A C [' LT [R",1CJ HIJTORY0. DO JI I ~\II C ~ _ lr Acknowledgment, xi Introduction,1 Chapter1 Going to Houekeeping: Creating a Frugal andHHome, CIUlpter 2 Theof the Dorniologit:Science in the Home, 40 CIUlpter 3 Americanization,Model Home, and Lace Curtain, 73 Chapter 4 Modern!m:No Junk!Ithe Cry of the NewInterior, 97 Chapter 5 Color IRunningRiot Character, Color, and Children,126 Chapter 6 Our Own North AmericanIndian: Romancing thePat,14 Togetherneandthe Open-Space Plan,171 Concluion,195 Notes, 207 Bibliography, 229 Index,245 "Martha Stewart's biggetfan"S UA volume of UniveralReadyReference"13 UA ChritianHouse"23 Hallfurniture26 The parlor ahowroom29 House floorplan,10SO Parlor interior, Denver,olorado32 Parlor interior, Gandy,Nebraka33 Kitchentorage plan54 "One womanpower kitchen"55 Corning test kitchen59 Houe plumbingyternketch61 "A properly plumbedhoue"62 "Wicker, reed, or grafurniture"6 "hiny,waxed and polishedlinoleumfloor"70 "Living room of the modelflat"79 Practical houekeeping center coure card2 Cleaning dayat the modelflatS Interior view of Gwenthean Cottage4 "How a bedroom waimproved" Home economicElRito Normalchool90 Turkih cozy corner99 Craftsman living room100 "Steel houe"living room10 "A newworldthrough chemitry"liS "Typeoffurniture thathouldbe avoided"116 An"ill-proportioned, overloadedmantel"119 Display of wedding gift120 "The virtue of elimination"12S "Adjutmentto the size oflittle children"ISO "A roomto herelf"ISS Room"forMan and Boy"136 "Diagram of a color wheerIS9 bee;hIT'datr aal ..olor iat Iathalf of thattractivene"146 MiionfurnitureI5S Parlor interior ~ith aavajo rug156 Vantine'Wonder Book161 The New Englandkitchen162 "Early Americanfireide group"164 olonial artifaarrangd inahom16 A "do-it-yourelf"ouple174 ..ouble duty inIiing-dining- n.ment"10 baement "rerom"11 ..cale guidforplanning furniture arrangement"1 Floor planforanL- haped openpae1.; Daybd aanexample ofonvertible furnitur16 ..ommand-potkithen"1 Depina Sftiekithn planJ90 Marthatewart'Entertaining19 x[Illustrations] I I of thedometicadviorinthisbookwould.pproveof my own houe decorating hitory.It'been a long timeince I taped pho-toof movietarto the walls, but the level ofentiment inmy aort-ment ofbri-a-brae wouldhave made thee wornn gap.With apolo-gie, therefore, formy own colJections of "junk,"I'dfirtliketothank the hundreds of dometic advi.orwhoebookI readforbeing bold intheir criticimand0fullof idea. This projectvatly improved by a reearh fellowhip fromthe Winterthur Mueum,Library andGardeninWinterthur, Delaware, whichgavemetimetoreadthroughanextensivecollectionof ad-vicemanualandtobe among exciting andenergeticholar. Spe-cialthanksto Shirley Wajda, andal0toPat Elliot, Margaret Welch, and Neville Thompson. Thanks to Brown Univerity for funding much of my researchwithaFellowship.ThanktotheInter-libraryLoantaffattheRockefell erLibraryatBrownUniverity, NorlinLibraryattheUnierityofolorado,andtheBoulderPub-licLibrary,andtophotoandpecialcollectionarchiitsatorn-ing Incorporated, the Denver Public Library, the Nebrakatate Hi-toricalociety,theCenter forSouthwestReearch,HagleyMuurn andLibrary,Winterthur,andtheColoradoChautauquaA0iation. Thank youto SianHunter andthe editorialstaff at theUniverity of North Carolina Preforbeing intereted inthiproject and for guid-ing it along withgrace andoptimism. Thibook couldnot havehappened without the contant andtep-by- tepof0many important people in my life, epeciaBy dur-ingthepattenyearinceIstarted graduatechoo!.Thiinclude whowatchedthenewspapers,magazines,andteleviionshow andentmeinformationaboutMarthaStewart,andthoewhoen-duredMartha's Superbowlhorsd'oeuvre,homemadecracker,and other experiment. Mot importantly, thank you to my family:my par-entLewiand Judy Leavitt, my brother David Leavitt, and my grand-motherally Walzer. I wanttotakethis opportunity tothank the teacherI'vehadover AL Ierrecr'Jkbe serrmc!(TalfIaill the year,Mr.Schaeffer,M. Kohler,Mr.Brumm,andthe lateElizabethPalmeratMadisonWetHighSchool;PatriciaHill, GeorgeCreeger,andMichaelHarriatWesleyanUniversity;and Robert Emlen at Brown University.special thanks to Mari Jo Buhle, who believedI couldfinishthe disertation inthe mountains and who madethis project infinitelybetter withher comments. Thank youto Richard Meckel and Patrick Malone fortheir help withthis and other project. Many otherhaveservedasmentorsandteachers inales formal capacity: I would particularly like tothank Dione Longley and Gail Fowler Mohanty forteaching meaboutmaterial culture,muse-um, andhowto be a hitorian. Aspecialthankisduetomyincrediblegraduatechoolreading group,theFemale MutualImprovementociety (FMJ).Earlymem-bers Laura Briggand Marie Myerandespecially Sarah Purell, Laura Prieto, Chrisy Cortina, Donna Curtin, and Jane Lancater have readthibookat varioutages andhave alwaysgood advice and encouragement.For her helpwiththis manuscript andformany happy adventure, bothand otherwise, I would liketothank MarlaMiller.WhileatBrown,Ihadthegreatfortuneof r:neeting peoplewhoenjoyedtelevision,fieldtrips,anddinnerpartieaswell .higher education. Thankto Suie Castellano, Sara Errington, and MarieMyers(nobdyeverhadbettergraduatechoolroommates) andtoAbuelo,BruceBauer,BillCapinki,Kim JayChervenak,Matthew CoffeyLia Davis,Briann Greenfield, L.E. Hartmann-Ting, Dave laia, ColinMcLaren, Laura Prieto,arah Pur-cell,Ed Rafferty,RebeccaSmith,Mark Trodden,andGrant Wilon for the general festivitiesduring my fiveyears inProvidence. Whileworkingonthibook,Ispentalotof timenotworking onthebook,andIamindebtedtomanypeoplewhosharedvari-formof entertainmentranging fromhikeinthe RockyMoun-tain,toFat TireatBullfrogs,tocooking extravaganza,toboard games.Thoughtheepeoplehavenot readbook,theywerein-trumentalinitseventualcompletion.Thankyoutomyoldestand deartfriendJessicaFeiermanandRuthFriedman,andtoAnita AmyJohnson,DanaRhode,StephanieMorgan,uannah Beal-Simon,MichelleElisburg,KimGayle,LauraSchiavo,Beth hakman Hurd, Mamie Reichelderfer, and to my couins Sarah Walzer and JohnBarrett,andBeckyandKeithWalzer-Goldfeld.Thanksto DanandErika Drezner,andShaunKennedy,LizSkramstad, the NIST happyhour folkespecially Suie Youn, Jim Booth, Gene Xli[AcknowledgnumtsJ Auteursrechtelijk beschermdmateriaal I Hilton,DonnaHurleyandaeWooNamawellatoJeffand Severine Hutchin, Nancy Lee Miller,Kay Oltman, Martha Vail,and Janet McFarland,who allhelpedmefeelat home inColorado. And,finally,thankto Jay,whomeoutthewekIwaup-poedtotart working onmypropoaI,marriedmethe week after I turned inthe diertation,upported me (emotionally and financially)whileI reviedthe manuscript, and probably knowmore about.advicemanualthanIdo.Thank youfortheunfail-ing encouragement andgood cheer, andforharing myenjoyment of magnet-worthy fieldtripfromod house, to coal mine, to brewer-ie, to the peppermint room. Most importantly, thank you forteaching methat,depite myabiding loveformaterial culture,thebetthing in life are notthing. [Acknuwiedgments] XIII AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlClr-atenaal AuteursrechteliJkbeschermd materiaal The organizersof the1996RhodeIlandFlower andGardenShow landedtheperfect guetspeaker fortheirannualluncheon.Heldon abright but chillyNewEnglandFebruaryafternoon,the event took place at the brand-new Westin Hotel and Conference Center in down-townProvidence.Thelunchitself,ateventy-fivedollarsaplate, wouldbe gourmet fare,but it wasnot the reaon forthe large crowd. The guest speaker providedthe appeal.Womenfromalloverthe re-gion, along with a fewmen, gathered inthe banquet hall where table deckedwithearlypring daffodilpreentedacelebratoryscene.In the nearby conference hall, exhibitors presented a mind-boggling ar-ray of tree,shrubs, garden landscape projects, and exotic flowers.But fornow,the luckylunchguestturnedtheir eyetothetage.Enter Martha Stewart. Thetopicof herlecturewathegardenatherWestport,Con-necticut,home.The programwastoincludeaslideshowfilledwith befores-and-afters, meant to excite the memberof the audience with her stunning artiticense and the beautiful projects for which she was beginning to become famou. A fewminutes before the slide show wa et to begin, the projector broke down, and a voice announced that the speech wouldbe delayed.Thiwamychance.I approachedthe head tableandintroducedmyself.Iwawriting a dissertationonthe his-tory of dometic-advice manual, I explained, andI wainteretedto know if she thought of her work ashaving hitorical precedent. Inthe coure of thibrief encounter inthe glittering ballroom of the Wetin Hotel, Stewart readily convered about the role of history inher work. Stewart diplayed a remarkable knowledge of the history of dome-tic advice. She cited several names of nineteenth-century adviorand noted that she had some of their workinher office, which she referred tofromtimetotimeforhermagazine.Her assistant,sitting nextto her, affirmedthat Stewart lovedto read fromthe oldmanuals andgot manyof herstoryideasfromthem.Indeed,overtheyearMartha Stewart Living hadfeaturedthen-and-now stories of the changes and continuities inAmerican decorating. Stewart herself thought that the AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal hjtory of dometicadviceandhoueholdarrangementwaworthy oferiouattention.hewihedmeluck! aMarthatewartafiion adomyelf,Ifeltakinhipwiththe women at the luncheon, even if aa graduatetudent thexorbitant fee had allbut precluded my attendance at thifeat.I waa longtime sub-cribrtoMarthatewartLiving,hadpreparedherspeciaJ-ocaion hord'oeuvreforarecentuperbowl party, andfeltI hadgood cre-dentialtopeak to her.Though I triedtoee her fromanintelletual prpective,Icouldnothelpbutbeinfluencedbymy(oftenecret) love of her work. In fact,I had been featured in a newpapertory that morning about theupoming viitfromthedometicdiva.Thearticle,"Madabout Martha:tewart'Rhode 1 landFans Try toLiveHer Way,"featured everallocalwomenwho calledthemelveMarthatewart'. upporter. LindaMcGowan"makedoll, bottlevinegar anddries flowr,"claimed the photoaption under an image ofamiling woman holding ateacup andurroundedbycraftof her own creation.Bety o emadehristmaornamentout of oldhandelier.Myrolehad bentocommentonthehitoricalcontinuityof Stewart'workin order toprovideomeort of context