Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron

by Steve Love, David Giffels, Debbie Van Tassel

Wheels of Fortune is the story of the rise and fall and transformation of the rubber industry in Akron, a book rich in anecdotes and photographs. This is history told by people who lived it, on the factory floors and in executive offices, their voices ringing through a narrative that has all the heroes and villains and epic sweep of a Steinbeck novel. For more than a century after Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich came to town, in 1870, Akron, Ohio was the rubber capital of the world. The city prospered along with the tire factories, becoming a model for Middle America's industrial success. Its people worked in the rubber shops and lived in neighborhoods fostered by companies like Goodyear and Firestone. Even the air they breathed was heavy with the odors of rubber. But by the 1980s, most of the rubber industry had gone south, first the plants and then the company headquarters, a result of stubbornness in the union ranks, intransigence in the corporate boardrooms, and takeovers by foreign competitors. Akron began an awkward metamorphosis from a stronghold of blue-collar labor to a research and development center, finding its new identity in the broader fields of polymer science and technology.

Genres: Nonfiction

358 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Drew Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd love to see the book updated, as it was written nearly 25 years ago. Having said that, it was a great project and a wonderful read. I learned an awful lot about Akron and rubber that I didn't know before.

[Dorise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provides a rich and colorful history of the rubber industry in Akron, but the book is quite long and at times difficult to follow. The narrative jumps around in time and between topics, and would be easier to follow if presented more chronologically or perhaps focusing on one company at a time.

[Jane Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

History. Unions. Akron. From Pulitzer Prize winning Akron Beacon Journal. I have soft spot for this book since it was the first I read about unions in US, specifically Akron, where I grew up, and because they are Akron Beacon Journal stories. This is history I was blissfully unaware. What they didn't teach us in school. There is so much to learn!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine book on Akron's rubber industry. Though like many newspaper driven books it wandered around like a bunch of stories cobbled together, it does provide a view into the industry that defined Akron as a city. Find a couple of interesting stories in the book to get started and you will find yourself meandering through more than you intended.

[The University of Akron Press]

Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron (Ohio History and Culture) by Steve Love (1998)