The Process of Processing: Decentralization and Regionalism in Condensed Milk, 1920s through 1930s

Much of the narrative of industrial America focuses on the horizontal and vertical integration of the later nineteenth and early twentieth century. Less well examined was the decentralization of the 1920s and 1930s. There, production and processing facilities were placed directly near markets; rather than great places of assemblage, smaller, more rural venues served as the locus.

The Borden’s Condensed Milk Factory, placed in Starkville, MS. In 1926 was once such venture. Borden’s first plant in the south, the factory served only that region. As a consequence, it reduced the milk processing giant’s distribution and labor costs. But that remained only part of the story. Borden’s decision to go regional and then where in the region to locate, followed a whole series of explorations into the process of condensed milk manufacture. In the course of making its decisions and situating its facility, Borden ultimately transformed rural space and practice on a far greater scale than would Ford as it created an entire new agricultural sector in the south. Infrastructure, physical, transportation and intellectual, remade the region’s farmers and their institutions.