forthe dometicfervorweep-ing Rhode 1 land. Reporter KerenMahoney Jonenotedthat, forher subjt, 'allthidometiityfillthefreetimethat youha\hen youarnotworking," eventhoughallthewomenfeaturedhadfull-time job.2'There ia lot ofhaointheworldtoday,chaothatwe can do nothing about (or feellikethere isnothing we can do about it). Butwecandoomething about our home.'" Jonhadput out aallforRhode1 landrtowritetothenew-paper explainingtheir devotionto Martha Stewart.herceived doz-nsof repone,includingorneinhand-madeenvelopetamped withuniquedesign."1 findthemagazine[MarthatewartLiving] bothinformativeandueful,"wroteonewoman."Many of theidea inthe magazine are very practialandforeverydayliving,but orneare jutplainfuntolookatreadandmaybe evendaydream about a little." Another reader noted that "we uually dine on Corning-warratherthanLenoxbutoh!Fantaiesarewonderful:'"Thee womenatutelyidentified Stewart'writing asdometicfantay. The Rhodeand otherwho share their devotion to Martha tewart know that Stewart ia buinewoman. They ud that hehaataff ofdeignerand gardenerto help her and that the ideahe bringforth usually needto be adapted acording to 2[hltroduction] A' ~ I SC'IT'd ,If This Rhode [ lallder,"Marthat.ewart's biggestfilll,' showed ciffher projtcts tothe ProvidenJournal-Bulletinill/996. (photo courtesyProvidne Journal) budget andlifetyl. They harbornoilluionthat thir homouid conform to her televiion- et image of the perfect houe.But they ap-preiate her idea. They want to make their liveor at leat their day-dream,moredeliioumoreuniquemoredecadent,moreinviting. Theywanttohavehomeandfamiliethatrepecttheir effortand thatbenefitfromtheirupriion.Afterthetalkandtheluncheon, Martha helda bookigning inanother part of the hotel.Participant waitedinlineforeveralhour. Many brought homemade projetto harewithtewart,orneagift,orne'aevidneeof their devotion.Admirerfromafar,theewomennowhadthhaneto hare their domtifanta'with other women andwithtewart. At the endof thetwentieth century,middle-claAmericanwornn re-ognjzeddometifantayand incorporateditintotheir live. Martha tewart hadauthorizedthemtodream. Marthatewartandhervariousprojectoweagreatdealtohi-tory.heandhertaff continuetolearnfromolddeignbook, pat-terns, color , recipe, and other guideline. They uDegla andoldPyrexmixingbowls,antiquebucketandretro offifurni-ture. Clearly,theyhave a lot of repect forthe dometic adviorwho came before them. However, though thetalf of Marthatewart Omni-[Introduction] ALL rrcrI k be srrIn III media may understand their debt to themot of Martha'fanare notfamiliarwiththgenealogy of dometicadvice.incetheIso, manydometicadviorhavepavedthewayformerican,particu-larly middlAmerianwomen,to undertandthemeageand promieof Marthatewart'work. Dometicadviorshavealwayremainedengagedintheir culture andawareof important'Overtheyear,theyhelpededucate womenaboutanitationanddeign,aboutpatriotim,religion,and the family.Their dometicreate the idealizediion of homheldby0manyArnerian. Lookingatthethemeof do-metiadviceovertime,itbeorneclearthatMarthatewart joined anongoingabout dometicity that hapanned over aentury.Hundredof womenineveralgenerationhavewritten dometic-adie manual,regardleof the ever-changing bound a betweenwomenandthehome.Theubjectsdicuedind. ~ adviemanualhaveremainedremarkablyconitentovertime,en-com.vatchangeintheroleof womeninAmerican. ety. Domticity,initmany different form, trancendhitoricalperiod andcontinueto bemaningfulto generationof Americanwomen. Marthatewarthaahievedalmotcompletemediaaturation. heappeardailyinherownteleviionhowonbothcableand ntworktelvision,andmonthlyatthenewtandinhermagazine Martha Stewart Living.heal0appearregularly ontheradio,inthe newpaper,andinperonatpecialeventaroundthecountry.Her Kmart linebringhertooneaudience,andher lavihwedding idea to another. Her webite providelive chat, bulletin boardwhere vii-toranidea, and a direct link to hr catalogue, Martha by Mail. It ialmotimtoclaimthathehanot addreedaneedin Americanculture fordometicadvice. But thineed inot new.Indeed, her particular genre of advie ha alonghitory,andour nedtolitentoherhaprecedent.tewart hajoined anongoing dicuionabout furniture,window, and deco-rating. Thibook,ineence a genealogy of dometicadvice,locate Marthatewartinahitoricalcontextof writingaboutthehome that habeen important to Americanulturformore than aentury. Thibookinvetigatecultural themeindometic advice forthe cen-turybetween150and1950,emphaizingtheperiodbetween190 and1940;itbeginwithomearlierworkandanticipateMartha 4 tewart'rietoprominenceinthe1990.Thethemeof morality, ience,Americanization,andmodernimareeenfromthepoint of [Introductio1l] Al.tCl.r _ccrtel1lkbcscrcr'llClI" atenaal view of dometicitl. Later chapters explore the interetinexotic, hi-toric cultureaexpreedthroughdecoration and through theriseof "inthe1950.Theemphaisonthefifty yearbetween1890 and1940 demonstrates the relationships between the home andthe rise of formaleducation andprofesionalization for women, aswellasthe dramatic influence of consumer culture incon-tructing expectations forthe householdinthat period. Furniture,curtains,andbathroomfixturedonothaveinherent qualities of morality or character. Dometic-advice manualgive thee items cultural significance and characteritic. Just asa cigar inever really just a cigar, a living roomcannever be just aliving room. The ofaandthepicturesonthewall,theitemsonthemantelpiece,and the rug on the floor,allthese thingscombine to forma picture of the family. But who decides what that picture looks like and what it Domestic advisors,fromtheir positionassocial commentator, have pent the better part of two centuries translating the meaning of fur-nitureandlivingroomstotheAmericanpublic.Theirmanualsand magazines, newspaper columnand trade manuals intruct American onhowtobetterunderstandtheirfurniture,.walltreat-ment, fireplaces,lighting fixtures, flowerboxes, andbric-a-brac. Justlikeadvertisements,domesticadviceworksasakindof fun-mirror, distorting reality to show a society asorne people wish it couldbe.5 But most of the advicewanever followed.The writing of dometic adviors demonstrate cultural ideals, not cultural realities. Domestic advice cannot provide evidenceabout actualhomedecora-tion or what the majority of women thought about parlor sets. Instead, theerichourceillustratethewaysinwhichculturalidealcould be embedded in household furnishings and ornamentation. Domestic-advice manuals havealwaysbeenthe stuff of fantay.Their historical value liesinuncoveringthe way certainwomenunderstoodthe con-nectionbetween their homes and the larger world. At its most funda-mental level, the true domestic fantay was that women held the power to reformtheir society through firstreforming their homes. American domestic-advice manuals emerged inthe late eighteenth andearlynineteenthcenturiesfromwomen'swritingincookbooks and etiquette manuals. Americans began by importing their houehold advicefromEngland,butoonbegantoproducewhattheyconsid-ered specifically American advice.In fact,many early dometic-advice manuals,suchasLydiaMaria Child'sTheAmerican Frugal Housewife (1828) and Catharine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe'The Ameri-[Introduction]5 AL IerrecrIJkbe serrmc!(TalfIaill canWoman's Home (J69)includedthe word"Amerian"inthe title to differentiatethemfromEnglihworkonimilarubject. American beganwriting dometic adice inthe1SOand140beaue theinliteray amongwomen provided them with an audience,andarie inawhitepopulationpro-videdthemwithabject:the home. Themiddle- IAmericanhomeinthemid-nineteenthentury waa crowded place. Newly available curtain,rug, wallpaper, bed,andkitchenitemfilledtheroom,oftentooverflowing,and womenturnedtodometicadviceinordertoundertandtheirur-rounding . From mid-century on, dometic advice became more read-ilyavailable.Eatern. .fromBotontoBuffalotopu magazineHome Monthly, Home Almanac, and Houekeeper'An-nual juttokeepupwiththeflowof writingaboutthe home.Byth turnof thehventiethcentury,dometic-adviceolumnappearedin 10alnwpaper,r gional.and full-length book. For mot of thepriodbetween1and1950,thepublihing centerfordo-metic adviceremainedinBoton, NewYork,and,to aextent, inPhiladelphia.But citielikeDenver,Detroit, andDeMoina10 publiheddometic-advicmanual .6 The advicebookrangedfrom colletionofimplehoueholdtiptofictionalizedtommeantto influence andinpire. The bookcould bealong fromfriendto friend,readaloud,or paed ontothenext generation. Theyhelped middl-clawomen navigatthe confuing conumer world and make ene of their blonging. Dometic advice oftenwent hand-in-handwith educationfor girl and women.atharine Beeher, a mid-to-Iate-nineteenth-century do-meticadvior,bli evedineducationforgirlandopenedherown hoolwherehetaughtheraboutdometicity.home eonomicbecamearecognizedfieldintheearlytwentiethcentury, womenfoundunprecedentedprofeional employment inthefieldof dometicity. And, athe twentieth century progreed and women be-arnemoreinvoledinother field, dometicityremainedanimpor-tantpart of Amricanpopular cultureintheformof advertiement andmagazine.Dometiceducationforwomen,whetherformalized byBecher orpopularizedbyMarthatewart,haremaindavital part of Amerianlife.Mot Americantudenttakhome-economic inpublichool,learninghowtocarefortheirhomeand familie. Dometic adviorof the nineteenth and early twentieth cen-6[Introduction] Al.tCl.r _ccrtel1lkbcscrcr'llClI" atenaal turiehelpedthecurriculumtopic,uchanitationnutri-tion,andinterior design,that are oftentilluedtoday. of theauthorof thiadviceneverbecamefamou.How-ever,ornedometicadviorbecamehoueholdnameintheirday, including Emilyand otherbecame important intheir repective field,uchaEllen Richardinhome economicor Lillian Gilbreth in time-and-motiontudie. Late-twentieth-century reprinting of Lydia MariaChildandCatharineBeecher'sworkhavemadetheebook acceibletoawholenewgeneration, oftentocomplement women' hitory reading Iitat collegeand uni. ties. Mot.advice manual, however,rettodayintherarebookroomof Jjbrarieand archive,theirtrong opinionmutedbytime.Some author, includ-ing Mabel Hyde Kittredge, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert, and Mary Northend,enjoyedimportant careerahomeeconomitteacher, and author,and their names are