You have to give props to those earlier generations who recognized the importance of equipping young people with an Introduction to Business.
High Point: The more than 200 photographs are the strength of this book.
Low Point: This is a high school textbook, and it reads as one. It’s like falling asleep in class.
Author: Clinton A. Reed & V. James Morgan
Publication Date: 1932
Genre: Social Science
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Introduction to Business by Clinton A. Reed and V. James Morgan is a snapshot of the methods and mechanisms used by Americans to conduct family and commercial business almost 100 years ago. If you are curious about how our daily lives have progressed over the last century, you might enjoy this one.
Published in 1932, Introduction to Business was a high school textbook. It covered a very broad range of fundamentals regarding personal finance as well as the operation of a commercial enterprise. Topics include job searches, banking, budgets, time management—even instructions on operating the then-new technology: a dial telephone. As a historical source, the book provides insight into what educators of that time believed young people should know as they approached adulthood.
Reed’s and Morgan’s style is obviously geared towards the teenage reader—occasionally even talking down to them a bit. But the book is logically structured, and sprinkled with well over 200 photographs and illustrations—the real strength of the book.
Of course, the text reflects the gender roles that were traditional in the 1930s. In fact, early in the book, the authors state:
[The Introduction to Business] is an important course for every pupil, for the girl destined to become a housewife as well as the boy who plans to be an expert accountant.
Still, 21st century readers will find occasional nuggets in the description of subjects such as communications methods—they discuss telegraph and the new device called teletype—and transportation where they point with wonder at the new “huge” airplanes that seat up to 17 passengers.
In the final analysis, this is not a book for most readers. But it’s still interesting to note that 100 years later, our methods and mechanisms may be drastically different, but our objectives remain remarkably the same. And you have to give props to those earlier generations who recognized the importance of equipping young people with an Introduction to Business.
Quotes
| The savings bank, the insurance company, the building and loan association, and the government are probably the only investing mediums that most people should use. |
Sources For This Book
This book was purchased at Vintage Mercantile in Denison, Texas
Free eBook (Project Gutenberg): Not available
Free Audiobook (LibriVox): Not available
Available to Purchase: AbeBooks, Biblio, Thriftbooks
