Returning home from work one day in 1913, your dad shouts at you from across the house. “Who’s the best mechanic in the world?” You laugh because he makes the same joke every night.
After dinner, he tells you and your mom about a new idea his boss has to make production at his company even better. “Think of it, kiddo,” he says with a grin. “We’ll be able to build more cars. And we’ll build them faster than ever before.”
In the early 1900s, Midwestern companies were coming up with new ways of making things. These changes let them turn out more goods in less time. The waterways and railroads that were important to settlers became important in new ways. Transportation became better and faster. That played a big part in the growth of the region’s cities and industries. Boats and trains brought raw materials to factories. The finished products were carried along rivers and railways to buyers in other cities and towns.
