Technology

“Tinkering” Technology: From the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century

In the eighteenth-century, technology was essential for claiming masculinity; a man owned his own tools and could not claim status as an independent man until he possessed the right equipment for the job, be it farming or blacksmithing. The association between tools, crafts, and masculinity went unchallenged until the late nineteenth century, when mechanized innovations and industrialization changed the meaning of technology in men's lives —those with the proper “tools” became scientists, “tinkerers,” and factory owners. This transformation turned craftsmen into workers and dramatically altered definitions of masculinity.

The new relation between technology and masculinity was evident by the early twentieth century, when many American men considered such technological innovators as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford the great heroes of the day. Edison, creator of hundreds of inventions, including electric lighting and motion pictures, and Ford, originator of the assembly line and the Model T automobile, represented the best of an era of unbridled male inventiveness. Together, they signaled for many that a new age had arrived in which self-taught “tinkerers” could master technology to revolutionize the world's products, processes, and systems.

Ford and Edison became heroic figures not merely on the strength of their inventions. Rather, it was their hands-on approach to invention that defined their manliness and fascinated the American public. Edison, often called the Wizard of Menlo Park, was well known for the relentless energy and strict work ethic that he and his “insomnia squad” of assistants celebrated. At a time when many American men associated intellectualism with effeminacy, Edison and Ford eschewed university-educated engineers in favor of experienced tinkerers, surrounding themselves with carpenters and machinists who favored craftsmanship and experimentation over theories and book learning.

Ford and Edison dominated an era in which men's bodies seemed capable of creating, harnessing, and directing technological power. If American men could neither be in charge of the industries nor shape the work processes that technology created, they could nonetheless take pride in their ability to control their machines. Popular representations of Ford's River Rouge Factory in Detroit, Michigan, reveal an assumption that these powerful new inventions would make powerful new men. For instance, Diego Rivera's murals depict muscular workers directing the flow of technological energy, while Charles Sheeler's photographs and paintings place the factory and its workers in a celebratory, spiritual light. Although technology had its critics, including Henry Adams, who wrote about the fearful implications of machine power for men, its celebrants were more numerous. When men worshiped the prowess of an Edison or a Ford, they anticipated a new era governed by those who mastered technological systems rather than those who labored with their own tools.

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