Mass Production Flashcards
1
Q
In what decade did internal combustion engines start replacing steam engines?
A
1920s
2
Q
Did steam engines fully replace horses as sources of motive power on farms?
A
No
3
Q
When did the US declare the frontier closed
A
1890
4
Q
How long is the time lag between the US and Canada in settlement?
A
about 20 years
5
Q
Between 1881 and 1911, the population of the Canadian prairies grew by what factor?
A
8 times
6
Q
Did the government encourage immigration to the prairies?
A
Yes. The government sought to attract immigrants from the British Empire but also elsewhere from Europe and the United States
7
Q
What is spring wheat?
A
Wheat planted during the spring
8
Q
What is winter wheat?
A
Wheat planted during the late summer or early fall and harvested the following summer. Winter wheat consequently has higher protein content.
9
Q
What technology allowed spring wheat to compete with winter wheat? When did these emerge?
A
New flour milling techniques using steel rollers; 1870
10
Q
When was Marquis wheat made available to farmers?
A
1909
11
Q
What strains of wheat were combined to make Marquis wheat?
A
High-quality Red Fife spring wheat combined with a strain from India
12
Q
When was Marquis wheat first developed
A
about 1892
13
Q
How did steam engines fare on farmland before the 1890s?
A
While steam equipment gained traction, they were heavy which meant they could get bogged down in muddy soil. Also still quite expensive
14
Q
What improvements made the steam engine viable on farms?
A
Improvement in the power-to-weight ratio, become cheaper as market broadens as does the price of steel.
15
Q
What decades did steam engines come in force on farms
A
1900s-1920s
16
Q
How did the Massey-Harris company form? When?
A
Two Canadian farm companies founded by Daniel Massey (1847) and Alanson Harris (1857) merged in 1891
17
Q
What did Massey-Harris produce?
A
Horse drawn reapers and mowers
18
Q
When did Massey-Harris begin to produce gasoline engines? Why?
A
1910, after acquiring the Deyo-Macey company which produced them.
19
Q
What is a prime mover in a factory?
A
A motor which produces mechanical energy
20
Q
When were internal combustion engines (gasoline engines) first developed?
A
1880s
21
Q
What was the initial intent in the development of gasoline engines?
A
to serve as prime movers in factories or for farm machinery
22
Q
How did World War 1 affect the adoption of the internal combustion engine on the farm?
A
Demand for wheat escalates to feed the war effort, while both men and horses are shipped overseas or transferred to military industry. Mechanization of the farm has new appeal.
23
Q
When did Massey-Harris start selling gasoline tractors?
A
After 1914
24
Q
With whom did Massey-Harris compete for selling tractors
A
Massey-Harris found it hard to compete with Ford who produced the Model F, which could run on gas and kerosene
25
What did the tractor have relative to horse or human labour on farms?
A ridiculous economy of labour. One tractor pulling a harvester-thresher could replace many dozens of workers with scythes.
26
Which crops remained labour intensive? Why?
Cotton, Tobacco, Tomatoes.
These were harder to mechanize, due to the varying toughness and structure of each crop affecting its harvestability by machine.
27
Was the mechanization of the farms a gradual or rapid process?
Gradual
28
Why did the number of work animals increase on US farms even as steam and gas vehicles became available?
The total number of farms increased. Many farmers who could not afford the vehicles either due to the small scales of the farm or the new technology's price used work animals.
29
When did the number of work animals on farms peak?
1920
30
What year did the number of work animals on farm equal the number of vehicles?
1950
31
Why did farms require less vehicle units than animal units?
They had a significantly higher horsepower. Even as the total units decreased, an exponential increase in horsepower.
32
What three power sources were involved in Canadian farm machinery?
Animal, steam, gas
33
From what source did US agriculture's increased productivity in the late 19th c come from?
New farms being established and recovery after the civil war. New technology served to reduce labour. Yields per acre had only a marginal increase and did not contribute much to increased production.
34
Why did the rural population shrink and move into towns?
Farms grew larger and labour-efficient, meaning fewer people were needed on the farms. Grain elevators and branch railways made exports more efficient. Little room to grow in the country, while Cities were growing and offered employment and amenities-- AND ELECTRICITY.
35
What sources grew city populations aside from rural immigration? I
Immigration from abroad. New settlers increasingly end up in the cities, not the country
36
For rural people with jobs, was the end of the 19th century a time of relative prosperity?
