TRACING THE FALL AND RISE OF GREENFIELD BUSINESS FOR
14 YEARS
$250,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$200,000 |
Industrial Payroll Index |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$150,000 |
(4th week of each month) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$100,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$50,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1928 |
1929 |
1930 |
1931 |
1932 |
1933 |
1934 |
1935 |
1936 |
1937 |
1938 |
1939 |
1940 |
1941 |
Indicative of the effect of Uncle Sam's war effort on Greenfield business is
this chart showing the month-by-month fluctuations in the
Chamber of Commerce payroll index since the check was started back in 1928.
Based on one week's payroll each month and considered a
true barometer, the index hovered around the $100,000 mark until the 1929 crash,
dropped steadily with slight seasonal rebounds until it hit
an all-time low in the summer of 1933. The current rise started in March of
1940 and has continued since, hitting $249,411 last December. |
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
label levels: |
|
|
This chart, published in the 1942 Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper in Greenfield, Massachusetts, shows the dramatic increase in the Industrial Payroll Index from 1933 to 1941, as Greenfield industries geared up for the World War II (WWII) war effort. Historians agree that World War II (WWII) was ultimately won on the home front. America's ability to produce massive numbers of airplanes, ships, trucks, tanks, and other items required to fight a global war, enabled the Allies to grind the enemy into submission. Greenfield, Massachusetts residents served in the armed forces, helped maintain morale on the home front, and worked in defense industries. The small town of Greenfield had a surprisingly large concentration of industries vital to the war effort, and employed an estimated 7,000 workers. Greenfield was even protected by an anti-aircraft battery, able to shoot down German bombers. A high percentage of industrial workers were considered so essential to production that they were deferred from the draft.
top of page
|
"Tracing The Fall And Rise Of Greenfield Business For 14 Years" graph from Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper
publisher Greenfield Recorder-Gazette |
date Feb 23, 1942 |
location Greenfield, Massachusetts |
width 6.75" |
height 5.0" |
process/materials printed paper, ink |
item type Periodicals/Newspaper |
accession # #L06.024 |
Send an e-Postcard of this object
|