Download or read book Figured Tapestry written by Philip Scranton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989-07-28 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the Philadelphia textile trades from the era of the Knights of Labor through World War II, this book is a study of industrial maturity and decline. The author assesses the significance and limits of industrial versatility, owner-operated businesses, craft labor and its organizations, and the agglomeration of specialized mills in urban districts. An interdisciplinary blend of business, labor, urban, and economic history, industrial geography, and the history of technology, the book illuminates the hidden world of batch production, the "other side" of American industrialization, and highlights both the benefits and the hazards of flexibility.