“The American people are progressing inventors. To handicap the spirit of inventor is to handicap the progress of the world” Quoted by John H. Patterson
In the 1920’s, the city of Dayton was progressing into Industrialism. The revolution of industrialism was innovated by a Dayton business leader who wanted to make money and create employment opportunities of the people living in the Dayton area. John H. Patterson was the founder of “The National Cash Register Company” who wanted to improve the living standards, education opportunities, and housing arrangement. After the flood in 1913, Patterson created his business from investing in stocks that would develop employment for the Gem City who were affected by this natural disaster. The type of business Patterson built was constructing multiple departments within the company to fund school programs, recreation, transportation, and financial needs. The three main departments Patterson favored were the inventions department, the typewriting department, and the welfare program.
The inventions department was created after Patterson discovered the use of a cash register. This technology was the motivator to mobilize his company to construct more demand to sell to other companies around the city. In 1904, Patterson started working with a local inventor and business man, Charles Kettering. They worked together to invent brand new technology to enhance production on cash registers. This new invention was called the “O.K. charge phone” which was attached to the register to register a charge for a center product. This invention increased demand to buy more cash registers to use in local department stores. In the book, Ohio: History of People, the author, Canton said, “Kettering made a fetish of hard work. He liked to call cost of the ‘first dimensions’ of engineering. He thought experts never accomplished much because they knew too much and were too cautious”(Canton, pg 177). Patterson and Kettering shared the same work ethic to have a purpose to create more goods and services in the Dayton area.
The typewriting department was designed by Patterson to motivate women who lived in Dayton and did not have the same opportunities as men did. He observed that women had smaller fingers compared to men and would be able to type documents faster. This was an opportunity for women to serve in the same field of work to take over clerk and secretary jobs. There were other employment opportunities for women to take cooking classes, help with the laundry, and to teach at the NCR school house.
The welfare program for NCR employees benefited them to work in a healthy environment and receive minimal hours of labor. Patterson was worried about the welfare of the people living in the Dayton area who were not receiving minimal hours and working in terrible conditions. In the book, Grand Plans: Business Progressivism and Social Change in Ohio’s Miami Valley, the author Judith Sealander wrote, “The National Cash Register Company used welfare work, then in hopes of increasing work force productivity and efficiency and of thwarting carelessness, absenteeism, even work sabotage.” <Grand Plans page 35>. He wanted to change the work atmosphere to keep his employees to work hard and to stay longer to boost the economy.
Reference to:
Cayton, Andrew. Ohio The History of People. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2002. Print.
Watson, C (2002). Dayton Comes of Age: The City Through The Eyes Of John H, Patterson 1897-1922. Dayton Ohio: Montgomery County Historical Society.