recognized today by their home com-munitiesbut notbythecountryatlarge.Thereiabuildingnamed after SophBrekinridgeather almamater,theUniverityof Chicago.MarionHarlandappearona women'heritagetrailinher homeof Virginia. Harriet Spofford iremembered by many today aanimportant writer of Gothic fiction,andEmilyGenauer forher 1974 Pulitzer prize. Allof the writers ofadvice,thoughthey hadwidely varying career, contributed to animportant national dia-logue aboutthe home. Why isdometicadvice so compellingto Americanwomen?Th' bookwillbegintoanswerthat querion,whicheemtointrigue0 manyculturalcriticsatthebeginningofthetwenty-firtcentury. Marthatewart'ispart of a legacythathatakendifferent over the decade, but that has conitently brought the promie of dometicitytoof Americanwomen."Somuhhabeen written on houeholdanddometicaffair," wrote Eunice Beeher in 179, "that it mayeern to many a worn-out topic, about which nothing more ofinteret canbe written.But 'the houehold; awe interpret it, ianinexhautible theme.'" [Introduction]7 AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal GOING TO HOUSEKEEPING: CREATINGAFRUGAL&HONEST HOME Why: says Helm,"[ have tJwughiqfthe eclat qfthe e1Igagement,and thm thebuying lots qfthings and having themIlUJdeupinthe very latest tyle,and the cards,the cake,the presents, and the bridesmaids. [ shall have a1lelegantveil and a white silk,and bemarried inchurch,and have three aratogatrunks, and a wedding triP,and-well, that's asJar as I've gone. I supposeafter that oneboards at a I w t e ~or hasto gotoIwusekeeping,and I'm afraid it would be drea4fuLLy humdrum.But nomore sothanflirting withone and another year after year,and seeing all the girls married I!fr "For my part, said Miriam,hihavenot leaked at all this style and preparation that HeLmdescribes,because 1 know 1 cannot ajford it.But I have thought I sJwuLdlike a Little home all tomyself, and 1 would keepit as nice as I could,and 1 wouLd try tohelpmyhusband onin the world,and we should have things.finer only aswe could really alford it.Atul lshould want my home tobe very happy,sothat all whobelonged init feltthat it was thebest place i1lall titeworld.I slwuld want to gather upall the good thatI couLd everywhere,a1ldbring it into my home,as thebeebrings aLLits spoils tothe hive . "And 1, said Hester.warn tomake myself a scholar,and I shall marry a scholar,and we shall be happyinlearning,a,ul inincreasing knowledge. A,ul he shall bemy helper,atul lhall helphim, atul sotogetherwe shall climb tothetopqfthe tree. Vtmity.Love,ambition.These were the threeGraces,which,incarnated i1lmy nieces.sat on my piazza. I said tothl!17L''Let metalk to you eriously uponthe subjectqfa Home. - JuLiaMcNair Wright, The Complete Home AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal In Julia McNair Wright's1879 domestic-advice manual,The Complete Home,shetookthevoiceof "Auntophronia"anddicusedhome-making withher three nieces,Helen,Miriam,andHeter.Eachniece repreented a certainubset of American women. Miriam, as the niece whowantedacomfortable,implehomewhereeveryonewouldfeel welcome, represented the ideal of mot dometic advisorinthe nine-teenth century:the dometic fantay. Miriam, the idealhousewife,providea window into theof advisorsinthe late nineteenth century.Her faultycousins HeterandHelenareusefulcounterpointbecauetheyhelpillu-trate the pitfalls that domestic advisors worried about and continue to worry about inthe twenty-firt century. Hester istoo concernedwith her career and intellect and not concerned enough with her house and family.Incontrast, Helen iobesedwiththe frillandfancinehe imaginewillaccompany romance andconquetof a husband, but has nottopped to think about her home and her role in keeping that home inthe future.Only Miriam, the ideal,understandthe true purpoe of her life as a middle-cJaswhite Americanwoman.She knowthat she canonlyhavewhat she canafford,andhewantnothing morethan toee her houe athe embodiment oflove. How did domestic ad viors such as Julia McNair Wright try to con-vincetheirreadertoactandlivemorelikeMiriamthanHeter or Helen?Througha long andteadycampaignovermorethana cen-tury,houehold adviorhave arguedthat womenhould spendmore timeintheirhomes,conformtocertainideals,andpendIetime inthewiderworld.Theyhaveconsistentlyarguedthatwomenpay attentiontotheir financeandlivewithintheirmeans, nottrying to theneighborthroughafalseshowof wealth.Motimpor-tantly,they havemade thepoint that a woman's virtue andworth can be foundinthe way she furnishesher home. Adviors saw instructions on the arrangement of the furniture andthe typeof woodued inthe parlor not only asaethetic concerns, but as symbols of honety,faith, and good judgment. Domesticadvicemanualsoriginatedinthe130swiththeVicto-rianera anditemphasis onhomeandfamily.Throughout thenine-teenthcentury,books,newspaper,magazines,advertiements,and [Going toHousekeeping]9 Alotelorsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal , other public forums strengthened theonnection between women and thehome.Dometicadviors,whethersingle,widowed,ormarried, tendedtobewhite,middle-clawomenwhohadsomepersonal ex-perience with homemaking. They relied upon an audience of the newly literate,whitemiddleclas,apopulationthatcontinuedtobuildin Ameria after]00.'In1840,38 percent of white Americanof school agereceivedornekindof formaleducation.Bythemid-nineteenth century,most whitewomencouldreadandwrite.i Andwomenwer consumers,too,makingwomen'novelsintothebestsellerof the 150s.s Womenreadervoracioulydemandedcontantreprintsof sentimentalfavorite,asCharlotteTemple,throughoutthenine-teenth century." The domestic-advice manualtook advantage of this new audience. LydiaMariaChildwrotethefirstdometic-advicemanualfor Americanhouewives.Her AmericanFntgal Housewift (12) waal-readyinittwelftheditionby132.LydiaMariaChildwaapopu-lar fictionwriter whowrotehorttorie, andthelyricsto a till-famouong called "Grandma'Thanksgiving." Born in Medford, Masachuetts, in102, Childwas educated at Mis Swan'eminary inWatertownandworkedaauntilher marriageto David Lee Child in12.he edited the Jllvenz"le Miscellany, a children's monthlyperiodical,forseveralyearwhileestablihingherelf asa writerandanabolitionitinBoton.hebecametronglyidentified with the antilavery caue in New England and edited The Anti- lavery Standard withher huband during the1840. One of her more famou projects waediting the memoir of Harriet Jacob, which later became Incidentsirltile Lift of alaveGirl (161). Chi ldwroteaboutmanydifferenthewrotenovel,in-cludingHotJomok(1824)andTheQuadroons(142).Shewrotehito-aboutthe Pequot Indianof New England andabout the evils of lavery.Her dometiadvie manual, whichhewrote relatively early inher career,gaveher some degree of notoriety,but dometic advice waonly a part of her long writing career inwhichthe emphaiwas alwayonmoralintegrity. Child'AmericanFrugalHousewifewafilledwithadmonition about indolence,frivolity.andwateo Shefocuedontheneeds of the homemaker, but al0addresednot directly related to the home, such atravel.Herevere attitude againtmoney onueles extravagance resulted in storiethat addressed themesuch as a family who couldnot afford a vacation but took one anyway. "To make a long 10[Going toHousekeepillg] AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal toryshort,"hewrote,"thefarmerandhiwifeconcludedtogoto ~ u e b e cj uttohowtheyhadariht toputthemelvestoinconve-niene,if they plea 'ed,They wentj' P nt aUtheir monYjhada wath stolen fromthem inthe steamboat; were dreadfullyoff Point Judith; came home tired, and dusty; foundthe babyick,becaue Sally hadtood at the door withit, one chilly, damp morning, while she wa feeding the chickens," 6 Thetory went on, concluding that the farmer and his wife would have been better off remaining at home, saving their moneyandnotleavingtheir childrenwithtranger,FrugalHoue-wife ifiUedwithuchtoriesof peoplewho squanderedawaytheir earnings intead of using every moment and every cent to further the caue of the morally pure home, Many womeninthemid-nineteenthcenturytookup Lydia Maria Child'ideato addresswomen' sconcernsthroughhouseholdadvice, Indeed, some of the author, including Child, Catharine Beecher, Helen Hunt Jackon, and Sarah JosephaHale were among the motinfluen-tialwomenwriterof thenineteenthcentury,6 Othersal0haduc-ceful writing career, from Harriet Spofford, a popular fiction writer, to Julia McNair Wright, a Christian reformer, Thee women all choe the middle-clafemale'connectiontothe home asone of themot important subject, nomatter what their other interests, They wrote fictionandpoliticaltreatie,traveloguesandpoetry,Theyledcam-paigns forwomen'education, forabolition, and fortemperance, And they also wrote dometic advice, Often,womenusedfictionandwriting about dometicityaway to deliverpoliticalmessage,HelenHunt Jackonwasanoutspoken criticof governmentalpoliytowardNativeAmerican,hewrote cathingreport ,suchas"ACenturyof Dihonour;aketchof the United States Government'Dealingwith Some Indian Tribe,"and pent time inColorado andCalifornia oberving race relationinthe West,But despite her deire to communicate herat levels a highastheUnitedStateCongres, Jackon al0believedthat ordi-narywomencouldbeanimportant audienceforherideas,Her Bits of TalkaboutHome Malters( I79)mergedthethemeof peronalre-ponsibility with a houehold-management text aimed at middle-cla women,7Jacksonal0uedfictionsuccefully;herincrediblypopu-larnovellUlmona(I4)openlyaddresedrelationhipbetweenthe Mexican, Native Americans, andAnglosinCalifornia, Fictionforwomenanddomestic-advicemanualssharedmany idealsof "moral education," Sentimentalnovelsthroughout thenin-[Going toHousekeeping]11 AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal teenthentury,uchaHape Leslie(I27)byCatharine Mariaedg-wick,The Wide,Wide World (1 51) byuanWarner, andThe Lamp-lighter (154) byMariauanna Cummin, exploredthe Jiveof young girlintheontext of religiougrowth. The heroineof theenovel experiencedlifechange.ucha10ingtheirfamilyandhome,and turnedtheminto life leson. Writerof sentimental fictionexplored moralintegrity through broad, often epic,plot lineinvolving dozen of charater. The popularity of fictionforwomengavedomestic ad-.anaudiencethatwouldundertandtheir work. Manyof thecharacterintimentalnovelervedaymbol forreligiouteaching.Domesti-advicemanualwouldpickupon thionvention,butufurnitureandcarpetinplaceof character aymbolic teacher. InThe Lamplighter, for example,Cumminued a charater namedEmilytorepreent religioupurity forGerty,the heroine.Inone sene, Gerty represedher naturalintinctto cry out and compoed herelf "at the sight of Emily, whokneeling bytheofa, withhand. . .lookdtheveryimpersonationof purityand prayer." 