The Industrial Revolution required large numbers of workers concentrated into small geographic areas. Thus cities, with their surplus population of unemployed refugees from the farms, provided an excellent location for factories. Machine made products replaced goods which had for centuries been homemade by artisans working in small shops. Ancient ways of doing business were left behind in favor of the more competitive methods of the new age. Scrooge's first employer, Mr. Fezziwig, was unable to adjust to these changes. Scrooge adapted to the new environment but lost his soul in the process.