Spirit of America Bookstore

U.S. Business Leaders & Crooks

"America's business is business."
— President Calvin Coolidge

This page gathers the current & historical American business leaders that made this country a giant in the business world, as well as their companies and other organizations that exemplify the good practices – innovation, entrepreneurship, market creation – and bad practices – pseudo-capitalism, rampant exploitation, slavery, fascism, monopolies, bribery & corruption, Ponzi schemes – that over time built up a flourishing economic expansion that was only recently halted by the incompetence of the George W. Bush policies and by the Oligarchy's mandate for unregulated greed in the First Decade of the XXIst Century.

Leaders & Crooks, A to Z     ë     Companies, A to Z     ë     books & magazines     ë     links

Capitalism & Wall Street Page
at the Maison d'Ętre Philosophy Bookstore

“Capitalism is the creation of jobs and products and services.”
— G.E. Nordell

WMail ezine Essay #40: "Paleo-Capitalism" [Feb 2004]

Corporate Crime Reporter newsletter & blog [est. 1987]

U.S History / Business books search at Amazon

"The Olympians: A Tribute To Tall Sun-Crowned Men" [1921] by Elbert Hubbard [1856-1915] chapters/topics include oil & food tycoon E.T. Bedford, botanist Luther Burbank, railroad tycoon Benjamin Franklin Bush, arms maker Samuel Pomeroy Colt, railroad executive George H. Daniels, John Davey, utilities tycoon Henry L. Doherty, automaker Henry Ford, educator Thomas J. Foster, steel tycoon Elbert H. Gary, restaurant tycoon Fred Harvey [1835-1901], railroad tycoon Charles M. Hays, college president Patrick J. Healy, explorer Henry Hudson, automaker {Packard} Henry B. Joy, cereal tycoons Dr. J.H. Kellogg & C.W. Post, Canadian statesman Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Judge Benjamin B. Lindsey, New York City politician William T. Noonan, New York City attorney John Edward Parsons, cash register tycoon {N.C.R.} John H. Patterson, Illinois banker & politician George M. Reynolds, tractor tycoons J.A. Secor & E.A. Rumely, toolmaker E.C. Simmons, hatmaker John B. Stetson, railroad tycoon Frederick D. Underwood, college president Dr. Charles R. Van Hise, New York City politician John H. Vincent, automaker John North Willys, machinery tycoon Sidney W. Winslow, and educator Ella Flagg Young BiblioLife 8x5 pb [10/2008] for $16.19 BiblioLife 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2008] for $21.99

U.S. Business Leaders & Crooks, A to Z

showman Phineas Taylor 'P.T.' Barnum [1810-91]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum

inventor Alexander Graham Bell [1847-1922]
"Story of the Telephone" [1910] by Herbert N. Casson; Amzn ebook B0000523WE for $7.15 (6/M1)
recvd patent for phone 3/7/1876
In "The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret" [2008]
journalist Seth Shulman argues that Bell stole ideas for the telephone from a rival, Elisha Gray

capitalist Warren Buffett Page

steel baron Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919]
PBS bio • PBS bio on VHS

"The Gospel of Wealth" and Other Writings [1889 classic] by industrialist Andrew Carnegie Penguin 7½x5 pb [9/2006] for $8.50

Clifford Clinton [1900-69] {restaurants}
Clifton's Cafeteria • movie "Big Heat" [1953] • Pearl Buck novel [1953]

showman William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody [1846-1917]
books • B.B. Historical Center • videos/DVDs • IMDb

"The Business of Being Buffalo Bill: Selected Letters of William F. Cody,
1879-1917" [1988] /0275928896/

Joshua Lionel Cowen [1877-1965]
Lionel Corp. [1901-1969] Section on the American Railroads Pages

