Articles & Newsletters
And the Answers Are….
Last Friday we sent you a link to a business history crossword puzzle, which many of you visited. We promised the answers today, so here they are. If for any reason you missed the puzzle, you can still take it here and fill it out right in your browser. Or look at the...
Stuck at Home?
Like everyone else, we at the American Business History Center have no sports to watch, fewer restaurants to patronize, and even a shortage of exciting primary elections to follow. So what better time to entertain and educate ourselves through reading and...
For History Lovers: The Deep Roots of Business
Entrepreneurship and business are at the core of modern life. Both have given us many great innovations and improvements in life and prosperity. We at the American Business History Center understandably focus our efforts on the United States,...
The Ultimate Rags to Riches Story: Mary Pickford
This article first appeared in the Archbridge Institute’s American Originals Series. On February 11, 1898, John Charles Smith of Toronto hit his head and died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The Irishman left behind his wife, Charlotte; five-year-old...
The Short Story of How ABC TV Helped Create Disneyland
Here is a quick note on an interesting twist in American business history. In 1948, the federal government trustbusters decreed that the big movie studios should not own movie theaters. In the preceding twenty years, the studios had put together big theater...
A Century of Big Brands
We all grow up surrounded by brands. Being part of our daily lives, they often seem as if they have been around forever and will be around forever. Yet, like most everything else, brands have lifecycles. Only the lucky few survive for decade after...
The Little Soft Drink That Could: The Pepsi Story
Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a sweet story of candy and soda pop, and of incredible persistence which overcame failure and controversy. Caleb Bradham In 1893, young Caleb Bradham bought the drugstore at the corner of Middle and Pollock Streets in New Bern, North...
Proud Father of the Modern Airline System: CR Smith and American Airlines
This article first appeared in the Archbridge Institute’s American Originals Series. Few industries have had a greater impact on the world than our airline system. This global network was built over a period of forty years by a handful of leaders who...
The Tragic Story of the Fox in Fox Network and Fox News
Fox News and the Fox Network have become part of the daily lives of millions. Yet few know where the name “Fox” came from, other than the historic Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. That movie-making part of the Fox empire was recently sold by Rupert Murdoch...
Evolution: Hotel and Restaurant Companies Fifty Years Ago
Few industries are more fascinating than the “hospitality” industry, which includes lodging (hotels, motels, BnBs) and foodservice (restaurants, bars, stadium corporate and institutional foodservice). Going to a restaurant convention is one of the most exhilarating...
Same Town, Same Family: The Smucker Saga
In 1752, Amish/Mennonite farmer Christian Schmucker migrated from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. In 2016, his son’s son’s son’s son’s son’s son’s son’s son’s son, forty-six-year-old Mark Smucker, became Chief Executive of the J. M. Smucker Company of Orrville, Ohio. ...
New Beginnings in the Roaring Twenties
Here we go again – another decade of the “twenties” – hopefully these twenties roar in the good sense. This is a perfect time to look back at what was going on in business history one hundred years ago. 1920 was an important year in business history. ...
Living Architecture from a Dying Company
We have previously written about the rise of Sears, Roebuck to become the world’s greatest retailer. The company’s subsequent decline now fills the headlines and is apparent across America. Yet important vestiges, physical memorials, of the...
The Persistence of our Paths: From Native American Trails to Hyperloops
The routes travelled by explorers, immigrants, peddlers, and goods are a critical part of history. There would be no business or commercial history without the Silk Road or the great transoceanic shipping lanes. Here is a great story about the evolution of...
A Great New Book About the Future
As you know, I love books and live in a personal library of more than 57,000 of them. Only a few – say 2-300 of them – really capture my excitement and enthusiasm. Fewer, Richer, Greener by Larry Siegel is one of those books. It just...
The Data-Driven Visionary
In 1941, Fred Lazarus, Jr., had some time to kill in Houston. He had come to visit his son Ralph who was serving in the Army at nearby Ellington Field. Twelve years earlier, Lazarus and his family had united their family-owned Lazarus department...
Understanding How Tech Companies Work
Tech companies from Apple to Dell, from Adobe to Oracle, work each day to outsmart their competitors, to develop innovative products and services, and to best market and sell their products and services. No technology company in history has been more successful in...
Which Cities Are Americans Fleeing?
Click here to see the detailed chart or watch it here on youtube. Two weeks ago, we presented an animated chart showing the most popular American cities – the metropolitan areas which received the most domestic migrants in each year from 2010 through 2018. This week,...
The Unsung Story of the Greatest Industrial Designer
This article first appeared in the Archbridge Institute’s American Originals Series. Outside of the field of product and transportation design, too few people know who Raymond Loewy was. The best-known industrial designer, founder of the industrial...
What are the Most Popular American Cities to Move To?
This week we present another of our animated charts. This one looks at which cities Americans have been moving to, from 2010 through 2018. Population growth is a key factor in business and where business takes place. Entrepreneurs and innovators often...
