| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.1

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Recasting the Machine Age: Henry Ford's Village Industries. By Howard P. Segal. (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2005. xvi, 244 pp. $34.95, ISBN 1-55849-481-2.)
Howard P. Segal, a noted historian of technology, has written a fine disquisition on a little-known project of Henry Ford's to decentralize his auto operations. This investigation is important because it sheds light on Ford's sometimes-confusing attempts at social engineering and on many current business trends.	1
From 1921 through 1944, Ford built nineteen small-town factories within sixty miles of Dearborn. He located most of the small plants in old water-powered grist, cider, and flour mills. Ford, who was fascinated with powering modern machinery from local power sources, converted many of these plants to hydroelectric generation. His oft-stated rationale for his small industries was that he wanted to adapt the industrial age to cherished rural cultural values and to improve his laborers' living conditions. He sought a usable past, one that would enable his workers to earn a factory wage and farm at the same time in order to give them greater financial security during periods of financial downturn.	. . .

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