"Never Done. A History of American Housework" by Susan Strasser, published by Pantheon, New York, 1982. "First edition" is stated on the copyright page; illustrated.

Soft cover, 6" x 8.1/4"; 365 pages including Index, a little wear, very good condition.

Beginning with a description of household chores in the 19th century - cooking at fireplaces and on cast-iron stoves, laundry done with wash boilers & flatirons, spring housecleaning that had to purge the home of soot & grime, endless water hauling & fire tending - Strasser demonstrates how industrialization transformed the nature of women's work. Lightening some tasks and eliminating the need for others, new commercial processes altered women's daily lives and relationships - with each other and with the people they served. Weaves together the history of material advances and domestic service, the development of "women's separate sphere," and the impact of advertising, home economics, and women's entry into the workforce.

Informative, about the changes in lives of women with the inventions of hurricane lamps, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, etc. It is a good book for a young adults to read, to help them understand how very, very lucky they are not to have to go get the water in a bucket, put it on the fire place, drag out the clothes, scrape (literally) up some soap, thrash the wash, wring the wash, hang the wash, then back to the fireplace, where 4 metal objects are on a iron plate then iron a piece of paper so you don't scorch the shirt, then iron the shirt, and then do the table cloth, the diapers, the other shirts, the skirts, and spend all of Monday from sunup to sundown losing the upper layer of your skin. And that's just the laundry. We won't even begin with the food. Fun, informative, easy read. [private review]

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