The Crosley Brothers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powel_Crosley,_Jr. [1886-1961]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_M._Crosley [1888-1978]
www.amazon.com/Crosley-Brothers-Business-Empire-Transformed/dp/1578602912/
http://www.amazon.com/Crosley-Brothers-Business-Empire-Transformed/dp/1578603226/

farm equipment baron John Deere [1804-86]
official 'Story of John Deere' • Wikipedia

Deere & Company [est. 1837]
browse DVDs • official website • IMDb listing • entry on Wikipedia

"John Deere: A History of The Tractor" [2004] by Randy Leffingwell Voyageur Press 8¾x7¾ pb [8/2006] for $16.47 Voyageur/M.B.I. hardcover [11/2004] for $40.00

Dr. W. Edwards Deming [1900-93] Page
at Maison d'Ętre Philosophy Bookstore

Walt Disney [1901-66] Page
at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

oil baron Edward L. Doheny [1856-1935]

"Dark Side of Fortune" bio [1995]

"Oil Baron of The Southwest: Edward L. Doheny and The Development of The Petroleum
Industry In California & Mexico" [1998] by Martin R. Ansell /0814207499/

Donald Douglas [1892-1981]
{Douglas Aircraft Company}

George Eastman [1854-1932]
George Eastman entry at Wikipedia
Kodak website
George Eastman House Museum of Photography [built 1905; chartered 1947]
P.B.S. George Eastman bio • P.B.S. bio on VHS

inventor Thomas Alva Edison [1847-1931] Page

automobile maker Henry Ford [1863-1947]
Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, 1903-2003
by Douglas Brinkley 067003181X
The Ford Century: Ford Motor Company and the Innovations That Shaped the World
by Russ Banham, Paul Newman 1579652018
http://www.amazon.com/Ford-Lynne-Adams/dp/B00097E6V8/ DVD

William Henry 'Bill' Gates III
{Microsoft, Inc.}: browse books

toy maker & inventor A.C. Gilbert [1884-1961]
A.C. Gilbert entry at Wikipedia
A.C. Gilbert biography [new 10/2002]
ACGilbert biopic "The Man Who Saved Christmas" [2002]

Erector Set™ [est. 1911] entry at Wikipedia
BB's 'Erector® Sets' fansite

razor blade baron King Gillette [1855-1932]

Charles Goodyear [1800-60]
recvd patent for rubber process 15 June 1844
never made tires, company began making them 28 yrs after his death;

railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman [1848-1909]

"The Life and Legend of E. H. Harriman" [] by Maury Klein ISBN-13: 9780807825174

restaurant tycoon Fred Harvey [1836-1901]
Fred Harvey Company / Harvey House Restaurants [1875-1968] Page

	"Images of America: Fred Harvey Houses of The Southwest" [2008] by Richard Melzer Arcadia Publng 9x6½ pb [11/2008] for $14.95
	"Appetite For America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey   Built A Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized The Wild West" [2010] by Stephen Fried Bantam 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2010] for $17.82

newspaper & movie tycoon
William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951]
major factor in growth of Hollywood, emergence of studio system

playboy & editor Hugh M. Hefner

docufilm by Kevin Burns 1996 /tt0414123/ = not avail 10/M7

"Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel" docufilm [2010] /tt1503776/
by Brigitte Berman

billionaire Howard R. Hughes [1905-76] Page

railroad baron Henry E. Huntington [1850-1927]

"Henry E. Huntington and The Creation of Southern California" []
by William B. Friedricks /0814205534/

movie pioneer Thomas H. Ince [1882-1924]

industrialist Henry J. Kaiser [1882-1967]
“The Six Magic Words to Riches: Find a need and fill it.”
H-J-K- FAMILY FOUNDATION = www.kff.org
Kaiser Permanente http://www.kp.org/

billionaire Kirk Kerkorian [b. 1917]

fast food tycoon Ray Kroc [1902-84]
{McDonald's restaurants}

publisher Henry Robinson Luce [1898-1967]

