Important developments took place in the chemical industry, as various forms of plastic were experimented with. For example, John Wesley Hyatt invented celluloid as a substitute for the ivory in billiard balls in 1868 (Muccio 1991). Telephone was invented in the decade to follow. Oil industry was consolidating quickly, as the demand for petroleum was growing continuously. John Rockefeller was buying oil refineries, oilfields and pipelines. By the end of the decade, he has controlled 90 per cent of the industry. His company, Standard Oil, was a pioneer in many respects, most notably in logistics and organizational design, in modern terminology. Predecessors of Standard Oil used railroad tank cars to transport oil over large distances, which was time consuming and costly; Rockefeller’s company connected Pennsylvanian oilfields with refineries in New Jersey, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Baltimore by pipelines. In term of organizational design, corporations had a limited ability to do business across the
Cited: Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. A Social History of American Technology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print. History Magazine. “The Transatlantic Cable.” N/d. Web. May 8, 2010. Muccio, Edward A. Plastic Part Technology. Materials Park, OH: ASM International, 1991. Print. National Public Radio. “The Stock Ticker Turns 139.” November 15, 2006. Web. May 8, 2010. The University of Colorado at Boulder. “History of Wastewater Treatment in the U.S.” Spring 2009. Web. May 8, 2010. Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. “Driving the Last Spike.” N/d. Web. May 8, 2010. Western Union. “History.” 2009. Web. May 8, 2010.