Forty years ago today, the once stately broadcast news business began moving faster. As with most fundamental change in American corporate history, there was a crisis behind it. Starting in the fall of 1979, the American Broadcasting Corporation began running “America Held Hostage,” a late-night news program that breathlessly counted down the days of captivity […]
Even as the United States entered World War II, automakers and other companies hoped for business as usual. It made no economic sense for consumer goods manufacturers, demand-starved through the Great Depression, to stop producing—war or no war. But the conquest of Europe and then Pearl Harbor convinced even the staunchest free marketeers in Congress […]
Oral History emerged as a distinct practice in the post-World War II years. So it is fascinating to find, in the depression-era Federal Writers Project records in the Library of Congress, a transcript in which prewar writers contest concepts familiar to today’s interviewer. In the summer of 1939, Stuart Engstadt, Nelson Algren, and Jack Conroy […]
There have been moments in my fifteen years studying financial regulation that have seemed arcane, even irrelevant. Not yesterday. When the S&P fell seven percent in the first few minutes of trading, I knew what would come next, and why. Yesterday was nothing compared to October 19, 1987 when the Dow plunged more than 22 […]
This historic photography does not do justice to the uncropped original. In 1917, the Army deployed panoramic photographers to sixteen “cantonments,” medium-sized cities built for draftees in just a few months. That summer, twelve trains a day, each 50 cars long, delivered materials that 200,000 construction workers turned into 19,200 structures—1,200 per camp. The Army […]
A century ago a turning point in corporate history came when, despite political debates, trucking emerged as a competitor to railroads. At the time a three-sided battle was raging between the government, which had taken over the railways during World War I, organized labor, and the railroad companies. Legislation passed on February 28, 1920 returned […]
I’m happy to announce the publication of my 18th corporate history book, The Story of Acker: The 200-Year History of America’s Oldest Wine Shop. This was a terrific project for a number of reasons: the client had very little existing historical material, meaning nearly every stage, from archival research through oral history interviewing and writing, […]
It is tempting to think that you can define your corporate personality—to build your brand—out of little more than public relations and advertising. In fact, a corporate personality is something that develops over time, the result of months or years of hard work, employee relations, and customer communications. To understand that corporate personality is to […]
A landmark in corporate history was reached 90 years ago today that auto tycoon Walter Chrysler opened his namesake building in Manhattan. The art deco masterpiece was by far the most visually compelling addition to the New York skyline and also the tallest, outstripping the Woolworth Building by more than 200 feet. Walter Chrysler’s moment […]
This week, New Yorkers from across the boroughs gathered together in Times Square to celebrate New Year’s Eve, just as they have done since 1907 (with a few exceptions). But just ten years earlier they gathered separately. On December 31, 1897, to fireworks and bands, Manhattanites celebrated both the new year and the creation of […]