I stopped at a stoplight at the corner of Cherry Street and Pleasantville Road which is a main intersection in town, and the town was absolutely still because of the snow - acted like a sound barrier. And it had snowed a lot during the service. Mary's Catholic Church, and I was driving back home after mass. I'll never forget the Christmas before I left. I always loved the place, even when I was graduating high school and knew I would be going away to college and probably would never live there full-time again. What's your relationship with the place been over the years?ĪLEXANDER: I've loved the place. You grew up in Lancaster?īRIAN ALEXANDER: I did grow up in Lancaster, yes.ĭAVIES: Yeah. You did a lot of reporting for this book, but it wasn't just reporting. His new book is "Glass House: The 1% Economy And The Shattering Of An American Town." Brian Alexander, welcome to FRESH AIR. He says the firm was undone by Wall Street investors who had little knowledge of the company and little interest in anything besides short-term profit.īrian Alexander has written three previous books about aspects of American culture and has written for a variety of publications including The New York Times, Science, Outside and Esquire. Its decline, Alexander argues, isn't just a product of increased competition and changing markets. The company provided jobs, civic leadership and community pride. The Anchor Hocking glass company was a Fortune 500 company with its headquarters in the town. His new book tells the story of the company that was once Lancaster's largest employer. Lancaster, Ohio, isn't just a research subject for our guest, Brian Alexander. Today, we're going to focus on one factory town in central Ohio that was once a bustling center of industry and employment, but is now beset by low wages, unemployment and social decay. We heard a lot in the presidential campaign about anger and frustration among working-class voters in America's heartland. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross who's off this week visiting family.
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