"Time: Illustrasted History" book by Norberto Angeletti
"The Publisher" [] by Alan Brinkley

swindler Bernard Lawrence 'Bernie' Madoff
browse books • incomplete IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller" [2010]   by Harry Markopolos Independent financial fraud investigator Markopolos and his 'Fox Hounds' team investigated, documented, and reported Madoff's Ponzi scheme to newspapers and to the S.E.C.; the warnings were ignored repeatedly, until the scheme fell apart as the world's largest financial fraud ever. Wiley 9x6½ hardcover [3/2010] for $15.37

http://www.amazon.com/Madoff-Chronicles-Inside-Secret-Bernie/dp/B003BVK2LC/
http://www.amazon.com/Too-Good-Be-True-Bernie/dp/1591842875/
http://www.amazon.com/Betrayal-Life-Lies-Bernie-Madoff/dp/0061870765/
http://www.amazon.com/Madoff-Money-Jerry-Oppenheimer/dp/0470504986/
http://www.amazon.com/Madoffs-Other-Secret-Money-Bernie/dp/0312618379/
http://www.amazon.com/Bernard-Madoff-Masterminding-Billion-Dollar/dp/159986505X/
http://www.amazon.com/Catastrophe-Story-Bernard-Madoff-Swindled/dp/1597776408/

banker John Pierpont 'J.P.' Morgan [1837-1913]

vacuum cleaner baron David Oreck [b. 1923]
official website/bio • products at Amazon.com

retail tycoon J.C. Penney [1895-1971]
B000006QJJ = A&E Biog video for $19.95

energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens

newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer [1847-1911]
bio on Pulitzer Prize website

oil baron John D. Rockefeller [1839-1937]
PBS bio • PBS bio on VHS

"Taking On The Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller - How An Investigative Journalist Brought Down Standard Oil" [2008] by Steve Weinberg W.W. Norton 8¼x5½ pb [8/2009] for $12.92 W.W. Norton 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2008] for $17.13

'Colonel' Harland David Sanders [1890-1980]
{Kentucky Fried Chicken}

pants maker Levi Strauss [1829-1902]

The Studebaker Brothers

	Studebaker entry at Wikipedia Studebaker Clubs Studebaker History Studebaker National Museum Studebaker pictures gallery

automaker Preston Tucker [1903-56] Page

Ted Turner {cable television}
new Ted Turner memoir 2008
Ted's Montana Grill chain features bison meat: first Jan 2002 in Columbus Ohio, up to 57 in 2009
==RANCHES
owns 590,823 acre Vermejo Park Ranch near Raton, NM (in No NM & So CO)
owns 113,613 acre Flying D Ranch is SW MT [purch 1989]
owns 22,129 acre Bar None Ranch in MT?
owns 13,343 acre Snowcrest Ranch in Madison County MT
owns 4,878 acre Red Rock Ranch in Beaverhead CO
owns Ladder Ranch near Hillsboro NM

tycoon 'Commodore' Cornelius Vanderbilt [1794-1877]
http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FThe-First-Tycoon%2Fdp%2FB0026UNZD6

retail tycoon Sam Walton [1918-92]
http://www.amazon.com/Sam-Walton-Made-America/dp/0553562835/

industrialist George Westinghouse [1846-1914]
http://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-DVD-Carol-Lee-Espy/dp/B000UO9ULQ/
Nikola Tesla [1856-1943] Page

The Wright Brothers
Orville Wright [1871–1948]
Wilbur Wright [1867–1912]

chewing gum baron William Wrigley, Jr. [1861-1932]

showman Florenz Ziegfeld [1867-1932]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florenz_Ziegfeld
http://www.amazon.com/Ziegfeld-Man-Invented-Show-Business/dp/0312375433/

Major Companies, A to Z

Arbuckle's Coffee [est. 1865]
Arbuckle's Coffee [est. 1865] official website

"Arbuckle's: The Coffee That Won the West" [1994] by Francis L. Fugate Texas Western Press 12½x9¾ hardcover [11/94] out of print/used

ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's [est. 1978]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%26_Jerry%27s

"Ben & Jerry's: The Inside Scoop - How Two Real Guys Built A Business With
A Social Conscience & A Sense of Humor" [1995] by Fred Lager /0517883708/

clothier Brooks Brothers [est. 1818]

"Brooks Brothers, Centenary 1818-1918: Being A Short History of The Founding of
Their Business, Together With An Account of Its Different Locations In The City
of New York During This Period" [2005] by Michigan Historical Reprint Series /1425500048/

Castle & Cooke [est. 1851]

Diners & Fast Food
Spirit of America Bookstore's American Roadside Diners Page

A & W Restaurants chain [est. 1919] - famous for their draft root beer
Big Boy Restaurants chain [est. 1934]
Tommy's Original World Famous Hamburgers® [est. 1946; 33 locations]
In-N-Out Burger chain [est. 1948]
Norm's Restaurants chain [est. 1949]
Waffle House® Restaurants chain [est. 1955]
Huddle House chain [est. 1964]
Ruby's Diner chain [est. 1980]

Ferry-Morse Seed Company [est. 1856] of Fulton, Kentucky
www.Ferry-Morse.com

Helms Bakery [1931-69] of Culver City, CA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms_Bakery

In-N-Out Burger [est. 1948]
company official website

"In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-The-Counter Look At The Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All The Rules" [2009] by Stacy Perman Collins Business 8¼x5¾ hardcover [4/2009] for $16.49

Jewel Tea Co. [est. 1899]

King Biscuit Flour

Mad Magazine [est. 1952]

Massey Energy [est. 1920]
official website • entry at Wikipedia
'Prosecute Massey for Manslaughter' website [est. 4/2010]

McIlhenny Company [est. 1868]
producer of Tabasco® brand products

"McIlhenny's Gold: How A Louisiana Family Built The Tabasco Empire"
[2007] by Jeffrey Rothfeder /0060721847/

Organized Crime
Spirit of America Bookstore's Organized Crime Page
'The Godfather Saga' Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Gangster Film Festival Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

The Pony Express [April 1860 to October 1861]

"The Pony Express: The Record of A Romantic Adventure In Business" [1932]
by Arthur Chapman /0815403917/
"Orphans Preferred" book by C. Corbett
www.StJoMo.com
www.PonyExpressJessejames.com = Patee House Hotel [est. 1858]
www.StJosephMuseum.org
www.XPhomestation.com

Spirit of America's
American Railroads Pages

Schwan's Home Service, Inc. [est. 1952] in Marshall, MN

Sizzler Restaurants [est. 1958]
Founded in 1958 as Del's Sizzler Steak House at Airport Village in Culver City, California.

Sizzler official website   •   Sizzler entry at Wikipedia

click for larger photo {in new window}

Stanley Tools and Black & Decker

The Stanley Rule & Level Company was founded in 1857 by Henry Stanley in New Britain, Connecticut; in 1920, the company merged with the separate but related Stanley Works, founded by Henry Stanley's cousin Frederick Trent Stanley. Black & Decker Corp. was founded in 1910 by S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1917, Black & Decker obtained a patent for a hand-held drill combining a pistol grip and trigger switch. 153-year-old Stanley and 100-year-old Black & Decker quietly merged on 12 March 2010.

official Stanley Black & Decker website   •   Stanley Black & Decker at Wikipedia
official Stanley website   •   Stanley Tools entry at Wikipedia
official Black & Decker website   •   Black & Decker entry at Wikipedia

Starbucks Coffee [est. 1971]

Starbucks Coffee began in 1971 as a seller of freshly-roasted coffee beans in Seattle, Washington. In 1987, the three owners sold out to a comperitor (and former employee). Starbucks had grown to 165 locations in the U.S. and Canada by the time the company went public in 1992. The rapid expansion of the chain purposely trampled on local coffee shops, and thousands of small businesses disappeared as Starbucks grew to its current monster footprint of 16,600 stores in 49 countries (over 11,000 in the U.S.).

