{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3","title":"Time for Things Labor, Leisure, and the Rise of Mass Consumption","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9780674250529","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3","id":"10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3","uuid":"10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3","title":"Time for Things Labor, Leisure, and the Rise of Mass Consumption","normalized_title":"timeforthingslaborleisureandtheriseofmassconsumption","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9780674250529","isbns":["9780674250529","9780674250536","9780674979512"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":355,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/Time%20for%20Things%20Labor%2C%20Leisure%2C%20and%20the%20Rise%20of%20Mass%20Consumption","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/10f0f318-a2eb-4ea9-8798-d4fb0304f8c3/search"},"page":{"printed_page":165,"pdf_page":173,"physical_index":173,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"59f56058db4afec6dd8861c63065bfadfef251aa9448314bedc90534b68ca571"},"chapter":"FOR","content":"The connection between standardization and product quality was clearly laid out by H. M. Leland, general manager of Cadillac: “You may call me rabid if you like on the subject of standardization, but sooner or later, every man who buys a touring car will insist on this qualification before every other . . . why should the buyer of an automobile not be entitled to the same degree of mechanical certainty that is guaranteed to the buyer of a sewing machine or typewriter?”52 The durability of standardized goods was an ongoing theme for Leland, who declared two years later: “We are actually face to face, today, with motor cars which will last the ordinary lifetime of the average owner— or at any rate, grow old in his service; or in the service of subsequent purchasers. It is all a question of standardization. All over the country there are cars in service which are as sound and as eficient as the day they were built eight years ago. These cars endure because they possess a peculiar element of vitality which results, to put it crudely, from the perfection with which one part fits into its component part; and the harmony of operation that exists between all the parts which constitute the car as a whole. . . . The greater [the] degree of standardization, the lesser the degree of friction, the longer the life.”53 Especially in the auto industry, standardization of products was primarily represented as being about increasing durability—standardizing parts would ensure longer lasting, more durable vehicles.54\n\nThe greater durability of the standardized automobile was to be accompanied by improved reliability. Journalist F.  E. Moskovics, writing in 1910, drew attention to the reliability of standardized cars.55 A publicity spokesman for car maker Abbott-Detroit similarly emphasized the reliability of the standardized automobile, among other qualities: “The man who puts his money in a new Abbott-Detroit gets the only standardized mid-priced car in America. He gets a car that can be relied upon to do more than its daily work on account of the standardization of every individual part in the machine. He gets a car that we stand behind—that will deliver and operate above specified rating—that the manufacturer will guarantee for one year.”56 The application of standardization to improve product quality was seen as a response to consumer demand. According to a 1910 editorial in the Chicago Tribune, “The era of standardization has arrived, for it is clearly apparent that the designers have come to a realization of the needs of the users of automobiles and are endeavoring to give the people what they want.”57\n\nStandardization of Consumption, Work, and Wages\n\n165","previous_page":164,"next_page":166}