Using the washing of clothes as a microcosm of household economics, this book examines long-term changes in cleanliness consumption patterns from the perspective of an evolutionary economic, psychologically informed consumer theory. Woersdorfer shows how the historical evolution of cleanliness consumption over the past 200 years is the result of the interplay of supply and demand side factors, namely, technical change in washing technology on one side and motivational driving forces and consumer learning capabilities on the other. The Evolution of Household Technology and Consumer Behavior, 1800-2000 will be of interest to researchers in the field of evolutionary economics, history of technology, economic history, innovation economics and sociology.

Describes the evolution of inventions which have lightened household drudgery, and includes a look at gadgets that didn't catch on and also at future possibilities.

Machines in the Home describes the development of domestic technology--heating and lighting, cooking, laundry, carpet sweeping, the modern bathroom, and assorted gadgetry.

By the 19th century, life in most country houses changed as a result of various technical inventions such as improved water supplies, flushing water closets, boilers and pipes to provide central heating, internal communications by bells and then telephones, and better lighting by means of gas and electricity. Country houses, however, were usually too far from urban centres to take advantage of centralised sources of supply and so were obliged to set up their own systems if they wanted any of these services to improve the comfort of daily living. Some landowners chose to do this; others did not, and this book examines the motivations for their decisions. Many books have been devoted to the life of those in domestic service in such houses, but this book looks not so much at the social records of their lives as the actual physical evidence for the greater levels of comfort and convenience sought by landowners in country houses from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

Who invented the toilet? How did the telephone get its shape? Can a refrigerator or a toaster be art? And what does a chocolate bar melting in the lab coat of a scientist have to do with the invention of the microwave? In this fascinating history of everyday objects, Susan Goldman Rubin helps us appreciate anew the things we see all around us. She also introduces the inspired geniuses who are responsible for the way these universal objects look. Filled with entertaining anecdotes and remarkable facts in a user-friendly format, this informative book includes thirteen black-and-white paintings, thirty vintage photographs, and an extensive bibliography and index. Readers will never again look at a bathtub in quite the same way.

In Irons by Elaine Marie Alphin, you'll find out that the iron not only straightens our clothes, but also protects us from dangerous parasites, bacteria, and mildew. You'll learn how we got from an ancient Greek iron that looked like a rolling pin to sleek electric steam irons. And you'll see what makes this squat, hissing appliance a regular star of our homes and popular culture. Anticipated month of publication:

Without the mechanization of the household, most women would still be bent over the kitchen sink, and yet we know extraordinarily little about the origins of the machines, which, in practical terms, have made liberation possible. This book gives an illustrated account of the inventions and misinventions that have helped or hindered workers in the home from the time of the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 to the gadget-ridden households of today.