Big vs. Small Businesses

Land of the Giants.

Clearly big business reigned supreme in the United States. In 1951 AT&T became the first American corporation to have one million stock-holders. In 1957 the largest real-estate deal in U.S. history, a $66 million sale of William Zeckendorf's share of the Chrysler Building, occurred. Chemical giant DuPont employed more than one-third as many chemists as all of academia. Large corporations made their share of crucial technological breakthroughs: IBM introduced new computers; NBC and CBS pioneered color television broadcasts; and airlines introduced jet aircraft service.

Small Successes.

Despite the dominance of big business in American industry (General Motors was the largest company in the world, Bank of America the largest financial institution), the 1950s also witnessed a boom in small businesses, many of which became well known. Companies such as Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream, McDonald's, Church's...

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