Yes. Mechanization made agriculture more efficient.
Even without electricity, cars, trains, and catalogue ordering still plugged rural dwellers into a wider network of exchange to buy and sell. Farms were being able to pay off the initial loans of pioneering, and saw their socioeconomic lot improve.
37
True or false; without immigration from the countryside, early modern cities (<~1700) would have ceased to exist due to the high mortality rate?
True
38
Were cities historically great places to be?
No. Crowded and lots of disease.
39
Why were European cities after the fall of the Roman Empire small?
1) Lost infrastructure and organizational skills from Romans
2) Lost the empire-wide ability to import commodities
3) Lots of warfare
4) Warfare meant cities had to be small enough to be surrounded by walls
5) Cramped cities without infrastructure such as aqueducts or sewers were ravaged by disease
40
How large were European cities through the medieval and early modern periods?
Most only numbered a few thousand people
41
in what decades did public health become a priority in North America?
1830s and 1840s
42
Why were parks constructed in the context of public health?
It was thought that wide green spaces could improve the moral health of the population (moral being a general theory of character).
43
Did the construction of parks follow a scientific basis?
No. They were constructed on the basis of folk theory considered to be generally obvious (if it is good enough for the aristocrats it is good enough for the public)
44
What practical measures were influenced by the germ theory of diseases?
-Disinfection of water supplies (chlorination)
-Distribution of free (pasteurized) milk for babies
45
When did public health boards, departments and agencies begin to appear?
2nd half of the 19th century
46
What theory existed before germ theory of disease?
Bad air (smells) cause disease.
47
Did the development of sewers consider germ theory?
No. The smell was bad enough. Since people thought bad air caused disease, sewers were moved underground.
48
Why did germ theory influence disease control measures?
Being able to identify the disease agent meant the agents could be killed
49
How did London identify the cause of a cholera epidemic in the mid 19th century? Did they identify the disease agent?
They did not identify the agent, but they traced the epidemic to a single water pump, which they deduced was contaminated.
50
Aside from killing disease agents, which three infrastructure developments improved public health in cities?
1) Building sewers in aqueducts
2) Public Transit
3) Electricity
51
What developments in England emerged from the focus on public health?
Construction of aqueducts
Studies into contaminated water pumps
52
How did the focus on public health affect landscaping?
Citybuilders start to level city grids to one elevation (previously they had just gone right up hills) but also to construct roads with declines from the middle, so water drains into ditches
53
What did sewers provide apart from waste management?
Overflow drains for storms and meltwater
54
How did small cities provide clean drinking water on a small scale?
Water towers
55
When did Toronto finance its first water treatment plant? What was the effect?
1912. Cases of typhoid fever declined.
56
How did the first Toronto water treatment plant work?
Used sand layers and chlorination to remove debris and kill bacteria
57
When was chlorination applied more systematically to drinking water in Canada?
after WW2
58
Who led early milk distribution efforts?
Philanthropists in the late 19th century
59
In what year were there milk depots in Toronto, Montreal, and Fort William?
1911
60
How did milk distribution work?
Either for milk depots where mothers could go and receive milk for their babies, or distributed around towns by vehicles
61
What did milk stations guarantee of milk?
That it was real, that it was clean, and that it was pasteurized
62
What development prompted the government's promotion of general milk consumption in Britain?
In WW1, govt realized a lot of soldiers were underfed and malnourished. Postwar period, nutrition becomes important to national security
63
How did bulk transportation technologies make cities more liveable?
Supplied cities with a growing range of food products such as livestock and produce, packed meat, canned goods, and so on. General nutrition improved
64
What regulations on animals improved public health in cities?
Most large cities banned citizens from keeping or raising animals for food during the 2nd half of the 19th century?
65
What was the percentage in residential customers of electric utilities in Canada from 1920-1950?
40% of population in 1920, and 82% in 1950
66
How did electricity make homes more liveable?
Provided a range of household goods such as ironing boards, refrigerators, stoves, etc.
67
Did the number of electric consumers in Canada increase more rapidly than the population between 1920 and 1929?
Yes
68
Did the number of electric consumers in Canada increase more rapidly than the population between 1940 and 1949?
Yes
69
How scientific was the management of factory work?
Not very. It was certainty rational and used mathematics, but there were no real scientific laws
70
What part of factory work did science effect?
