Gallman revisited: blacksmithing and American manufacturing, 1850–1870
Jeremy Atack and
Robert Margo
Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, 2019, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-23
Abstract:
In nineteenth-century America, blacksmiths were a fixture in every village, town, and city, producing a diverse range of products from axes to wheels and services from repairs to horse shoeing. In constructing his historical GNP accounts, Gallman opted to exclude these “jacks-of-all-trades” from the manufacturing sector, classifying them instead as part of the service sector. However, using establishment-level data for blacksmiths from the federal censuses of manufactures for 1850, 1860, and 1870, we re-examine that choice and show that blacksmiths were an important, if declining, source of manufactured goods. Moreover, as quintessential artisan shops, a close analysis of their structure and operation helps resolve several key puzzles regarding industrialization in the nineteenth century. As “jacks-of-all-trades,” they were generally masters of none (except for their service activities). Moreover, the historical record reveals that several of those who managed to achieve mastery moved on to become specialized manufacturers of that specific product. Such specialized producers had higher productivity levels than those calling themselves blacksmiths producing the same goods, explaining changes in industry mix and the decline of the blacksmith in manufacturing.
Keywords: Blacksmith; Industrialization; Economies of scale; Specialization; Labor productivity; Gallman (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)
Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11698-017-0165-x (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to journal subscribers
Related works:
Journal Article: Gallman revisited: blacksmithing and American manufacturing, 1850–1870 (2019) 
Working Paper: Gallman Revisited: Blacksmithing and American Manufacturing, 1850-1870 (2017) 
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:afc:cliome:v:13:y:2019:i:1:p:1-23
Access Statistics for this article
Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History is currently edited by Claude Diebolt, Dora Costa and Jean-Luc Demeulemeester
More articles in Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History from Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().