That was the spirit of the times--finding ways to ensure demand kept up with rapidly expanding industrial capacity.

The eight hour day, forty hour week was a key victory won by the persistent efforts of the trade union movement (and anarchists and socialists). Mr Ford seems to have been writing a clever justification for a pre-emptive capitulation. And it seems to have been a good piece of business for him. But it is Labour Day, not Henry Ford Day.

Also see: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=century+of+self+... (6 parts)

For primary sources, try Propaganda (1928) by Edward Bernays.

Bernays pioneered many modern advertising techniques. He created demand where none existed prior, typically though psychological means. Torches of Freedom is a famous example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom

Supposedly, he also had a hand in convincing the public that water fluoridation was safe and beneficial to human health, on behalf of Alcoa, and in concert w/ the American Dental Association. Does anyone have a primary source for that one?

I thought it had a lot to do with the end of the war, the overcapacity that all those new factories and workers created, and the start of the advertising industry.