The products themselves, as technological advances in engines, electricity, steel allowed factories to industrially manufacture several new innovations
71
What metal was extremely important for technological innovations in the late 19th century?
Steel
72
When did aluminium become cheap and durable enough to use on a large scale?
Early 20th century
73
Why did aluminium's price go down?
A process of making aluminium by electrolysis began in 1886. this was was cheaper than a purely chemical process, and the price went down significantly as hydroelectricity became cheaper
74
What was the price of aluminium in 1867 compared to the early 20th century?
$40/kg -> $1/kg
75
When did Henry Bessemer perfect the purification of pig iron?
1856
76
What was the catch in Bessemer's process?
It did not work with phosphoric iron ores
77
What characterized the Bessemer process?
Purifying pig iron, adding controlled quantities of carbon and other elements
78
What was the effect of the Bessemer process on steel prices?
Steel could be as cheap as 1/3 to 1/14th of current prices
79
What was Percy Gilchrist and Sydney Gilchrist Thomas's contribution to the steel revolution? When?
in 1878, they made it possible to use phosphoric ores
80
What was the Aluminum making process developed in 1886 called?
Hall-Heroult Process
81
What was the effect of the steel revolution on political advantages between countries?
Initially, the US and UK who had non-phosphoric ores took the lead in manufacturing. Eventually, France and Germany, with phosphoric ores, caught up
82
How did the steel revolution affect steel output in Europe
From 100k tons a year before bessemer to 30 million tonnes by 1914
83
How did the steel revolution affect steel output in the US
from 70k tons a year in 1870 to 25 million tonnes in 1910
84
What was the price of steel in rails as opposed to iron?
Steel could be as much as 40 times the cost of wrought iron rails
85
What did the steel revolution provide factories?
The development of a whole range of high-powered machinery (motors, dynamos, turbines) and larger versions of older devices (heavy ordnance, steam hammers, hydraulic presses)
86
How did large corporations "tame" independent inventors in the first half of the 20th century?
-Create r&d departments and hire trained scientists and engineers to staff them
-Relied on patent attorneys to protect intellectual property through litigation
87
Edison ran the equivalent of what at Menlo park?
An r&d department
88
What patent trick did companies use to gain exclusivity over a product?
Patent multiple variations of the same product or inferior versions of the product.
89
When does the independent inventor disappear in the United States? Why?
1950. Companies with r&d departments are able to outcompete them.
90
What parts of the production process were controlled before management was?
1) Design (taming inventors)
2) Production (using machinery instead of artisan work
91
The optimization of work practices took place under what broad societal belief
The belief in progress; that social and economic conditions and habits could be improved.
92
What was improving work practices systematically called?
process innovation
93
What was "soldiering" or "pacing?"
Workers doing other tasks or activities instead of working.
94
Why was Frederick Winslow Taylor against pacing?
It wasted time and money.
95
Frederick Winslow Taylor began working as what?
A machinist
96
Historically, what allowed soldiering to take place?
A power imbalance between workers and employer. Either too many workers compared to foremen, or the workers knew a lot more about the craft than the supervisors, meaning they felt irreplaceable
97
Why did pacing offend people in the United States
It went against the Protestant work ethic and the associated emphasis on thrift
98
How did Taylor tackle pacing?
Used a stopwatch to time workers to find the fastest worker for a given task. Sets that pace as the standard, then paid higher salaries to workers who approached the standard
99
Frank Gilbreth started out as what?
Bricklayer
100
Lillian Moller Gilbreth was what by training?
Industrial psychologist
101
What is the job of an industrial psychologist?
To improve productivity by making the workplace more pleasant (adding cafeteria, vacations, suggestion boxes, etc.)
102
What did Lillian Moller Gilbreth do as an industrial psychologist?
Worked to reduce the strain of a given job by economizing effort and setting meaningful work standards?
103
What did Frank Gilbreth use to study worker movements?
The camera
104
What did the Gilbreths call the worker's smallest gestures?
Therblings
105
What did the Gilbreths superimpose to make their work more "scientific?"
They added a grid to study distance in movements as well as time
106
What was the Gilbreth's goal?
If you can find the optimal, smoothest motion, work will be a lot less strenuous
107
What 19th century industry showed the way in terms of increasing workers' efficiency?
Meat Packing
