Marknadens väv : Svenska mekaniserade bomullsväverier i distribution och försäljning 1850-75

Sammanfattning: The breakthrough for mechanized weaving in Sweden occured during the 1850's. Rapidly increasing quantities of cotton-textiles had to reach customers in a country with a scattered population and substansial social and economic differences between various parts of the country. However, Sweden, even before the construction of the railways, constituted a basis for the formation of a relatively well-integrated market for factory-produced cotton textiles. An increasing demand and institutional changes allowing freer internal trade and implementing tariff protection against imports created the conditions required for the growth of the industry.In the late 1850's the weaving firms were selling on a common geographical market, but a large part of the production was still sold in the production area. The market for factory-produced cotton textile principally consisted of the extreme south, western Sweden, East Central Sweden, the Central Mining District and the Northern Baltic Coast. The cotton-weaving firms either competed on the sub-markets, or else they chose various niche markets. Improved communications re-sulting from the steamboat fleet and an improved postal service permitted close contacts between producers and middlemen throughout the country. An expansion of fixed location retailing and, particularly, of specialized wholesale trade played a central role on the market. Still, the oldest weaving firm, located in the classical peddling region and without access to water transports, to a large extent relied on peddlers. The producers did not just passively rely on merchants to handle the dis-tribution of their products. They themselves sought out suitable merchants, pro-duced catalogues and generally marketed themselves.