W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s 35
1822-1921
• In 1822, 10 lbs.
of sugar $0.20
• In 1829, one bushel (35.2
liters) of potatoes cost $0.12
• In 1828, one set of blue
china cost $8.00
• In 1829,
one cow
cost $12
• In 1825, one pound of
coffee cost $0.17; by 1850,
one pound of coffee was
$0.80
• In 1847, a piano cost $195
• In 1852, a routine doctor's
visit cost $2
• In 1874, a
dozen pairs
of Levi Strauss
blue jeans cost $13.50
• In 1875, one pair
of shoes cost $0.98
• In 1875, a suit
cost $10
• In 1904, an
Oldsmobile
cost $650
simpler to build and maintain. Eventually Crompton
patented hundreds of improvements to the design.
e Crompton loom could more or less double
the productivity of a given facility and work
force. Crompton and licensees produced them
in enormous numbers throughout the following
decades, gaining international recognition.
Crompton later combined forces with Knowles,
whose looms were suitable for different kinds of
cloth production, and he himself became involved in
Worcester politics, invested in other businesses, and
helped establish the important industrial insurer, the
Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co.
Crompton was part of a huge segment of the
region's economy that leveraged pioneering textile
manufacturing skills into specialization in making
machinery for the industry.
– Alan R. Earls
What things
cost
Aerial view of the Crompton Loom Works
A woman works at the high-speed loom.
Image | Worcester Public Library
Image | Worcester Public Library