8 Indeed, womenwriting about the homeified furniture withqualitiesucha"honety"and"purity" jutanovelitchara-terizdpeople aarchetypal exampleof virtue. The cloe connectionwithnovelgavedometic-ad viemanuala familiarlitraryform.Thisformatprobablyhelpedwomnradr ' toundertandthe emerging genre andtoknowwhattoexpet.The dozenof domestic-advie manualpublihed inthe deadeafter 1SO followeda clear pattern,bJihedto guide women readersthrough thhouse.nextensivetableof contentemulatedthenovel'sIit ofhaptertiSomeauthorevenuedfictionalcharacter .Julia McNair Wright wrote The Complete Home fromthetandpoint ofmll-ingand converationof the fitional Auntophronia, with 0casional ommentaryfromouinnnandMary.Theefictionalcharacter helpdreaderundertandthe dometic-advicemanual. MarionHarlandinommonenseintheHouseholdoneof the mot intimate writer. The firt chapter of her171volume wacalled "Familiar Talk": 12 I wishitwere inmypowertobring YOll,the propective owner of thivolume,inperon,aI doinpirit,tomyideonthiswinter vening,whenthebairnieare"foldedliketheflok".theorder forbreakfat committedtothe keping of Bridget, or Grethen, or hloe,ortheplanforthemorrowdefinitelylaidinthebrainin oing toHousekeeping] A: ~ ISfaal AOFUXIVERSALlEADY }'Oll m Containing aLarge Fund of UsefulInformation, Facts,Hintsand Suggestions Uponthe Various Topics Pertaining toHome Life, INCLUDING HOMEDKOO RA7'lON,llQU'EHOLlJM A N A G E M E N 7 ~DOM]!",n o AFFAIR.VOOKERY,L ADlEFANOYWORK,MEDJOAl, MATTEIl,F/.OIUUULTURE.ETIQUETTE.HOJ.fE AMU,EMENTS,THENu RSERY,ARTIBT](J .EMBROIDERY. DEOOf.A TIVE PAINT l NG.LACK MAKING,THE TOI LET,THE Li..UNDRY, ETO. NEWYou: F.11 . . LUPTON,PUBLISHER, Nos.106AlID108READE tl!9O. Many lau-ninetetnth-ctntury dorrustic advice lIumuals qffored a sputacularly wide mnge o/'infonllalionfor 'WOT/lt1/.This volume.jor uampk, promisedaIo.rgefund 0/' usiful info71nation" about domestic subjectsmngingfrom hornedecomtiontoJWriculture. The book, published in1890.claimed to"include tvery SIlbjectinwhichwomanis interesud,whereininfol'mation 0/' a pmcticalnature canbeimparted through prinUd instructions. ( The AmericanDometicCyclopaedia,titk page; courtesy The Winterthur Libmry, Prinud Book and PuiodiCillolltction) AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal thatever-buy,butmotindepndentof women,thehouekeepr who "doeher ownwork." ... Ihould not deerve to be your confi-dant, didI notknovhow often,heart-weary withdiouragement ... youwouldtellmewhat a dreary problemthi"woman'work that inever done"ito your faintingou1.9 Harl and'intimaywithherreaderhereemulatedtheentimental novelinwhich authorroutinely placedthe reader inthepoition of the heroine.tO Marion Harland created the intimatetylehe ued with her reader overeraldecadeof writing.BorninVirginiain1SO,MaryVir-giniaHaweTerhune (MarionHarlandwaapenname)beganwrit-ingtorieatenager.Hermanybookincludedfictionaltorie, uh ahr firt work Awne (I55), cookbook,and even an autobiogra-phy inwhihdicuedher conAited feelingaboutlavery. Many mmberof theTerhunefamilybecameinfluentialwriter.Daugh-terhritine TerhuneHerrickandVirginiaTerhuneVandeWater al0wrote dometic advice manual,Aid to theYoung Housekeeper ( 19) andFromKitchentoGarrett ( 1912).Harland'bt- llingom-m01lense in the House/wid wa0popular thatheoon revied it,om-menting inthe10introductionthatthbookhadtobompletely rprintd. "ThroughmuchandconstantuenarlyI0,000opi havingbeenprintedfromthemthetereotype platehaebeome o wornthat the impreionarfaintandometimeillegible." IIThe popularityof MarionHarland'workinthelatenineteenthcentury demontratedthepowerthatdometic-advicemanualwerebgin-ning tohaveincapturing aneager audience of Amerianwomen. Beidefictiontheookbookwaanotherpopulargenre of read-ing material forAmerican women inthe early nineteenthentury. . 1-though earlyookbooklooktrange to modern eyebecaof their lackof partiularintrutiononmeaurement,temperature,and ookingtime,theebookbamequitepopularinAmerica.They inIuddtiponhowtoorder andcookrtaincutof meat andon howtomixupcommonremdiefortainremovalorillThe firt cookbook printed inthe newcountry,meliaimmon 'Ameri-canookeryof 1796, proudly ued reipea"Indianpudding" and "Johnnyake"thatwouldnothavebeeninludedinEnglihook-bookof theperiod:2 Americandometicadviors,. allyinthe nineteenthentury, uedtheookbook aa starting-off point fortheir 14[Goillg tolJollstkuPillg] A' ~ I SC'IT'd houeholdadvicebecaue of itfamiliaritytomiddle-claAmerican women. LydiaMariahiId'AmericanFrugalHousewifeincludedmany recipe. She providedintruction on everything frommeattopatry, includingthisrecipeforchocolate:"Many peopleboil choolateina coffee-pot; butIthinkitbetter toboilit inakillet,oromething open.Apiece of chocolate about asbig asa dollaristheusual quan-tity fora quart of water;butome put in more,andome Ie. When itboil,putinamuchmilkayoulikeandletthemboiltogether three or four minu. It imuchriher withthe milkboiled init.Put theugar inei therbeforeor after,ayoupleae.""Child'bookwa in fact a combinationvie manual.Athcen-tury wore on, fewer and fewer textwould includeuntil by the twentieth century thetexthadbecome quite different.But formuch of the nineteenth century, dometic- advice manualretained cloe. tobothfictionalandculinary writing tradition. manualsbegantotakeaforminthemid-nine-teenth century that would differentiate mot of them from both novel and cookbook. Catharine Beecher was an influential peron in making thitranition.Inher opinion, dometic life wamore important than anyotherof women'sexitence.She,morethanany otheringleperonbeforeor after,pouredherintellectualoulinto dometicwriting.BeecherwaborninEast Hampton,NewYork,in 100 intoafamilythatwouldmakehitoryone of themotinflu-entialinthenineteenthcentury.Her father,LymanBeecher,wasan important miniter whotraveled fromConneticut to Ohiopreading hireligiouview. Her brother Henry Ward Beecher waal0a min-iter, and heriter Harriet Beechertowe wathe bet-selling author of UncleTom'sabin. ThoughthemeninCatharine's familyattractedalotof attention inreligioucirIe, the Beecher womenmade theirheard.ev-eral other memberof her family,including her.ter Isabella Beecher Hooker andw Eunice White Beecher, al0wrote dometic-advie manual. Eunice Beeher warned her readerthat the right fur-nitureanddecorativechoicecould"giveanairof comfortandcon-tentmenttoyour home,"whereathewrong choice"willmakeyou gloomy and diatifiedevery time youee"the faileddecor"he be-lievedthat her role aa dometic advior wato help her readerdeco-rate their home"oncorretprincipleand onurefoundation." 15 [Going LoHousekupillg]15 AL Ierrect"IJkbe set"rmc!(TalfIaill atharineBeecherprhapmadehertrongtimpatinher girl'chool, espeiallyherHartford(Conn.)Femaleeminary.She tronglybelievedthat adminitratorof girl 'choolshouldinclude domestic education,eduating womenfortheirpre ' umedprofeion ahouewivesandfamilycaretaker.TheintroductiontoAmerican Woman's Home explained whyand heriter Harriet felt compelled to write the book: "The authorofthivolume,while theyympathize witheveryhonetefforttorelievethediabilitieandufferingof ex, aronfident that thehief caue of thee evilithe fact that the honorand dutieof the familytate are not duly appreciated, that womenarenottrainedfordutieamenaretrainedfortheir tradandprofeion, andthat,atheonequene,familylabori poorlydon, poorlypaid,andregardedamenialanddigraeful." '6 tthe Hartfordeminary.Beecher taught dometic education,using manyof herownbookatext.Duringthecoureof herlife,he wroteeveralhouehold-advicebook, includingTreatiseonDomestic Economy (141)andMisBeecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper (178). atharine Beecher'and Marion Harland's writing career extnivelyontherole of womeninthe houehold,but other dome-ticadjorhadxteniveinterestoutside of domestiity.Elizabeth llet, for example,wrote many books inadditionto her New.yc/()pe-dill ifDomestic Economy of 172.Betknown as a poet, Ellet waborn in Aurora, New York, and moved toouth Carolina after her marriage. poemearnedherontemporaryrecognitioninAmericanFemale Poets (158),which commented that"he ia writer of great reearch, ofqualkill andindutry." 17She publihedher first volumof poetry, Poems,Translated and O r i g i l l a ~in185andcontinuedtoreearchand write about variedtopic, fromtravelogueto hitories.'In fact,Ellet ioftendecribedaoneof theearlietwomen'hitorianbecaue he identified andtudied women forher bookon women artitand womeninthRevolution. Womenwriterinthenineteenthcenturyoftenwroteabout "wornn'ubject."HarrietPrecottpofford,betknownforher hilling Gothic romaneuhasir Rohan's Ghost (160), foued her efforts onhort storiewith femaleubject, including one called "Her tory,"whihdecribdawomandrivento inanitybyher marriage. pofford, born in Calais, Maine, in155, began writinghort.to upport her family.he published thetoriein Boton newpaprand literary journals, inludingThe Atla7ltic Monthly.Her dometi-advice 16[Goillg toHousekeeping] AL.teL.rsrecrte, k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal manualArt DecorationApplied toFurniture appearedin)7afterhe had aIradyuname forherelfin New litrury circle.Spoffordbamefamouforh rd 'tori, mytri, andience fiction,but her dome. tic-advice manualerveaevidene that,aa femalewriter, dometiitywaanimportantubject forher to Manyinfluentialwomenwritersinthenineteenthcenturyhad cloetieto literary journalandmagazine.arah JoephaHale wa perhapthe mot important of thee,aher career aeditor of the im-menelypopularGodey's Lady's Bookfourdecade,between 137and177.Hale,widowedwithfivechildreninI22,beganwrit-ing andditing toupport her family.She began at theLadies' Maga-zine of Boton, whihmerged\IithGodey's inPhiladelphia in)37.By 160,thecirculationof Godey's hadreached150,000,makingitone of themotwidelyreadwomen'magazineintheUnitedtatein ittime.Godey's providedinformation forwomenonubjectranging fromdretoarchitecture,andHalewasabletolendherupportto other womenwriterby featuring their poetry andtorieinher jour-nal.Sheuedherforumtopraieotherdometiadvior,uha Catharine Beecher forher work ontrainingteacher. Hale'dometic-advicemanualappearedearlyinher career.Her TheGoodHousekeeper of 14 1 probablydidnotreachnearlymany people aGodey' , but it allowedher another wayto ex preher idea about the home. Hale al0involed herelfin political and0ial ' of her day.hewainterestedinwomen'isuchafemaleedu-cation,butal0fouedonpatrioticcaueuchafund-raiingfor the Bunker Hill Monument inBoston to commemorate Revolutionary Warervie.Today,Hale iperhapmot famoforher campaign in 163 toblih Thankgiving aa national holiday, but her influence amongwomenwriterinthemid-nineteenthcenturywaprobably her rnotignificant legacy. Bytheendof thecentury,dozenof women'magazinearo the country offeredversionof Godey's Lady's Bookadvie andlitera-ture. Many women'magazineincluded aection called "ornamenta-tion" or "Ladie' Work Table" that printed patterns for. pcoverand oruggestions forcreative needlework.TheHomeircle reommendednewueforgoldpaintonpinebookcae'1ineor arabeque pattern"inI3, andThe Housekeeper's Friend, printed in Providence,RhodeIland, in179, printednew deignsfor"napkin" [Going toHousekeeping]17 AL Ierrect"IJkbe set"rmc!