Toward Mass Distribution

. With the spread of the railroads, shipments of goods began crisscrossing the country more swiftly, in larger volumes, and on steadier schedules than ever before—a development that rapidly worked structural commercial change. Mass distribution, in short, accompanied the rise of mass production; the new landscape of railroads, factories, and industrial cities grew a new commercial network of distributors, department stores, and mail-order houses. It was a far-reaching transformation, and it would take decades longer to complete, but it was well underway by the end of the 1870s. Already the nascent outlines of a modern consumer economy were growing clear.

Pre-Railroad.

In the early nineteenthth century, few Americans were plugged into anything like a consumer- goods economy. Most clothing was made in family households, and products such as tools, shoes, furniture, and even firearms were usually made by...