This book explores changes in economic fortunes, social life, and political issues over 200 years in western New York. Why did villages spring up in particular locations in 1820? Why did dairy farming expand during the 1850s and then contract in the 1920? Why have so many factories in western New York closed their doors since World War II?

As the ox cart was replaced by the railroad, which in turn was replaced by the automobile, men and women in western New York were faced with the option to choose to farm in new ways or live and work in new places. In this book, Native Americans and early settlers, dairy farmers and milk factories, husbands and wives on the farm, shopkeepers and customers in the villages are viewed as players in a social game, each trying to score well.