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More Work For Mother

The Ironies Of Household Technology From The Open Hearth To The Microwave

Contributors

By Ruth Schwartz Cowan

Formats and Prices

Price

$22.99

Price

$29.99 CAD

Format

Trade Paperback

Format:

Trade Paperback $22.99 $29.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around March 11, 1985. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

In this classic work of women’s history (winner of the 1984 Dexter Prize from the Society for the History of Technology), Ruth Schwartz Cowan shows how and why modern women devote as much time to housework as did their colonial sisters. In lively and provocative prose, Cowan explains how the modern conveniences—washing machines, white flour, vacuums, commercial cotton—seemed at first to offer working-class women middle-class standards of comfort. Over time, however, it became clear that these gadgets and gizmos mainly replaced work previously conducted by men, children, and servants. Instead of living lives of leisure, middle-class women found themselves struggling to keep up with ever higher standards of cleanliness.

On Sale
Mar 11, 1985
Page Count
288 pages
Publisher
Basic Books
ISBN-13
9780465047321

Ruth Schwartz Cowan

About the Author

Ruth Schwartz Cowan is associate professor of history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Learn more about this author