(TalfIaill and "ofa-arm." 19All of thee painstaking project, inthe words of the Home A/manac"immortalized 'home'and.tedwithit allthat i table andgood:' 20 Womenwrotemotof the dometiadiceinthenineteenthcen-tury,butmendidproduceafewinfluentialtext.EugeneGardner wroteeveraladvice manualinthe late nineteenthentury.He often pointedoutthathiwifeprovided"aidandenouragement"forhi textand that he trulythat women had a much better ' ene of houe deignthan didmen. Hi12text puruedthipoint through anexplorationof howafitionalJilldeignedanexceptionalhoue after her huband Jackhad "proved a failure" at dometic architectural . gn.The prefacetohisreviededitionnotedthat hegotmuchof thinpirationforhibookfromawoman:"Onarecentviittothe young womanwhoseexperieneandobservationare containedin thibook,I wagreatly pleaed to findher zeal and .t in dome-tic arhitecture unabated."21Though Gardner wrote the book himelf, hemadeapoint of explaining inhiprefaceandthroughoutthetext that hiideashadcomefromwomen. Men certajnly did write about theinthe nineteenthen-tury.Englihpattern-bookauthorsanddeigneruchaAndrew JackonDowning adiedpeople onthe exterior of the houe and on certainRoorplans.Often,women'sjournalssuhaGodey'sLady' Book includedarchitecturaldeignbymen.Other mentookthein-terior of the houe astheirubject.Eatlake, for example, pub-lishedHints 011HousehoLdTaste ininI74,an erudite work on the "mot esentia1 principleof good deign."22 This English dometic advisor, a fellowof the RoyalIntitute of Brilih Architects, exempli-fiedthe role of male writerinearly.advice, inthat hewrote theworkforparcrutetandinterior deignerinof ordinary women. Womenwhowrote aboutthe home (private sphere) a10remained onnectedtoandinteretedinthesocialiueof theirday(public phere).In theecond half of the nineteenth century, important topic that conerned womenincludeduffi-age andthe treatment of minori-tie. In an era greatlywith women'right, dometic. knew thatorne women would quetiontheir fouonwomen'"natu-ral"relationship to the home. "There is at the preent time anincrea-ing agitation,"atharine Beeher wrote inher introductionto Ameri-can Woman's Home, "eolving many theorie. .. ato woman'right. " 2 ~ ButBeecher heldtrongly toher belief that the "moral power" of the I[Goillg toHoueku pillg] AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal homeupereded all other callingfor women. She did not believe that "woman'rights" outsidethehomewouldimprove women'live. Beecher wasnot the only domestic advisorto openly(and .)thewomen'srightsphiloophy.In1871 ,MarionHarland "whipered a wordin your ear I don't care tohavevepeople hear,"which i,"the humble home make[s] your sphere for the preent. ... Besure youfillitfull!beforeyouseekonewiderandhigher." ElizabethEllet,commentinginI72onthe"rights"of woman,de-claredthat"if womenfromthehighesttothelowest,weresystem-atically educatedtowieldproperlythe great power [ thehome]they indubitably posses ... they would have little reaon to complain about power:.. And Eunice Beecher, Catharine's siter-in-Iaw, wrote inI79 thatif womenwouldonlyviewtheirworkathomeamoreimpor-tant, "we should hear less of the ' restrictedph ere' of women; of lofty intellect, great powerandgenius,dwarfedinthenarrowprecinct of home life, or ... stooping to the drudgery ofhouekeeping.... If you are ambitiouofleaderhip, you canfindit here ... inthe home . .. you mayreign a q u e e n . " ~Inanother eayontheubject,Eunicewrote, "We are tired and diguted with thoe womenwho are so greatly ex-ercisedindrawing comparisonsbetweenmanandwomen .... There isno ground forany comparison." 26 Emma ChurchmanHewitt,associateeditor of Ladies'HomeJOllr-na4 addresed the "woman's issue" outright inher 189 Queen c!fHome. Hewitt devoted an entire chapter to "occupationfor women" in which tackledtheisue:"Andwhatiswoman'ssphere?"Asaworking womanherelf,he mut have hadto deal withthiquestion on a per-onallevel.Hewitt, born inLouisianain1850, was a poet andnonfic-tionwriter whoupported herself after the death of her huband with her writing and editing job. InQueen c!fHome,she noted that women, tobesuccefulhouekeepersunderstand"baking,wahing, ironing,cooking,sewing;thati,fourtradeswithouttheminoract of dishwahing,sweeping,duting, etc."She concludedthatwoman' phere"ithesame asthat of man,i.e.,todocheerfullyandwellthe workthat comestoher hand,whetheritbeapen,asurgeon'knife, adentist'sdrill, apair of scissorsor abroom."27However,giventhe title andubject of her 528-page Queen c!fHome: Her ReifJ7lfrom lrifancy toAge,FromAttic toCellar,it ilikelythatHewitt preferredthat mot women would chooe their association with the home rather than with an ' outide"occupation. Dometic advisorsassumedthat motwhite, middle-class Ameri-[GoingtoHousekeeping]19 AL Ierrect'IJkbe set'rmc!(TalfIaill canwomenwouldbeinterestedintheiradvice.Theybelievedthat there would be anaudience fortheir bookbecaue they believedthat mostwomentruly feltastrong connectiontoandresponsibilityfor theirhomes.Manyauthor'domesticfantasywathattheirbooks would help all womenee the home intheway that they them-elvedid.Even Julia Wright'fictional character Hester, who, unlike her.went to college,married a scientist, andhadno children, foundhousekeeping to be a fascinating subject. Though she herself did not want a family home,he took care of other people. children when necessary and taught her cousome decorating tips, peppered with intellectual commentary. Inthe nineteenth century, most domestic-advice manuals assumed a white,audiencetheir readerhip.This did not mean that ad viorwereunawareofignificantocialinequalitie; infact, many of thee women devoted their careers toocial reform, abolition, or othersuchmovement.However,whenit cametotheir fantaies of the idealhome, it iclear that motof them couldonly see a white womanatthehelm.TheyunderstoodtheneedforallAmericansto havecertainbaicright, but domesticitywasreservedfortheir own kind. Immigrantwomenoftenappearedasservantinmanuals.Sarah JosephaHaleexpressedoncernin]++thatIrishwomenneeded much education in order to be "worthy to be the mother[ ]of Ameri-cancitizens,"andadmonishedherreaderto"teachher needlework, andinstruct her inreadingandwriting."28Inthe Americancontext, manyadvisorbelievedthatservantswereunnecesary.Thebook PracticalHousekeeping,publishedbyagroupof authorsinDenver, Colorado,inI85,notedthat"the modelshouldnotbelarge, nor toofineandpretentioufordaily... A great house,withits neceary retinue ofervants, inot in keeping withthe simplicity of a Thiarnemanual,however.medthat the middle-ciahousewife would keep at least some houehold help. The author, noting that "the breakage ofdihes inorne houes is fearful," lamented thehouewifewhowas'"atheart"whenherdihesbroke,and '1ittle comfort doehe get fromBridget, whoreplie: 'La,madam, it wasbut a fewof your dihe, and sure I could not help it."' 50 Some advisorevenaddreedthe poibilityof physical contami-nation of thebytimmigrant. AlthoughAmericaexperi-enceditshighetlevelsof immigrationattheturnof thetwenti-eth century, advisornotedthe presence of immigrants inAmerican 20[Goil/g toHousekeeping] Auteursrechtelijk beschermdmateriaal home far earlier.early as1110, rhUadelphia cookbook author ~ l i r a .notedthat"ervantwomenwhohave jutome fromEurope, not infrequently arrive with contagioudieaes, produced or fotered by the heat and dirtiness of theteerage' anda clean American female ijutifiableinobjectingtotherikof hainguchabed-fellow:'" ElizabethElletnotedthat"Houekeeperaremainlydependenton theIrihandGermanemigrant,whoaaruleareutterlyignorant of houeholdervice." '2Manyadvisorsreferredtoaervant generi-cally a"Bridget"or anothertereotypicallyIrishor other European nameto indicate,withoutaying0outright,thattheervantof a differentocialclasthanthe mitresof thehome. JuliaMcNairWright,author of TheCompleteHome,uedherfic-tionalcharacter Aunt Sophroniatolecture herreadersaboutproper treatment ofervant. Wright, involvedinmanyocial-reform move-mentincludingtemperance,wrote manybooksaboutherChririan devotion.BorninI40, Wright connected her Chritian belief:toher belief:about running anidealhome.When dicussingervant, Aunt ophronia reminded her nieceandother Iierthat: "We forget in considering our servantsour commonwomanhood;theyareviewed byuachattel ,aanimatedmachinetoperformforuuchand uch offie,and, inregarding them, we forget the human tie,that God hmade of one blood allthe nations of the earth." HoweverAunt So-phronia al0believedthatornefundamentaldifferencedidexist be-tween her nieeandtheir servants. "The Lord gave Martha [theer-vant]tobeginwithlarger hands, stronger muscle, andmore simple tates andsurroundings thanmine." " Mot dometic-advice manuals includedome paageabout train-ingervant.EmmaHewittnoted:"Socialproblemareontantly cropping up,but the one whichnowagitatethe country ... [i]the 'ServantQuetion,'aitisnowdenominated." ' Indeed,motadvi-soreemedinterested inaddresing the quetion.Hewitt went a bit fartherthanmotwhenhenotedthatorneerantmight havea-pirarion: "Admitting that humanity ithearnetheworldoverthat race, climate orolor makeno difference, except, perhaps, in degree-thatthe Lordimplantedineveryhumanoulertainhopeand desire. ranging not0much in degreequality, according to theur-roundingandrefinement of thewe canbut admitthat in allheart, nomatterthehasbeenimplantedthe desireto.ome day' own a home." Madvior, including Hewitt, limited their di-cusionoftstoadedicatedchapter,inthiscase "ocialRela-[Goillg toHousekeeping ]21 AL!errect"IJkbe set"rmc!iTa!naill tion,"anddevotedthe rest of their texttothemiddJe-classwomen they perceivedasthelr audience. Domesticadviorinthemid-to-Iatenineteenthcentury,then,had developed a tradition of fictionand culinarywriting forwomen into a new genre of household advice. During and after the Civil War, which diturbedhoueholdaerothecountry,manyhOlleholdmanual tresedthe ongoingrelationshipbetweenwomenandtheirhomes. These books declaredthat the relationhip between womenandtheir furniture.drapery,andacceoriecouldillustratethetrengthof Americanvalueinthe faceof troubledtimes.Byemulating fitional ideals.as Julia Wright'character Miriam, women could expre their dedicationtotheir new,united country. The dometic fantasyof mid-nil1eteenth-century America empha-sized a close relationhip between women, home, and Chritian ideal. Dometicadviorsbelievedthattheycouldillustratereligiouand patriotic value,uch as piety. honesty, and modesty. through furniture anddecorativeaccessorie. Theywrotetheirtextstohowreaders thewayinwhichcertainwood,certainfabric.andcertainorna-ments could influence family life. Domestic adviors in the second half of thenineteenth centurywrote theirtexts,at least inpart.toteach women how to make houeholdbring religion and patriotim to their families. Catharine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe included chapters on "AChristianFamily"and"AChritianHouse"intheir1869text.A daughterand sitel'ofProtetantthey believed strongly in a Christian belief structure. Their text illustrated the connectionthat nineteenth-centuryadvisorsbetweenwomen,thehome, andProtestantChristianity."Thefamilystate.then,istheaptest earthlytrationof theheavenlykjngdom,andinit womanithe chief miniter," they wrote. But much of their early chapterdealt more specifically with the Chri tian religion. "To intelligent, reflecting, and benevolent womenwhose faithr ets onthe character andteachings ofChritthere are great principlerevealedbyHim, which in the end willecure the grand result which He taught andsufferedto achieve.It ishopedthatinthefollowingtheseprincipleswill be0exhibited and illustrated asto aidinsecuring thoserightsand advantagewhichChrist'religionaimto provide forall,andespe-cially for the most weak and defenseless of His children."s6 The Beech-22[Goingt{)Housekeepill{f] Auteursrechtelijk beschermdmateriaal - ' --"IntheDivine Jf/ord il iswritten'The wise womallbuildethher house,' wrole Cothari/le Bteeller alld Harritl Bucherlowe inThis imnge depictsa happ)1home, marked wilh a crosswhere therig'" values have promoted domestic bli s.Heading a chapter devoled tohouehold organization, thedrawillg lillkmundnne t1icussions qf with alloverarcl!illgChristiallvalue(Betcher and American Woman'Home,23) er'text wafilledwithintructionforbuilding kitchencabinet, for keeping roomwell-ventilated, and forhooing the right curtain fab-ric.For them,idaarne out of a deephritianfaith. Callforhritianhomefilledmany of the dometic-advice text. JuliaMcNairWright,areligiouhritianherelf,hadAunt0-phronia teah her nieeabout the requirementof ahritianhome. he dicued attendance athurch and other outwardignofhri-tianity, but foued onthe prene of religioninthe home. "Bewarm [Goillg toHouse/uepillg]23 Ar aal and enin your Christianity if you would commend it to your families as a thing worth striving for,"he suggeted. "From the Chris-tianhome let ' the light of lovehine overall.'Rich or poor initap-pointments, itbe cheery andkindly,fuilof commoninterest andhomelyelf-sacrifices,andmutualconfidences,andgoodorder. Nowhereelseshouldthingsbe more honestlywhattheyseem.It is onlybyhomesentimentsthat homecanbe made into aplacewhereto theheartsof childrencanbefirmlybound."" Of coure,giventhe three niece ' differentMiriam foundthiadvice palatable, whereasHelenthoughttheadmonitiontohonesthomesentiment taxing. "Oh. me,"cried, "what a world of work it ito rear a family! What aburden of resss Christian doctrine informed rnot dometic-advice manuals. Evan-gelicalProtetantimwasanimportantcomponentof middle-clas lifeinthemid-nineteenthcentury59HoraceBushnell,animportant theologian, wrote in1847, "The hOlle, having a dometic Spirit,hould becomethe churchof childhood,thetableandhearthaholyrite."+o This commentary corroborated the works of other popular writers, such asHenry Ward Beecher,who agreedthat home life wa crucial to American culture. Although church going wacertainly im-portant, the Victorian fixationon the family made the home an impor-tant space forChritianvalues. Magazineoftenprovidedpedalintructionforhouseholdarts ide by'withmore overt moralitytale. Byinterspersing inspira-tional Chritianreadings withewing patterns, the editors suggested that both had a restorative nature for home life. The forexample,beganapecial ectionin1860:"Ourladyreaderwill findtheirinterestconidered,"the editorwrote,throughaection on "brief but comprehensive essayuponsubjectof interetto every familyinthe land." Thjection included household decorationalong withessaysonChristianliving.One goalof The HomeCircle wasto makeChritianliteraturetowomeninthehome.Advior uedthe intrutions on ornamentation to teach their readers how to keep their homemorally and aesthetically pure. Domesticadvisorsbelievedthathomelifecouldhavesignificant conequences forociety.Helen Hunt Jackson's analysis led her to see the improperly decoratedandmanagedhomea"aplace fromwhich fatherflyto club, boys and girls to streets." +1This vision of social ar-rangements put the responsibility for community health and morality onindividualhome,andthereby onindividualwomen."Whenthe 24[Going to Housekeepil1g] Auteursrechtelijk beschermdmateriaal neathomeichanOedfortheuntidone,"wrotetheeditorof the women' . journalTileHomeirclein1:J,"ondoenotwondtr. muchatthe attractive power of the saloon."' Theadvisors'warningaboutimminentdoompointedtoasal-vationthroughproperattentiontothehome,wherebythefamily, andthuthewholenation,wouldproper.Thehomewasa waytolargerocietalconcerninawaythatwomencould undertandandperhapevenrepondto.Dometiadviortran-lated Chritianvalueinto houeholdterm. Mot important wathe directive tohave only what youcouldaffordandtorefrain fromwhat wouldmuh later becaJled"keepingupwiththe Jonee."Oftenbe-ginning with anexplanation ofChritianvalue, like the Beeher, ad-viorthenwent ontobemorespecificabouthowtoexprethoe value(uchahonety)inthe home. Adviortriedtokeeptheirreaderonamoralcoure theymaderecommendationsfordecoratingthecomplicatednine-teenth- enturyhome.There wamuchattake.Houeholdfilldto overflowingwithornament, andfurniturerantherik ofuumb-ing toanindulgent,showytatu. Upholtery,rug, curtain',paint, andwallpaperneeded special direction. AHarrietpofford wrote in 17,"The art of furnihing... [shape]thefamilywiththegentle mannersthat makelife'er andpleaanter to all."" Theroom-by-roomsureyof theidealhomebeganwiththeen-trance hall, which"hould be furnished with an umbrella and hat stand, and chairor halleat"according toElizabethEllet.H Thee direc-tionfor hallwayfurnihings helpedto enourage certainof be-havior as0iated with "proper" culture. The furniture couldpakfor the family,declaring that thifamilybelieved it waimportant to keep dry inthe rain,to obeythe formality of wearing a hat,to leave a call-ing card,andtoprovideguetwitha placetositwhiJetheywaited to behowninto the parlor."5 A familycouldue furnitureto their value, which would be evident from the moment a viitor walked inthe door.Ellet continued,"If thereia cloet forhanging uphat, cloak&c.,it should benear the door. Doorrapershould alwaybe placedneartheentrance."6 This informationbroadcasttheneedfor viitorto be welcomedandcleanbeforethey enteredthehome. Dining room, depite their obvious function,often providd com-plication.LauraHollowayLangfordwaanauthorandpoetwho wrote bookabout the First Ladies' liveinthe White House, and even one book onthe "Buddhist diet."Inher13 dometic- ad vie manual [Going to Housekeeping]25 Alotelorsrecrte I k bescrer'TlClr-atenaal i,leteenlh-ulltury hall fitmishillgs provided a place for visitors 10hang their hats and ouierwea r,torut their umbrellas,alld to fix IhemselveliPin themirror before being Settllby their hosts.This e.xampl./!illustrates a simple variety with slight arcJzileclurol embellishtllt1lts.Hallfimliture might alsoinclude I/Ioreh./!lvesjor St/wll items SUdl. a gloves,bootbrllslm,or calling cards.(Varney,Our HomeandTheir Adornment, 27; courtesyTit./!FVilltertJlII r Library,Printed Book alld Periodical Collection) Auteursrechlijk beschermd rraterra ,Aag, indjanandthe like:9 Thee deignuggt:stionoutlined ap-ific,mandate for the modern home. Herto be bduedindeign,counteratingthe Victorianera'outrageoupat-alkin'recurring theme wathat "the houemut...an appreciation of comfort,and orderline.. . . The American inhistrenuoulifenedbeauty inhihouse."6o Adviorpresentedaerieof ruleforwomentofollowwhen chooingfurniture."For whatpurpoeiittobeued,"beganhar-lotte WaitCalkins."(thematerialappropriatetotheIit dur-able?" slheblievedthateahpieceof furniturhadtobecarefully analyzedtoitplaceinthe home."The furnihing of a dining-room,"wroteMabelHydeKittredge,..houldbeeryimple."he notedthat whena dining roomharedpace witha Iiing room, fur-nihingouldbemore dorative,but "iftheroomiuedonlyaa placeinwhichtoeat,allof thefurnihinghoulduggetthiob-jet."s.LillieHamiltonFrenhnotdquiteclearlythat,"thedining-roomia place foreating.Its purpose idefined." "Furniturehould be choen0atoerve the partiular ue of the room, and for no other reaon. The "rightkind"of Iiingroomfurnituredepnddonthefun-tion of the roomforthe family."Do thy read good book?"'Kittredg aked,. If0,thebookveandthelibrarytablewilltellyou0." he notedthat "good light"wasimportant only ifiterved a purpoe, that i, if peopleintheroomwouldbeewi ngor reading.s4 Dorothy TukePrietmanrejtedtraditionalnotionof proprietyinfaor of functionality."Let ubereolvedtohaveourhomeinkeeping with thIiwelead" she wrote in1910.'Weyit inotuitable to have ainthe parlor.It iif weewthere." 