The Gilded Age and Working-Class Industrial Communities

In the United States, industrial management techniques shifted from strong paternalistic controls to absentee forms of ownership in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tracing the change of industrial management techniques in a mill community that survived through the Gilded Age shows the impact of industrialization on consumerism and health in working-class households. Initial examination of the archaeological record shows that the domestic material world of workers' households became similar to each other while consumer goods increased significantly. We suggest that with the transition of management techniques from minimal paternalism to absenteeism, a trend developed toward homogenization of some everyday material culture. However, living in a marginal geography promoted a countertrend among workers and their families, and alternatives to market-oriented consumption allowed for "insurgent" forms of citizenship. Understanding the historical consequences of industry for workers and their families is relevant for understanding the situation of marginalized labor today.