ABSTRACT
American industry was undamaged by the Second World War and soon accounted
for close to half of the world’s manufacturing output; Connecticut River Valley
firms and workers shared in the prosperity. After a downturn in the late 1940s,
primarily caused by defense cuts, Springfield firms like Bosch added workers.
Productivity rose, and workers enjoyed rising standards of living. Precision
metalworking helped Greater Springfield and much of the river valley prosper
long after textile and paper cities like Lowell and Holyoke struggled with job loss.
Between 1939 and 1947 Springfield’s production workforce growth of 62 percent
doubled the statewide average.1 However, the country and the valley were unable
to sustain their positions as “manufacturer to the world” and in the mid-1950s
Bosch and other firms began their exodus. As firms fled the region, Massachusetts
Senator John F. Kennedy made several speeches on the dangers of runaway
companies. He warned that defense contracts in the aircraft and electrical-
machinery industries and inflated government payrolls masked the static behavior
in civilian companies.
