wholesale; electrical machinery apparatus and supplies; foundry and machine shop products. Cane-sugar refining and soap are also among the leading industries in this area, but their rank cannot be given without the possibility of disclosing (by comparison with census reports) approximations of the data for individual establishments.

St. Louis area—Meat packing, wholesale; motor vehicles, not including motorcycles; petroleum refining; chemicals; malt liquors; electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies; bread and other
bakery products; boots and shoes, other than rubber; printing and publishing, newspaper and periodical. The ‘‘boot and shoe cut stock, not made in boot and shoe factories’’ and the ‘tobacco, chewing and smoking, and snuff’ industries are among the leading industries in this area, but
their rank cannot be given without the possibility of disclosing (by comparison with Census reports) approximations of the data for individual establishments.

Pittsburgh area—Steel-works and rolling-mill Products; blast-furnace products: foundry and machine-shop products; glass: electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies: cake-oven products. Bread and other bakery products; structural and ornamental metal-work, not made in plants operated in connection with rolling mills; canned and dried fruits and vegetables, preserves, jellies, fruit putters, pickles and sauces.

San Francisco-Oakland area—Petroleum refining; motor vehicles, not including motorcycles;
canned and preserved fruits and vegetables, preserves, jellies, fruit butters, pickles and sauces;
smelting and refining, lead; meat packing, wholesale; printing and publishing, newspaper and
periodical; bread and other bakery products. “Can sugar refining’ and ‘‘cigarettes’’ are also
among the leading industries, but their rank cannot be given without the possibility of disclosing (by comparison with Census reports) approximations of the data for individual establishments.

Cleveland area—Steel works and rolling-mill products; motor-vehicle bodies and motor vehicle
parts; foundry and machine-shop products; electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies; meat-
packing, wholesale; blast-furnace products; printing and publishing, newspaper and periodical.

Los Angeles area—Petroleum refining; meatpacking, wholesale; bread and other bakery products: printing and publishing, newspaper and periodical ; rubber tires and inner tubes; women’s clothing; foundry and machine-shop products. The production of motion pictures is a leading activity in this area.

Buffalo area—Flour and other grain-mill products: chemicals not elsewhere classified; motor-
vehicles not including motorcycles, steel-works and rolling mill products; feeds, prepared, for animals and fowls; motor vehicle bodies and motor vehicle parts; meat packing, wholesale.

Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area—Cotton goods, worsted goods: dying and finishing textiles; silk and rayon goods; jewelry.

Baltimore area—Steel-works and rolling-mill products; men’s, youths’ and boys’ clothing (except work clothing) not elsewhere classified; tin cans and other tinware not elsewhere classified; meat-packing, wholesale. The following are among the leading industries in this area, but their rank cannot be given without the possibility of disclosing (by comparison with census reports) approximations of the data for individual establishments: cane-sugar refining; petroleum refining; smelting and refining copper.

Cincinnati area—Meat packing, wholesale; paper: motor vehicles, not including motorcycles;
soap, tobacco, chewing and smoking, and snuff; steel-works and rolling-mill products.

Milwaukee area—Liquors, malt; meat-packing, wholesale: foundry and machine-shop products not elsewhere classified; boots and shoes, other than rubber; motor vehicle bodies and motor vehicle parts; knit goods; electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies; bread and other bakery products. The motor vehicle industry is one of the leading industries in this area, but its rank cannot be given without the possibility of disclosing (by comparison with Census reports) approximations of data for individual establishments.

Bridgeport-New Haven-Waterbury area—Non-ferrous metal alloys and non-ferrous metal products, except aluminum, not elsewhere classified; electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies; hats fur-felt; foundry and machine-shop products not elsewhere classified; ammunition and related products; gold, silver and platinum, refining and alloying.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.