PEOPLE

Edward Bellamy

. American socialist writer; author of Looking Backward: 2000-1887, utopian novel, 1888

. Book depicted city of the future as socialist middle-class technological paradise

. Despite turgid prose, the book proved massively popular

. Clubs devoted to Bellamy's ideas sprung up across nation

Alexander Graham Bell

. American inventor; creator of telephone, 1876

. "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you" – first words spoken into telephone

. Retired from industry just before telephone boom

Thomas Edison

. American inventor, creator of electric light bulb

. Held nearly 11,000 different patents

. Fought for the adaptation of DC current as standard for U.S. electric system

. Founded General Electric, 1878

Andrew Carnegie

. Scottish-born American industrialist; imported European steel techniques to dominate American steel industry

. Attempted to reorganize entire steel industry under own company

. Became one of world's richest men and one of world's most generous philanthropists

Frederick Winslow Taylor

. American inventor and engineer

. Father of scientific management or Taylorism

. Advocated industrial efficiency; wanted workers to be as effective as machines

. Hated by workmen, loved by industrialists

Aaron Montgomery Ward

. American merchant; invented mail-order catalog, 1872

. Used rail network to distribute directly goods to customers

. Created new way for Americans to shop

EVENTS

1869 Transcontinental Railroad Completed

. Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines joined at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory

. "Golden Spike" ceremony celebrated completion of construction

1872 First Mail Order Catalog

. Montgomery Ward created first mail order business in Chicago

. Sold direct to rural customers

1875 First Carnegie Steel Plant

. Introduced Bessemer converter and open-hearth process in tandem

. Methods proved significantly more efficient than prior methods of production

. Drove growth of American steel industry

1876 Invention of Telephone

. Telephone invented simultaneously by Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, but Bell got patent first

1879 Invention of Light Bulb

. Thomas Edison developed technology for incandescent light bulb

. Also developed required infrastructure to deploy product on mass scale

1888 Publication of Looking Backward

. Edward Bellamy's novel of techno-socialistic utopia developed massive following

1888 Invention of Electric Motor

. Transportation over medium distance became significantly easier

. Suburbanization became a possibility with electric streetcars

. Invented by Nikola Tesla

1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago

. Hall of Electricity accurately promised future kitchens full of electrical appliances

. Demonstrated onward march of technological progress, what it would mean for average consumer

GROUPS

Edison General Electric Company

. Centralized center of innovation

. Marketed Edison's products

. Now known simply as General Electric (GE)

CONCEPTS

Taylorism

. System of industrial management pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor

. Standardized and streamlined production processes

. Required less training and time

. Human workers required to function like machines

Gilded Age

. Term, coined sarcastically by Mark Twain, for last quarter of 19th century

. Described an era marked by great wealth but also great corruption

. "Gilded" = golden on the outside, worse things within

Differential Rate

. Speed at which workers work at maximum (i.e. machinelike) efficiency

. Concept developed by Frederick Taylor

. Despised by workers

PLACES

"White City", Chicago, Illinois

. Site of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, a celebration of technological progress