official website   •   entry at Wikipedia

Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Corporations vs. America / Starbucks Coffee

Tupperware [est. 1946]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupperware

"Tupperware Unsealed: Brownie Wise, Earl Tupper, and The Home Party Pioneers"
[2008] by Bob Kealing /081303227X/

Books

	"The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861-1901" [1934 classic] by Matthew Josephson Classic study of American capitalists who boldly seized economic power in America after the Civil War, including Carnegie, Frick, Gould, Morgan, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt Harcourt 8x5½ pb [6/62] for $12.75 Amereon 8¾x5¾ hardcover [6/40] for $34.95
	"The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime In The United States" [1976] by Humbert S. Nelli Univ Chicago Press 8¼x5½ pb [4/81] for $29.00 Oxford Univ Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [8/76] out of print/used
	"Wildcatters: Texas Independent Oilmen" [1984] by Roger M. Olien & Diana Davids Hinton TAMU Press 9x6 pb [5/2007] for $12.89 Texas Monthly Press hardcover [9/84] out of print/used
	"American Dreams: One Hundred Years of Business & Innovation From The Wall Street Journal" [1990] by Kenneth M. Morris, Marc Robinson & Richard Kroll Harry N. Abrams 11x9 hardcover [4/91] out of print/many used Harry N. Abrams 11x9 hardcover [1990] out of print/many used
	"United States Business History, 1602-1988: A Chronology" [1990] by Richard Robinson Greenwood Press 9½x6½ hardcover [9/90] for $133.95
	"Making America Corporate, 1870-1920" [1990] by Olivier Zunz Univ Chicago Press 9¼x6 pb [8/92] for $23.50 Univ Chicago Press hardcover [12/90] out of print/used
	"A History of Small Business In America" [1992] by Mansel G. Blackford Univ NC Press 2nd edition 9x6 pb [5/2003] for $22.95 Twayne Publng 8¾x5½ pb [2/92] out of print/used Twayne Publng 8½x5¾ hardcover [2/92] out of print/used
	"The Age of Giant Corporations: A Microeconomic History of American Business, 1914-1992" [orig 1972, rev 1993] by Robert Sobel Praeger 3rd edition 8¼x5½ pb [3/93] for $33.95 Greenwood Press 3rd edition 8¾x5¾ hardcover [3/93] out of print/used

"Business Enterprise In American History" [1993] /0395668492/
by Mansel Blackford & K. Austin Kerr

"King of The Wildcatters: The Life & Times of Tom Slick, 1883-1930" [1996]
by Ray Miles /1585443999/

"Creating Modern Capitalism: How Entrepreneurs, Companies, and Countries Triumphed In Three Industrial Revolutions" [1998] by Thomas K. McCraw Harvard Univ Press 9x7 pb [1/98] for $35.09 Harvard Univ Press 9¼x7¼ hardcover [11/99] out of print/used

"The New York Times Century of Business" [1999] /dp/0071355898/
by Floyd Norris and Christine Bockelmann

"American Business, 1920-2000: How It Worked" [2000] /0882959859/
by Thomas K. McCraw, John H. Franklin & A.S. Eisenstadt

"The Marshall Fields: The Evolution of An American Business Dynasty" [2002]
by Axel Madsen /0471024937/

"Barons of Business" [2002] by William G. Scheller /0883638428/

"A History of Small Business In America" [2003] by Mansel G. Blackford /0807854530/

"The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates - How The Great Entrepreneurs Transformed
Ideas Into Industries" [4/2003] by Maury Klein 9780805069143 + 9780805075182

"African-American Business Leaders & Entrepreneurs" [2004] by Rachel Kranz /0816051011/

"Encyclopedia of American Business [2004] by W. Davis Folsom & Rick Boulware /0816046433/

