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TRACING THE FALL AND RISE OF GREENFIELD BUSINESS FOR 14 YEARS

$250,000                            
$200,000 Industrial Payroll Index                          
$150,000 (4th week of each month)                          
$100,000                            
$50,000                            
0                            
  1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

Indicative of the effect of Uncle Sam's war effort on Greenfield business is this chart showing the month-by-month fluctuations in the
Chamber of Commerce payroll index since the check was started back in 1928. Based on one week's payroll each month and considered a
true barometer, the index hovered around the $100,000 mark until the 1929 crash, dropped steadily with slight seasonal rebounds until it hit
an all-time low in the summer of 1933. The current rise started in March of 1940 and has continued since, hitting $249,411 last December.

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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label levels:

There is currently no available "Beginner" label. The following is the default level label: This chart, published in the 1942 Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper in Greenfield, Massachusetts, shows the dramatic increase in the Industrial Payroll Index from 1933 to 1941, as Greenfield industries geared up for the World War II (WWII) war effort. Historians agree that World War II (WWII) was ultimately won on the home front. America's ability to produce massive numbers of airplanes, ships, trucks, tanks, and other items required to fight a global war, enabled the Allies to grind the enemy into submission. Greenfield, Massachusetts residents served in the armed forces, helped maintain morale on the home front, and worked in defense industries. The small town of Greenfield had a surprisingly large concentration of industries vital to the war effort, and employed an estimated 7,000 workers. Greenfield was even protected by an anti-aircraft battery, able to shoot down German bombers. A high percentage of industrial workers were considered so essential to production that they were deferred from the draft.

 

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"Tracing The Fall And Rise Of Greenfield Business For 14 Years" graph from Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper

publisher   Greenfield Recorder-Gazette
date   Feb 23, 1942
location   Greenfield, Massachusetts
width   6.75"
height   5.0"
process/materials   printed paper, ink
item type   Periodicals/Newspaper
accession #   #L06.024


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See Also...

"Millers Falls Company Arises From Nash's Mill Ashes" article from Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper

"Darling Expands Parts Manufacturing Ten-Fold Since Firm Started in 1940" article from Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper

"GTD Makes John Grant's Invention Known Around World" article from Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper


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