With rapidly expanding information sources available in libraries and on the internet, researchers delving into business history need to know what is useful and what is not. Together with the first two volumes of the Handbook of American Business History, this third volume book provides a guide to business history and to the overwhelming amount of information on the subject. In twenty-one entries on specific industries, contributors offer concise histories of infrastructure, including electricity, gas, and communications, as well as service industries, such as banking, medical insurance, mortuary, advertising, and education. Bibliographic essays, supplemented with bibliographic lists, point to the most important sources on each industry.Written during the most rapidly changing decade in American business history, the Handbook is a consolidated business history of the United States. Volume III addresses basic industries such as mining, electricity, and natural gas trade; services such as financial, health, educational, and social-business organizations; and public administration. The histories of the industries begin with the industries' rise to importance in the United States and continue to the present. The bibliographic essays discuss the leading sources since Robert Lovett's American Economic and Business History Information Sources (1971) and Henrietta Larson's Guide to Business History (1948). This volume and the two companion volumes provide a useful resource for the researcher, teacher, and student.

Provides a consolidated history of U.S. business and a guide to a plethora of information sources, indicating what is useful and what is not.

PrefaceIntroductionMetal Mining, ESIC 10.0Communications, ESIC 48.0Electric, Gas, and Sanitary Services, ESIC 49.0Wholesale Trade--Durable Goods, ESIC 50.0Apparel and Accessory Stores, ESIC 56.0Depository Institutions, ESIC 60.0Nondepository Credit Institutions, ESIC 61.0Insurance Carriers, ESIC 63.0Hotels and Other Lodging Places, ESIC 70.0Personal Services, ESIC 72.0Business Services, ESIC 73.0Health Services, ESIC 80.0Educational Services, ESIC 82.0Social Services, ESIC 83.0Membership Organizations, ESIC 86.0Public Administration, ESIC 90.0BibliographyIndex