65 Some adviorthought menandwomenwouldlike different kind of room.However,unlikethelate-nineteenth-century'rigididea about men'dining roomandwomen'parlor, adviorinthe mod-rneraouldbeomwhatmoreflexible.EmilyPotwroteabollt "men'rooms.w There ineitherense nor beauty inthe popular belief thatmanlj-nes can be expreed only intheort ofolidityuitable for caging a grizzly bear; that a small roomet aide forhiperona! ue mut be knowna "den," andbe furnishedwith anovertuffedofathat [Modtmism]117 AL IerrecrIJkbe serrmc!iTalflaill wouldupport an elephant and with chairobviously made for baby hippopotamues.It isnotthat theofficedekandother objetsof wood furniture be either ofmahogany or of fumedoak,or thatthe entire color scheme bemarooncom-bined withwet-mudbrown.B6 Post'amusingcommentaryhereonsex-segregatedroomdidnot mean thathe did not have strong ideas about the differences between menandwomen.Rather,herbookwaatreatieonpraticaldeco-rating, practical furnishing,andshe hadnouse forold-fashioned and heavy ornamentation. Principlesof balancebroughtcientH1cruletothelivingroom. LillianBaylessGreenfocued onthemantelpiece.After firtnoting that "the mantlenever be cluttered," she provided certain rule in whichthe arrangement wouldbe as ..ymmetrical aspossible:' Per-hap"a candle tick at either end with aclock or vase inthe cen-ter,"uggested Green.61 In later year, adviors provided even stricter onthepropertiesof symmetryandbalance.In192,Loi Palmerdirectedherreaderstoplaceallrugs"paralleltothewalls; never at anangletothem. It issometimeatemptation to have a rug reach from one doorway to another, inthe direction of traffic, but well-poisedpeople don'tyieldtoit,becausetheyknowthatsuchplacing makeforbadbalance,and.distres others whomaysee it."She al0notedthat "anessential of symmetry ito havethe major pieces offurniture placed parallelwiththe wall." 6 8 Though adviorstood united on many fronts, including function-alityandbalance,theircommoncauetheeliminationof bric-a-brac. Bric-a-brac waa general term that advisorto refer toacatalogueof decoratingerror.Whilemostadvisorsusedthe terms "gewgaw,""knick-knacks,"and '"bric-a-brac"interchangeably, AnnaHong Ruttmadeadistinctionin1985.The differencewabe-tween "knickknacks, which have no art!tic merit and are often merely souvenirs,Bric-a-brac,whichmayhaveome art qualitybut are not entirely good, [ and] objectof art, which are beautiful in form,color, andtexture."69 Dorothy Tuke Priestman included textilein her defi -nitionof bric-a-bra,complainingabout"flimy,hideousmaterial, knotted,ca caded,andfestoonedovermantel,picture, chairback, andtop." ' 0Initsbroadestitmeant"crowded"or ..andcouldeveninclude wallpaper."Ihopethat myreadersare II[ModemismJ Auteursrechtelijk beschermdmateriaal A displarif WJldding gifts ill a Deliver,Colorado parlor deTIum.s/:rateslhe proliftratio1trif lrric-a-lrmc Ihal collcemedQman)' dome,'lf.ic advisors illi l l ~ear,>' JU!lmiietll cenJlIry. Tille gifts ineluded lamps,figurines,dinnerware,tea sets, vases and otller ol[;'ectsthat ellntually would netd tobe ciispla)'ed tlmmg/willtilt: home,cluttering smfiu;es and reqlliriflg/ reqll(!nLduSl;,,!?DespiteJlt!!dir6 warllings tif home economists a/ld otfters, howroermiddl-clasAmericans continlled toreceive mOlltel clocks,. and otller bric-a-brac as wedding presmtsthroughout tlu (millry. ~ourtesyDeliver Public Library,WesternHistoryolieaioTI, X-260J6) notthersof,or poby,alarge variety of bric-a- brac!" wrote Virginia Terhune Van d waala1iagaintit." 11 Water in1912. "[ometimewish there Theblanketterm"bri-a-brae"inludedawidevariety of houe-hold.Pottryases, glass candlesticksclocks,andother nees-aryitemfeUundertheumbrellaif theyproliferatedinoneroom, if thY hadunn.arilyornamental'ng oror ofteneven if theycouldbe"cheap."Other .itemsincludedouvenir andwedding pre ' ent, if too manyof them congregatedonone table or on one mantel.DorothyPriestman lamentedthe popular trend of ornamental gift giving: "How often do we hearomeoney,'My wed-ding prnt willbabit of pttery.(twillfillinomewhre andon an' tbaetoomanyvases.'an' tweindeed."72 Thetbought 12 0[Modernism ] Auteursrechteliik beschermd materiaai of asbric-a-brac couldbetoomanypicturesonwall,toomany s1onaurt 1npujl, or toomany p:lIowson aora. Pr;man ca theobjets "oUetionofwird mon trosities" in1910.'5 In immigrant thestricturemightpreadtoincludereligioustatuary,cro-cheted afghans, andother Uforeign" and"unnecessary object. Aearly atheI0,ornehoueholdadviorsrecommendedthe elimination of VictorianInI9,Emma Hewitt wrote: Stillanotherlawof gooddecorationdeclarethattherebe noof ornamentationnobeautifying,uchasa bow aroundthe poker,milk-maidtoolinthe parlor, andon the table legs; nor iit in goodtastetouse aornament, anything per-vertedfromthe originalpurpose, or appropriateervicenohats forcoalboxe,menwithholeintheirheadforalt-cellarand the liketo saynothing ofuchthingthe wooden painted with apple blossoms on a sky-blue ground, and hung by anenormoubowthe hearth, inelaborate, but ridiculou tate! Thiof decorationmight be calledthe "American di-eae," but let us hope that it has nearly run its coure, and that we are learning tohavebeautyonly whereitineededandappropriate.' " Domesticadvisorattackedbric-a-bracoveraperiodof half acen-tury,andthoughwomencertainlyreadtheir advice,theyignoredit muchof thetimeandcontinuedtodecoratetheirhouwithbow andfigurines.75 But advisorcontinued the attack. In190, Good Housekeeping magazine complained, "It [ bri-a-brae] trips youuponthe floor,drops downat youfromthe chandelier and cornice,makeit dangerous toyour legs or move your elbows whenyouit,andrenderitimpoibletofindabitof unocupied wall big enough to lean againt." 76The article went on tothat housewives rotate through their bric-a-brac, diplaying on ly a fewob-jects at anyone time.Other manuals wouldrecommend banihing all ornament to the attic.Advisors couldnot findanyreaonto keep un-belongings orouveniraroundthehoue.Their meage clear. Lucy Ann Throop declared in1912, "There ione matter of great importance tobekeptinmindandpracticedwiththenest self-control, andthat i, to eliminate, eliminate, eliminate." 77 AIlof themanualsattheturnof thecentury attackedbri-a-brae and advised that their readers throw it away or hide it."Eliminate ue-article,"wroteCharlotteWaitCalkin."Beauredthatevery [Moderl1ism]12 1 AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal articlethatisuseleswillprovetobeugly."18Sheprovidedanex-tendeddiscussionof what is"useles,"commentingthat"thetetof fito purpose willmake evident the inappropriateness of deign of a glassmatch receiver in the shape of a slipper, a salt dishreembling a chicken,apincushion,madeto appear,anearlypoible,likea tomato,orathermometergracingadeer'foot."79 DorothyPriet-man attacked "the old fashionedwhatnot" ase for many of the cri mecommittedinthe name of bric-a-brac:' 80While piouay-ingand homemadetitchery had been overwhelmingly popular in the nineteenth century, as the new century began, allof that was0much garbage.sl"Innumerable inappropriate grotequeries, decoratively in-tended,"wrote Mary Quinn in1914,"mutbeeverelydealtwithand banished ... to the ash-barre!." 82 ObjectofentimentaJ value countered modern ideal. Hazel Adler calledforthe removalof all "objectofentimental aociation" from the home. "Heirlooms andouvenir... should finda happy end ina memory chet . " 8 ~AliceKelloggtoldherreadersthat any decorative objectmust be "chosen for the enjoyment of those who come into the room, and not be an expression of the individual tates of the family." 84-anti-bric-a-brac rhetoric becamethe rallying cryboth for adviors who wrote for an immigrant population and for thoe who wrote for the middle cIas.For native- bornmericanswhose anes-torhadclutteredtheirhomestothepointof oblivion,bric-a-brac represented a lower-cIasandtawdry decoratingtyle. These people awthepreponderance of objectandornament aadifferen-tiationawellasanethnidifference.Aboveandbeyondthe"for-eign" connotations of clutter, dometic advioremphasizedthe asso-ciation between ornament and cla. Language about bric-a-brac waa way to annunciate the term ofociaJ superiority that couldbe gained through simple decoration. Motadviors.bric-a-brac asclutter that cheapenedthe lookof theAmericanhome.They judgedtheclutteredhome.and concomitantly judgedthehouekeeper.ADorothy TukePrietman wrote in19JO of thoe who collected bric-a-brac. the "error ... is com-mon among a certain class of women." 85Even one or two cheap objects could de troythe look of a room. Alice Kellogg saiduccinctly, "bric-a-brac inthecheapmeaning of theword inot ingood"86The ornate nature of the piece was important to adisors in rating its social connotations. "The cheaper the fixture, the more ornate it i,a rule," 122[Modemism] Auteursrechtelijk beschermdmateriaal Did everybodyhavea cozy corner? Many certainly did.Andforev-deadefollowing thiexhangc at apublifair in80tondo ms-tic adviortriedto convine their readersthat bri-a-bra dnand cozycornershouldallbeleftbehindaAmericanmovedforward into themodernage.That forthemotpart theyfaileddoenot di-minih their efforttoproe tomiddle- womenthatmodernim didhave a place inAmericanhome. [Modernism]125 AL IerrecrIJkbe serrmc!