| List of Tables | |
| Preface | |
| Ch. 1 | Introduction | 3 |
| Pt. I | Early Years | 25 |
| Ch. 2 | Specialty Manufacturing to 1876 | 27 |
| Ch. 3 | Institutions and the Context for Specialty Production | 60 |
| Pt. II | Centennial to Columbian: Specialty Producers, 1876-1893 | 79 |
| Ch. 4 | The 1876 Exposition and Philadelphia Manufacturing | 81 |
| Ch. 5 | Providence and New York: Jewelry, Silverware, and Printing | 108 |
| Ch. 6 | Midwestern Specialists: Cincinnati Tools and Grand Rapids Furniture | 133 |
| Pt. III | Depression and Advance, 1893-1912 | 161 |
| Ch. 7 | Chicago and Grand Rapids: Palace Cars and Furniture | 163 |
| Ch. 8 | Fashioning the Machine Tool Hub: Cincinnati | 193 |
| Ch. 9 | Back East: The Electrical Equipment Industry | 220 |
| Ch. 10 | The Perils of Providence Jewelry's Erratic Course | 241 |
| Ch. 11 | Workshop of the World: Philadelphia | 260 |
| Pt. IV | Diverging Pathways, 1913-1925 | 295 |
| Ch. 12 | War, Depression, and Specialty Production into the 1920s | 297 |
| Ch. 13 | Looking Ahead | 344 |
| Notes | 357 |
| Index | 407 |
