Articles & Newsletters
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...
