Content area
Full Text
Introduction
This article is the final part of a two-part history of the Crescent Machine Company. The first part ("A Short History of the Crescent Machine Company Part I-1894 to 1920," The Chronicle 60, no. 4 [2007]: 137-157) covers the history of the company from its beginnings through 1920.
The End of World War I and an Economic Recession
As a whole, the 1920s were pivotal in American history, a period of vast social changes and unprecedented economic fluctuation. The decade, however, did not begin with the fanfare that most people associate it with. During World War I, industrial production was at an all time high as factories across the nation churned out the many products needed to fuel the war effort. When the war ended in 1918, many companies found themselves with a production capacity that was far greater than the demand for their products. The end result of this situation was an economic recession that continued for several long years.
With that post-war recession, demand for industrial tooling, including the band-saws and other woodworking machinery produced by the Crescent Machine Company, was almost nonexistent. Orders for new machinery at the Crescent factory (Figure 1) dropped off significantly, frequently forcing the company to resort to three- or four-day work weeks throughout this period.' While the news was not great for Crescent, the truth was that many formerly prosperous companies were failing at record rates. Crescent considered itself lucky to be just surviving. The worse news for Crescent was that with the production slowdown, several long-time and highly experienced Crescent employees left the company in order to look for more stable work elsewhere.2
As if things were not bad enough, in March, 1920-in an effort to increase their wages and to receive union recognition by the owners-the molders in the foundry decided to strike. During this strike, no work was done in the foundry, resulting in the entire plant being forced to shut down due to lack of parts.3 The strike continued for several weeks, until an agreement was reached and work at Crescent resumed. At the conclusion of the strike, the molders were successful in acquiring higher pay, but the Crescent management refused to recognize their attempt to organize a union.4
Fortunately, both for...