Never Done: A History of American Housework
by Susan Strasser
On This Page
Description
Never Done is the first history of American housework. Beginning with a description of household chores of the nineteenth century-cooking at fireplaces and on cast-iron stoves, laundry done with wash boilers and flatirons, endless water hauling and fire tending-Susan Strasser demonstrates how industrialization transformed the nature of women's work. Lightening some tasks and eliminating the need for others, new commercial processes inexorably altered women's daily lives and show more relationships-with each other and with the people, they served. In this lively and authoritative book, Strasser weaves together the history of material advances and discussions of domestic service, "women's separate sphere" and the impact of advertising, home economics and women's entry into the workforce. Hailed as pathbreaking when originally published, Never Done remains an eye-opening examination of daily life in the American past. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Women and American History
19 works; 1 member
Author Information
6+ Works 671 Members
Susan Strasser is the author of the award winning "Never Done" & "Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Making of the American Mass Market." Her articles have appeared in "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," & "The Nation." A professor of history at the University of Delaware, she lives near Washington, D.C. (Bowker Author Biography)
Awards and Honors
Awards
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 272
- Popularity
- 118,252
- Rating
- (3.74)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 4
