In 1925, the secretary of the American Standards Association, P. G. Agnew, gave a retrospective assessment of the accomplishments of the standardization movement over the previous two decades.25 He noted that there had been a broad reorganization of American society around standardized systems, especially in production, where, alluding to Taylorism, standardized techniques had gone a long way toward eliminating “unnecessary motions.” Looking forward at a bright future, Agnew predicted that further standardization “will make for eficiency and economy in production, distribution, and consumption.”26 Similar sentiments were expressed by other prominent industry figures. For example, Bernard Gherardi, vice-president of AT&T, in his retirement address chose to speak about the great progress made toward standardization since 1918.27
Standardization of production in the early twentieth century was most closely associated with the automobile industry. Inspired by the success of the standardization of railroads in the nineteenth century, auto manufacturers began very early on in the history of the car industry to create intercompany technical standards. These eforts, which were spear-headed by a combination of engineers and forward-looking industrialists, began in earnest around 1910. By the 1920s, other American manufacturing industries realized the usefulness of shared standards and embarked on similar standardizing projects (G. Thompson 1954).
Engineers were not just at the cutting edge of the standardization of the auto industry but also leaders of the broader standardization movement. They were to be found at the helm of standardizing projects in various state bodies and consumer organizations, as well as in a variety of industries. Their disparate eforts were brought together under the auspices of the American Engineering Standards Committee (AESC), founded in 1918, which actively worked to persuade businessmen of the benefits of standardization.28 The AESC included nine engineering societies, seven government departments, and nineteen industry organizations, which met regularly with the aim of hammering out standards for all aspects of the economy.29 The mission of the organization was to advance standardization against the often ineficient and chaotic ferment of the free market. The standardizing activities of engineers and their associations did not go unnoticed—in the popular press engineers were singled out for praise for their eforts to improve the economy.30
Standardization of Consumption, Work, and Wages
159