An editorial in the 6 October 1863 issue of the New York Herald denounced unscrupulous northern manufacturers and financiers who made immense fortunes during the war, often at the expense of the war efforf. These men included such notable businessmen as railroad magnates Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, and meatpacker Philip Armour. The term shoddy is the name for the poorquality, reused wool that was used to make uniforms for soldiers. These uniforms (as well as poorly made boots, blankets, and other supplies) did not hold up well in the field, and the term came to refer to any inferior product with pretensions of being better than it really is: The world has seen its iron age, its silver age, its golden age and its brazen age. This is the age of shoddy. The new brown stone palaces on Fifth Avenue, the new equipages...