Title: 1870-1900: Industrial Development | National Museum of American History
Headings: 1870-1900: Industrial Development
1870-1900: Industrial Development
Currently on view
Century Vase, 1876
Railroad Spike, 1869
Stock Ticker, about 1900
Incandescent Lamp, about 1891
Tinfoil Phonograph, 1878
Alexander Graham Bell's Big Box Telephone, 1876
Cross, 1875–99
Silver Presentation Cup, about 1900
Print, 1870s
Statue, late 1800s
Singer Sewing Machine Patent Model, 1889
Sholes & Glidden Typewriter, 1873
John Brown Lennon's Delegate Badge, 1893
Jeans, 1873-96
Winchester Rifle, 1881
Man's Gown, about 1896
The objects below are no longer on view
Harvester and Self-Raking Reaper Patent Model, 1877
Creeping Baby Doll, 1870s
Child's Dress, 1876

Content: The advent of more simply constructed women’s apparel in the 1890s gave a further boost to the clothing industry. Sholes & Glidden Typewriter, 1873
Made by E. Remington & Sons
The development of corporations after the Civil War led to the creation of multiple layers of office management. The vast demand for professional managers and clerical staff encouraged education and the growth of the middle class. The introduction of the typewriter gave women the opportunity to enter the corporate workplace. Gift of Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict
John Brown Lennon's Delegate Badge, 1893
From the Journeymen Tailors’ Union convention
Rapid industrial development in the late 1800s changed where and how Americans worked. By 1900, U.S. factories employed 4.5 million people, most working long hours for low wages in often unhealthful conditions. Workers organized local and national unions in response, leading to an intense period of political activity, strikes, and sometimes violent clashes in the fight for labor rights. Gift of D. E. Lennon
Jeans, 1873-96
Made by Levi Strauss & Co., San Franscisco
Between 1870 and 1900 over 430 million acres were settled in the United States, most of them in the West. Mining, ranching, and farming drew waves of settlers, and cities and commerce followed. In 1873 San Francisco merchant LeviStrauss and tailor Jacob Davis patented a designfor rugged workers’ pants for western wear—the first jeans, advertised at right in 1875.