(Talflaill COLORIRUNNINGRIOT: CHARACTER,COLOR,&CHI LDREN Tlzejimlishings oja yOU1zg gz:rl'sroommay bevery much like her mother s,only stili more simple and freshand dainty.White or ivory furniture seems especially app1Vpriate.Pieces canqftm be decorated inojtile quaint peasant styleojpainted flowers,and tile designused througlwut tlte room. JII a. hoy'sroom,evenifis a very smail boy,thereshould belesseffect ojdaintinessand Useatrtains ojcrflO/me il1a boLd conventional designrather titan a flower-sprigged pattern.Let tJlt jimzi/:u:rebe strong and substantial.Pruvide some piaufor him tokeeptheinnumerable belongings tltat are totilt Ileart oJ a boy; sets ojopm booksJzelves can sometiml!s bebuilt into tJl/!room.Thereshould bespecimtlls oJ his various collections asht! pleases. A mans distastefor feminillefrippery muijitrbelows should be catered tointJl/! jitrllishings oj his 0W71room.Give liimfurniture that issolid and mascI/1im-looking; astile mameled French.and mahoga1lYolonial styles seeml1wst fitted for a woman'room,sothe modificati07ls ojElizahetJla1loak designs or the mC)derncrtiftS11lll1l furnitureuit man's room. -Modern Prici lla Home Furnishing Book AuteursrechteliJkbeschermdmateriaal The]925ModernPri 'Cl'lIaHomeFurnishing Book joindothr dom-riadviorinthargumnt that houeholdurroundingwould affect eachperon'character development.Thiundertanding of charac-ter formationencouragedpeople to fouonthlong-term effects of decorating deci.Fromlittle girl' bedroomtothefamilybath-room, the decoration ofeach room in the houe had long-lating reper- Ion. Whatkindsof Americandidthereaderof twentieth-century dometicadicewanttheirhildrentobecome?Theywantedwell-adjkidwho undertood their rolein the genderdociety. They wanted boywhoe inet collectioncould leadto a carr iniene and girlwhoe intert inthewould be piqud at an early age. They wanted to preerve atatuquo of gender relation, but al0 to explore new colorandto incorporate moderntechnology intheir home. Readerof dometic advice plowedthrough hundredof page of commentary oncurtain fabricandother detail. Withthe choice that thmodrnra offerd regardingolor palateand material, the reults couldvary. The twentieth century may haveprovidedacaryet of choieto many Americanwomen.Withonanddaughters facinga comer worldfilledwithpoibility,motherturnedtodometiadviefor They looked at booksuch aThe Modern Priscilla to guide them ontheirwaytomakinguretheyraiedgoodchildrnandprovided goodcitizen. They wantedto believethat thehoice of color onthe dining room wallcould rally effect the futureharater of the nation, and American middle- women turned to magazineand bookfor advie.Adviorthemelvenaigated their ownonfuionby provid-ing concrete ruleanduggetion. They began atudy of theffectof room arrangement on pronal happine,a study that would continue throughout the century. The Modem Pri cilia Home Book prided itelf on providingimple di-rectionfor positive living. The editorclaimed to undertand that not all of its readerhad grownup in protected, strong-charater building environments, and they announced their intentionto fixproblem for the next generation. "The mother who realizethe trueigni of home furnihingwillnever introduce makehift furniture into her homeor becontentwithanythingthantheverybetinevery-thing contituting the environment of her children." IThe future of the [ColorIs RU1llli1lg Riot]127 AL IerrecrIJkbe serrmc!iTalflaill nation'children, then, wainthe hands of the motherwho decorated their home.meria'children depended ontrong furniture,trong olor,andtrong gender- appropriate rule. Dometic adviors would help the new generation byproviding guidepotfor home decorating. Theearlytwentiethnturywaapriodinwhihtherelationhip btwenhouholddorationandperonalitybgantomakeene. "Inthit day ofint eretinhild pY hology," wrotEmilyPost in1950,"thrare few who faj]torealjzethathildren .. . areuper-nitiveto beautyinitalmotvery pha. " ~Although hertextdid notmuhmoraboutthereultsofacademirearh,herue of thetrm ..hildpY hology"indicateitprevalenceintheulture. hetridtoattratworridtohradvibyonnecti ngher advitothe new0ialience. hildren had ben importantubj ets for "expert advie"ineth PrgrivEraatthturnofthtwenti ethentury.f orexample rathori eabouttheeffetof recreati ononhildren andadoleentIdtothe creation of playgroundandto a newivi forhildment. Publiuha G.tanley HallandJanAddamhadmadepubliinfavorofproperly organi zed rereation at thturn of thcentury.upporterofth"Play Movmnt"organi zdthePlaygroundofmeria,argu-ingthat dirtingchi ldren'playtime could contributeto their moral deelopment.'Inthe1950,Good Housekeeping'HelenKouenoted that "modrn toyand gam, likmodrn idea,thintelletual or 'how to do'ide of ahi ld'mind, teahing through play." + Through-outthtventithcentury,domtiad viorudimilarargument toonvintheir radrs about the importane of houeholdarrange-ment inhildren'rooms. The fi eld ofhild developmnt grw inthe early twentith century. oialientittudiedthwaysinwhihhildrnlearandcre-atedteahingmodeltoorrepondwiththeirfinding . Theybgan tak qutionaboutthe inAuof daily\if,onthehild'future wIfare.inetheninteenthentury, chiJdhoodhadbeenundrthe ientifimirocope aaand vitaltime oflife when thehar-ater waformd forthe futur. With thadvent of j uvenile detention andother "arlyintrv;ntion"methodinthe170,rimi-nologitbegantodiuwhat0ietycoulddoto"ave"hildren bfore theyould be inAuend by dangerouelementperceived to b 12[olor IsRunningRiot] AL.teL.r _ ecrtelilk bescrer'TlCl fY atenaal oundinr tal nn:ghborhoodsandamongda:n group_ 0popl. Domticadviorpikeduponorneof thelanguageof thehild-developmentcholarandbeganto addit intotheir text. They built onthe worriethat manypeople hadaboutraiing children andpro-videdhoueholdolunon. HomeeconomitHazelhultzaddresedtheiueof children' moral and intellectual development. Inher1931Making Homes, Shultz wrote about how to enure that children were given the propr amount of roomandthepropertoolatheygrewup.Shultz,bornin191, bythe1920a profeor inthe Department of HomeEconomic inthe Laboratorychoolof the U'.of Chicago. Her univerity hadbeenat the forefront ofhome-eonomiceducation at the turn of the century, and Shultz helpedturn the focufromnutritiontudieto child pychology. Her efforts resulted inmarty bookduring the19S0 and1940,includingThe First Book in Home Economicof 1936anda bookwritten forthe Home EconomicEonDivision onhowto teachhometudy.Her workoftenemphaizedthespeialrole of the eduatedwomanin providing atrong home forher family. The need for children and adultto simultaneously ue the house in their developmentcreatedcertainproblem. HazelShultzaddreed theneedfor"proviionfordevelopinginitiative"inthehome.he noted that "'becaue of the necearily limitedize of our home, mem-berof familiemutadjutthetimeandpiaeutothe. andneedof eachother." 6 Sheincludedapeialectionanddir-tionforaccommodating chi ldren.Providingketcheof childrenin thehome,accompaniedbyquetion"Wherehouldatowel rodbeplacedforthilittlboy?"and"Howithelittlegirl enour-aged to keep her poesioningood order?" gave reader'about howto provide fortheparticular needs ofmall children.6 hultztheimportance ofreating housthat allowed forindividua.lity,animportantharacteristiforAmericanchildren. Fromreadinghertext,heclaimed,"Oneeewhywedvelopindi-viduality inour home. If it were not forthideire tohaveand furnihings that meet our individual need, we might welltandardiz houesandprovidallfamiliewithhomesexactlyalike.'"However, hemade clear inhertext thatuchwanottheideal.Sh encouragedherreadertowhatmadethemindividualsand to exthat intheir home decorating. Shencouragedparentto nurtureuchindividualityintheir children andto provide forthe r-suiting differenceintheir home. [olor Is Running Riot ]129 AL IerrecrIJkbe serrmc!(TalfIaill - - - -----1. o o oo 2. Haulhull:. included 1IWnyideafor making homes accessible and appropriaufor children. Many domestic advi ors ignored childrenintheir texts,bul othe,.sbelieved that leeeping childreninmind whimdecoroting the house would instill a love for h()nle at an early age.This drawing sh()Ws h()Wbencheifor h e i g h ~and cupboards(fortorage) could help children carefor themelveQ/ld their belongings.(.hulf%,Maki ngHoms,36; courttsyTheH interlhur Librory,Printed Boole and Periodical Col/felioll) A. ~ , srSC'IT'd inthe nineteenthcentury,middle- lahoueburtwithtoy, play-room,mallchair, andspecialobject. Children'nureriesbecame importantinhouedeign,anddometicadviorcertainlycontrib-utedto the new childhood phenomenon. The early-twentieth- entury focuonchildpychologyemphaizeddifferencebetweengirland boy,andadvisorbroughtthat knowledgetothehouId,andto thetoyand~allpaperinparticular.The empha ihiftedfromthe differencebetweenchildrenandadulttotheexualizeddifference betweenboysandgirl. Training fortheirrolemt,thoughtpy-chologitsanddometiadviorat once,begin at birth. The ModernPriscillaHomeFurni hing Book reom mended "impIe, freh anddainty" deorationfora girl'room, whereaaboy'room houldhave"strongandubtantial"furniture. t.SMarjorieMill,in 1929,ggested"orchidgraypaperwithilverflower"foragirl' room, butautionedthat "a boy'room, ofour,be quite dif-ferent."hiftinbothdeignandcolorwadeemednecesary,indi-ating "redandtanand blackand blue," along with "subtantial ma-hogany furniture." 16The differenein furnishingand wall color were onideredimportantinordertomoldthechildrentotheirproper gendrrole. Dometic advisorthoughtthat color anddeignhada trong effet onperonal character. Thassoiationbtweencolor andgender wa 'forthe motpart a twentieth century invention. Before factorieand dye workcoulduc-y and cheaply addcolor to threadand fabric, clothing color hadbeenlimited.olorfadedeailywithrepeatedwarung,and many parentdreed their children inwhite. At the turn of the twen-tieth century, however, technology and chemical dyemade a rainbow of colorsmorewidelyaccesibletothemiddlecia.oloraocia-tionarenotinherentandoftentakemanyyeartodevelop.Inthe firtfewdeadeof the twentieth century, many people identified blue withgirlsbause of it"dainty" qualities,andthoughtpinkwaap-propriate for boybeaue of itvibrant character and cloeneto rd. However, bythe1940and1950,thetrong aociationof pink with girland blue with boywafirmlyetablihed in advertiing, decora-tionand domestic advice. Half a century later, computer com-paniemarketpink andblue computerto childreninthehopethat the colorystem remainstrong. Elsie Richardson provided a complete template forfurniture choice andarrangementin1931.Inherofhildren'sbedroom, notedthat "ithabeen provedthatingand color produe 182[olor IsRunni1lgRiot] Altteltrsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal --...0 o This girl is allowed to daydream aboutthallks totlu ethereal eclscif HOllsekupi1lg.Philadelphia: J.B. 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