Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991
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Kent State University / OhioLINK
2010
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1289869898 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-kent12898698982021-08-03T05:37:26Z Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991 Vincent, Stephanie M. American History Economic History History Modern History Social Research failure Shenango China Castleton China business history social history New Castle Pennsylvania Rust Belt deindustrialization oral history advertising company history This study investigates the Shenango China company of New Castle, Pennsylvania in its years of decline prior to its 1991 shutdown. Shenango China began operations in 1901 and enjoyed steady success until a lawsuit brought the plant out of family hands into a series of outside corporate owners which led to its closure. Through historical investigation of the meanings of failure, both physical and psychological, this thesis outlines Shenango’s efforts to avoid their own demise in three ways. The first attempts are seen in the work of Shenango’s management within the plant. The company’s leadership actively promoted new products and designs to improve sales as well as renovations of the production facility and incentive promotions for salesmen, workers, and customers to keep up with a growing market of domestic and foreign competition. The dissemination and promotion of its public image through advertising make up another crucial aspect of Shenango’s efforts to avoid failure. Through examination of advertisements for its subsidiary Castleton China, Shenango’s overall failure is seen as a parallel to the decline in its public image as subsequent owners of the company reduced its outward appearance along with its autonomy. Finally, the viewpoints of Shenango’s workforce are explored to see the effects of failure on workforce morale in the plant’s declining years and how memory serves to create a narrative about the plant’s success and failure. In conclusion, the attempts of Shenango China to avoid failure are compared with the overall decline in industry in the region known as the Rust Belt and the social effects of deindustrialization on the population and quality of life in areas such as New Castle that have lost their industrial base since the 1970s and face uncertain futures going through the twenty-first century. 2010-11-16 English text Kent State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1289869898 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1289869898 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
American History Economic History History Modern History Social Research failure Shenango China Castleton China business history social history New Castle Pennsylvania Rust Belt deindustrialization oral history advertising company history |
| spellingShingle |
American History Economic History History Modern History Social Research failure Shenango China Castleton China business history social history New Castle Pennsylvania Rust Belt deindustrialization oral history advertising company history Vincent, Stephanie M. Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991 |
| author |
Vincent, Stephanie M. |
| author_facet |
Vincent, Stephanie M. |
| author_sort |
Vincent, Stephanie M. |
| title |
Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991 |
| title_short |
Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991 |
| title_full |
Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991 |
| title_fullStr |
Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Flipping the Plate: Changing Perceptions of the Shenango China Company, 1945-1991 |
| title_sort |
flipping the plate: changing perceptions of the shenango china company, 1945-1991 |
| publisher |
Kent State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2010 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1289869898 |
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AT vincentstephaniem flippingtheplatechangingperceptionsoftheshenangochinacompany19451991 |
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