The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another

Chapter 2 discusses the properties of steel, its use in the production of railway lines, and the impact of these advances on commerce. When carbon reacts with iron, it releases two new materials that divide into layers. One layer has a high carbon content and is strong and rigid. The other layer has a lower carbon content and is soft and malleable. Together, the layers form steel. The combination of strength and malleability makes steel extremely versatile. Obtaining the right amounts of carbon to produce steel proved difficult until the English inventor Henry Bessemer made a critical discovery in 1855. Bessemer exposed pig iron (molten crude iron) to air. He blew air directly into the bottom of a molten metal bath with a pipe, resulting in a volcano-like eruption. The technique removed excess carbon from the pig iron, converted the material into malleable iron, and allowed Bessemer to reintroduce the precise amount of carbon to make steel.

By the 1860s, steel was widely used in a variety of industries, notably railways. Before this period, railway lines were made of iron that had to be replaced every two years. By contrast, steel rails can last 18 years. By 1840, the US built 3,326 miles of railways, connecting people as never before. The conception and experience of distance shifted. Geographers refer to this change as time-space compression. Steel rails facilitated the growth and expansion of American cities.

In addition, steel rails promoted trade by allowing products to move across the country with ease and replenishing stocks every few weeks, making it easier for store owners to operate with smaller supplies and less risk. Railways also changed the nature of small business. Before the advent of railroads, commerce on the western frontier was seasonal. Sales were steady in the summer but tapered in the winter when canals and rivers froze and prevented products from reaching stores. As Ramirez observes, “commerce back then was a feast followed by a famine” (43). Railways divorced travel from winter freezes, thereby allowing a steady stream of goods to reach even the most distant towns. Consequently, stores could receive regular shipments rather than stockpiling goods.

Christmas—a minor holiday in the US before the development of railway lines—not only grew in popularity but also became associated with gift-giving. Although The New York Times criticized the commercialization of Christmas in 1880 and 1890, nothing could stop the growing appetite for shopping: “Society was swept up by the momentum propelled by trains full of Christmas trees, Christmas cards, and Christmas gifts moving on rails of steel” (45). As Ramirez shows, steel contributed to the transformation of Christmas, stimulated the economy, and made consumption a national pastime.