Mark Twain & Charles Dudley Warner published a novel in 1873 called "The Gilded Age." The name-which refers to something covered with a thin layer of gold-became associated with America in the late 1800s. The Gilded Age was a time of extravagant wealth and the terrible poverty that lay underneath.The railroad barons became extravagantly wealthy. People with money could take advantage of the new burst of inventions between 1860 and 1890. In 1866, the first telegraph label was laid across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1876, Alexander Bell invented the telephone, the typewriter was invented in 1868 and the adding machine in 1888. A small box camera was invented in 1888 and the vacuum cleaner in 1899. We discussed Thomas Edison's inventions from his workshop in 1870s NJ as well as the contributions of African American inventors. In the late 1890s, Henry Ford began experimenting with the automobile engine. Railroads were the first businesses to form corporations and other U.S. businesses began to incorporate, as well. The oil industry and the steel industries became huge, profitable organizations in the late 1870s.