Made in America

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

African American History And Culture, American History, Exhibits, Dc, History, Science, Sidedoor, History Of The World, Society & Culture, The Smithsonian, Washington, Natural History, Pop Culture, Smithsonian, Exhibit, Tony Cohn, Zoo, National Museum, Air And Space, National Zoo, Art19, Museum, Postal Museum

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does it look like for something to be made in America?

Through the photography of Christopher Payne, we journey across the past, present and future of American manufacturing to answer this question. From centuries-old textile mills to modern assembly lines, Payne’s photographs offer a rare, behind-the-scenes view of how everyday objects—from pencils to airplanes to marshmallow Peeps—are made.

With the help of Smithsonian curator, Susan Brown, and author, Rachel Slade, we also explore the history behind these factories, and how the story of American manufacturing is the story of our nation itself.

Guests:

Christopher Payne, Industrial photographer

Susan Brown, associate curator, and acting head of textiles at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum; curator of the exhibition Made in America

Rachel Slade, author of the book Making it in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (and How it Got That Way)

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.4	I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:29.9	In the winter of 1775, Britain tried to end the American experiment before it could even begin.
0:39.8	With the revolutionary spirit brewing in the colonies, British Parliament slammed the door on trade. The goal, to cripple the American economy and crush the early stages of revolution. The blockade didn't stop the United
0:45.5	States from declaring independence in 1776, but it did make fighting a war much, much harder.
0:53.2	That's because the colonies relied on Britain for almost all their imported goods,
0:57.6	and especially textiles, clothing, and fabric.
1:01.6	Without those, the colonial soldiers were in rough shape.
1:05.9	They had no coats.
1:08.1	They had no hats.
1:09.9	It was a serious problem. The American patriots were very not only underfunded, but underclothed.
1:18.5	Rachel Slade is author of the book Making It in America.
1:21.6	A lot of casualties actually came from disease, illness, and, frankly, cold.
1:29.6	Just frostbite of the feet, my God.
1:31.6	Yeah, because they were not properly equipped.
1:34.6	America had no mass manufacturing at the time, at least nothing close to the Brits.
1:39.9	And you simply cannot hand sew enough coats and hand forge enough muskets to win a revolution
1:45.4	with a global superpower.
1:47.6	So the colonists turn to the only people they could think of who could help.
1:51.7	Britain's greatest rival, the French.
1:55.6	But it wouldn't be easy to convince King Louis XVI for help.
1:59.3	He still wasn't convinced the colonists could win,
	...

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