Whatever Became of International Harvester?
With this newsletter, we begin a periodic series, “Whatever Became of?” As students of business history, we learn much from both success and failure. About 80% of the largest companies of America in the mid-twentieth century are no longer with us. Some of these...
Gail Borden: Texas Pioneer, Quirky Visionary
This article first appeared in the Archbridge Institute's American Original Series. Born in upstate New York in 1801, Gail Borden was raised there and in Kentucky and Indiana. As a young man, he moved to Mississippi and then Texas in search of the land...
High Speed Electric Rail Comes to Indiana – 122 Years Ago
I grew up in Anderson, Indiana, which played a special role in the development of America’s original high speed all-electric railroads, the interurbans. Here is a quick look at that story, which reflects one man’s obsession with a new technology, perhaps with...
The Bookstop Story by co-founder Gary Hoover
Dear business history friends, It's a wonderful thing to uncover a gem of a story, and it's as great to be able to share it. Many of us have been part of, or witness to, a bit of business history. We have stories of innovations, stories of change for the better,...
American Boomtowns and Slowdowns
Dear Friends of History, Here at the American Business History Center, we usually focus on the long-term view, going back decades. But today, for a change of pace, we take a look at very recent history….the 2010’s. Here is one of our “bar race charts” created using...
Henry J. Kaiser: California Dreamer, Workers’ Friend
This article first appeared on June 24, 2019 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series. Despite being often forgotten today, Henry J. Kaiser was one of the most unusual and diverse entrepreneurs in American history. Quitting school at...
24 years of Big Company Change
The rise, fall, and disappearance of America’s largest companies tells us much about business and our economy. Since 1955, Fortune magazine has published a list of the 500 largest U.S. companies, ranked by sales (revenues). Until 1995, this list only included...
A Forgotten Company, A Forgotten Human Story
Follow us on twitter @storyofbusiness. New and exciting content forthcoming! Dear business history friends, Recently, our American Business History Center added the "Share Your History" section to our website. Many of us have been part of, or witness to, a...
The Business History of Woodstock
Too often, when we see great entertainment or a great event, we forget that someone had to dream it up, organize it, and finance it. Fifty years ago this month, from August 15 through 18, 1969, the most famous music festival of all time took place in Bethel, New...
American Spending Patterns 1929 to 2018
This week, we present more of our animated “bar race charts” made with Flourish.studio, in which you can see how change takes place over time. We have produced two versions, one for close study that takes five minutes and a very fast one that you can watch in...
James J. Hill: Empire Builder Without Peer
This article first appeared on May 2, 2019 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series. The American railroad system played a critical role in the growth and development of the United States, especially the opening of the western frontier. The...
Supermarket: One of the Most Important (and least known) American Inventions of All Time
This Sunday, August 4, is the 89th anniversary of a huge innovation with a global, lasting impact – the supermarket. On August 4, 1930, Michael Cullen opened his “huge” King Kullen store in the Jamaica section of Queens, New York City.While this date is often...
We Want Your Stories!
Dear friends of business history,We need your stories and anecdotes about business to enhance our telling of history. What companies have you worked for? What was it like? Did you work on any innovations or observe changes in the company or industry?...
The Rise and Fall of American Cities
History lovers, Today we present something a little different….an animated chart showing the rise and fall of American cities. If you play (or replay) the graphic linked here, you will see the rise and fall of the thirty most populous metropolitan areas in the...
70 Years of American Car History in Under a Minute (1896-1966)
Few industries have had more impact on American society (and workers) than the auto industry. The famous “Big Three” of General Motors (GM), Ford, and Chrysler evolved from hundreds of small carmakers, a pattern seen in many industries to this day. The...
United: The Little-Known History Behind Another Giant Merger
Last weekend, aerospace giant United Technologies announced that they were doing a “merger of equals” with fellow industry leader Raytheon. According to most estimates, this will create the second largest aerospace and defense company (after Boeing), leaping...
101 Years of Business Success and Survival
Join others around the country who have donated $9,000. Thank you! Donate today .Management and strategy thinkers continually try to understand what makes for success and failure. Why do some companies stand the test of time, while others disappear into the...
Jeep: The Little Brand That Could
Earlier this week, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (“FCA”), technically a Dutch Company, proposed a marriage with the seriously-French automaker Renault. Initial investor reaction to the marriage was strong. If the deal is approved by shareholders and...
How Baking Powder Changed the World of Horse Racing and Auto Racing
Donate today and become a founding member of the American Business History Center. At the American Business History Center, we are always looking for ways to connect the present to the past. And hopefully learn some lessons along the way. May is a critical month...
George Westinghouse: Servant Leader, Inventor, Captain of Industry
This article first appeared on February 27, 2019 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series. His father owned a machine shop, but young George Westinghouse had no interest in doing what he was told. Obsessed with his own inventions and ideas, George...