"An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power, 1607-2001" [2004] by John Steele Gordon "[a] fresh, interesting, and informative ... economic biography of our country" Harper Perennial 8x5½ pb [11/2005] for $10.37 HarperCollins 9¼x6½ hardcover [10/2004] for $16.98

"The Encyclopedia of American Business History" 2 volume set [2005]
by Charles R. Geisst for $123.44 /0816043507/

"The Rise of Big Business, 1860-1920" [2006] /0882952404/
by Glenn Porter, John Hope Franklin & A.S. Eisenstadt

"Bulls, Bears, Boom, and Bust: A Historical Encyclopedia of American Business Concepts"
[2006] by John M. Dobson /1851095535/

"Envy of The World: A History of The U.S. Economy and Big Business" [2006]
by Timothy J. Botti /0875864325/

"The Myth of The Robber Barons: A New Look At The Rise of Big Business In America" [2007]
by Burton W. Folsom & Forrest McDonald pb=/0963020315/ hb=/0963020307/

"Beer School: Bottling Success At The Brooklyn Brewery" [2007] /0470068671/
by Steve Hindy, Tom Potter & Michael R. Bloomberg

	"Leviathan: The History of Whaling In America" [2007] by Eric Jay Dolin W.W. Norton 8x5½ pb [7/2008] for $10.85 W.W. Norton 9¼x6 deckle-edge hardcover [7/2007] for $18.45 author's official website
	"The Genesis of Industrial America, 1870-1920" [2007] by Maury Klein Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 pb [9/2007] for $20.46 Cambridge Univ Press 9¼x6 hardcover [9/2007] for $77.99
	"Historical Encyclopedia of American Business" in 3 volumes [2009] Edited by Richard L. Wilson Salem Press 11½x9½ library hardcover [4/2009] for $364.00 {sic} Volume 1: Accounting to Google Salem Press 10¼x8¼ library hardcover [4/2009] for $121.33 Volume 2: Gould to Secret Service Salem Press 10¼x8¼ library hardcover [4/2009] for $122.00 Volume 3: Securities to Zoning Salem Press 10¼x8¼ library hardcover [4/2009] for $122.00
	"Million Dollar Cup of Tea: What You Can Learn From A Mother-Daughter Team Who Turned A Simple Idea Into Oregon Chai, A $75 Million Business" [2009] by Tedde McMillen, with Heather Halo Wbusiness Books 8¾x6 pb [3/2009] for $19.95 Oregon Chai [est. 1991] official website
	"The Most Powerful Idea In The World: A Story of Steam, Industry   & Invention" [2010] by William Rosen Random House 9x6 hardcover [6/2010] for $18.48 more such on Spirit of America Bookstore's American Railroads Pages
	"Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of The Fur Trade   In America" [2010] by Eric Jay Dolin W.W. Norton 9¼x6½ deckle-edge hardcover [7/2010] for $19.77 author's official website

Magazines

Entrepreneur Magazine subscribe at Amazon 12 issues/year for $11.97 magazine website entry at Wikipedia

Forbes Magazine subscribe at Amazon 26 issues/year for $29.99 subscribe at Amazon 52 issues/2 years for $29.99 magazine website entry at Wikipedia

Fortune Magazine subscribe at Amazon with auto-renewal 20 issues/year for $29.98 subscribe at Amazon 40 issues/2 years for $59.95 magazine website entry at Wikipedia

Inc. Magazine subscribe at Amazon with auto-renewal 10 issues/year for $9.97 subscribe at Amazon 20 issues/2 years for $9.97 magazine website entry at Wikipedia

Links

U.S History / Business books search at Amazon

Magic Lantern's "Rat Race" Film Festival Page

Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Corporations vs. America Page
'Birth of The Corporation' Timeline
Books On The Subject
The Enron Scandal
Boycott Wal-Mart !!
Starbucks Coffee

Online sales in association with  

top of this page    |    back to Spirit of America Bookstore homepage