Adolph Ochs—The Unsung Entrepreneur Who Transformed Journalism
This article first appeared on January 2, 2019 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series. Along with five younger siblings, Adolph Ochs was raised in poverty in Knoxville, Tennessee, by his scholarly but financially unsuccessful father and...
Kirk Kerkorian: The Risk Taker Who Rose from Poverty to Change Las Vegas and Armenia
This article first appeared on December 14, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series. One of the myths about great entrepreneurs is that they love risk and are big gamblers. In fact, they usually do everything they can to reduce risk and are...
Arthur G. Gaston: Entrepreneur Against All Odds
Originally published on ArchbridgeInstitute.org on October 29, 2018 This article first appeared on October 29, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series. The grandson of slaves, Arthur George Gaston was born in 1892 in Demopolis, Alabama, to Rosie...
Malcolm McLean: Unsung Innovator Who Changed the World
Originally published on Hooversworld.com on May 30, 2015 In 1937, 24-year old Malcolm McLean (later changed to Malcom) delivered a load from the south to the New Jersey docks for export. He had been in the trucking business for two years. The rural North...
Can Companies Really Reinvent Themselves? The Lessons of Target
Originally published on Hooversworld.com on Aug 2, 2016. Much has been written about the idea of "reinventing" your company. However, in my 50+ years of studying big business, I have rarely seen it happen -- successfully. Here, from the treasure trove that is...
Built to Last — or not? Beware of what you read!
Originally published on Hooversworld.com on July 28, 2016 I was working on a newsletter about Melville Shoe, a retailer I covered as a securities analyst at Citibank in the mid-70s. It was a great company with some unique approaches to opportunity discovery,...
The Most Important Person in History Without a Wikipedia Page?
Originally published on Hooversworld.com on September 30, 2015 Now that’s an interesting question. I look forward to your candidates. I was recently stunned when I went to look up the fellow, whose story follows below, on Wikipedia, only to find no one had...
The Corporate Giant Whose History Almost Nobody Knows
Originally Published on Hooversworld.com on May 22, 2018 Who would have guessed that a medium-sized retailer which never put its name on a store would evolve to become the 7th largest company in America, a place where millions of Americans shop every day? My first job...
Estée Lauder: From One Woman’s Passion to Cosmetics Empire
This article first appeared on February 12, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. Today, the Estée Lauder Companies have become among the most important cosmetics companies in the world—against huge odds and well-established competitors....
J. C. Penney, the Man: A Life of Perpetual Sharing
This article first appeared on December 7, 2017 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. From inauspicious beginnings rose one of the great entrepreneurs in American history, a man with unusual dedication and exceptionally high ideals. James Cash...
Olive Ann Beech: Queen of the Aircraft Industry
This article first appeared on May 15, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. There are stories that take tragedy to unearth. When the world bears witness to great ability, new awareness changes the narrative of today and rewrites the...
Madam C. J. Walker: The Ultimate Self-Made Woman
This article first appeared on October 31, 2017 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. Her Westchester County neighborhood was the home of Vanderbilts, Morgans, and Astors. Jay Gould and John D. Rockefeller had assembled estates nearby. Sitting...
The Outsider Whose Vision Changed the Way We See
This article first appeared on August 14, 2017 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series. It was 1912. The wiry, soft-spoken, short (five-foot five-inch) immigrant with the thick Hungarian accent waited for hours to see the powerful Jeremiah Kennedy,...
Robert Brooker: Unsung Warrior in One of the Greatest Battles in Business
This article first appeared on October 11, 2017 on Hooversworld.com. "Far greater it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered with failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a...
George Eastman: The Greatest Technology Entrepreneur in U.S. History?
This article first appeared on January 24, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. The technologies of today are built upon those of the past, and the superstars of our era would be nothing without the great leaders of the past. We often...
Conrad Hilton: The Dreamer Who Conquered an Industry
This article first appeared on April 24, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. Conrad Nicholson Hilton was born to wealth. His father, “Colonel” A. H. “Gus” Hilton, was the leading merchant and trader in the tiny sun-baked mining village of...
Who is the Greatest Active American Entrepreneur?
This article first appeared on May 31, 2017 on Hooversworld.com. Who is the greatest active American Entrepreneur? My students usually suggest the names of the founders of the new generation of Internet companies, names that are continuously in the news. But I...
The Three Greatest American Companies of All Time
This article first appeared on January 16, 2015 on Hooversworld.com. For the last 52 years, I have been obsessed with understanding what makes a company great. What leads to success; what leads away. This led me to ruminate on which might be the greatest US companies...
General Robert Wood: The Forgotten Man Who Changed Sears and the World
This article first appeared on August 22, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. Before there was Amazon, there was Sears, Roebuck, using the mail-order catalog where the Internet is used today. Before Walmart was the world’s...
Brand Man: The HJ Heinz Story
This article first appeared on July 5, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute's 'American Originals' series. It’s December 1875. Thirty-one-year-old Henry John “HJ” Heinz is bedridden the entire month with deep depression. On some days, he cannot even get out...
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