9 The Industrial Revolution of the Home

9.1 Introduction

The industrial revolution of the home is one of the largest social and technological revolutions of all time since, unlike many, this one directly impacted the lifestyles of every American.  Occurring between the two world wars, it oversaw the modernization of technology available to the general public.  Before it occurred, food was never refrigerated, any hot water or food was prepared over a coal fire, home water came from a nearby well, only the wealthy owned cars.  This was the reality for almost every American before World War 1.  It would take less than 20 years for most Americans to have indoor heating, running water, electric ovens, vacuum cleaners, and family cars.  Even the basic design of houses fundamentally changed as kitchens became more centralized and bathrooms were added to homes.  This was the era in which most Americans were first able to take advantage of electricity in their daily lives.

Many of the most famous revolutions in history, from the factory industrial revolution to the French revolution, most have major impacts on history, but rarely affect the common man as much as they affect huge institutions.  It was in this revolution that men and women in America learned (very quickly) how to live in a modern home with modern appliances.  Many basic roles in society had core transformations such as housewives, children, and the industries that supplied families with these new appliances.  These social changes that are seen in our daily lives still today.

9.2 Industrializing the Home

9.2.1 What New Technology?

To understand this revolution, let us first look at the technology that drove these fundamental changes in lifestyle.  There are many different technologies that appeared during this period.  They mostly involved the use of electricity and running water, both of which were generally reserved for the upper class and sometimes rarer than that.  This type of technology had been used commercially and by the government throughout the second half of the 19th century but was not well enough understood to safely and effectively introduce it into a typical suburban home.  By the end of World War 1, electricity was widely in commercial use, notably for lighting.  It was around this time that the race began to build electric grids that could support entire neighborhoods and beyond.  In 1912, only 16 percent of homes had electricity, by 1917 this had reached 20 percent, and grew to 35 percent of homes by 1920 (Novak, 2013).  With this new home electricity, new appliances could be bought such as electric ranges (similar to stoves) and vacuums, but they were often very expensive during the 1920’s.  Still these new appliances began arriving in American homes, and with it, the social revolution began to grow.

9.2.2 The Electric Range

One of the most significant new appliances previously mentioned is the electric range, which would eventually be replaced by the modern setup of stoves and an oven.  The reason this was so significant was because it introduced a new way to boil water and cook food.  Previously this had been done mostly by coal or natural gas, resources that took up space and had a relatively constant price.  While the systems that deliver electricity to the home were expensive additions, electricity itself was not that expensive, and was able to become significantly more affordable over the course of the silent generation.  This difference meant that coal and natural gas didn’t have to be brought to the home manually, fully eliminating an established chore of the household.  Beyond this, the cheaper rates for energy meant more could be used for the same price.  This meant water could be heated for baths or food or any other purpose with much less restraint than was necessary before.  Hot food could be eaten more often, people could bathe more often, laundry could be done without the same financial concern.  Electric ranges single handedly made a lifestyle change that had been roughly the same for centuries.

This is an advertisement for an early model of a refrigerator in 1927. During the 1930’s, the percent of households with a refrigerator shot from 8% to 44%. “1927 Frigidaire Refrigerators” by clotho98 under CC BY-NC 2.0

9.2.3 Indoor Plumbing

Another major change at the time was the growing use of indoor plumbing in typical homes.  Indoor plumbing was by no means a new invention, it was very common and often mandated in some major cities by 1920.  However, as a whole, the number of homes with both indoor plumbing and electricity in 1920 was less than 1 percent.  The addition and improvement of indoor plumbing to houses, both urban and rural, began to emerge during the silent generation.  This was also strongly motivated by health, since now water wasn’t collected from a well visited by hundreds or thousands.  One infamous story from Chicago saw as any as 90,000 deaths from Typhoid Fever and Cholera illnesses, which when investigated led back to a single well supplying water for thousands.  Additionally, it was common before indoor plumbing to defecate in a chamber pot, a pot that would be kept under the bed and emptied in the morning.  In urban settings, this often meant dumping the waste out of the window and into the streets.  This made streets filthy in places and was often a major promoter of disease for the citizens in the area.  Health regulations appearing near the end of the silent generation would transform city sanitation by using water treatment to supply clean water and process sewage.

9.3 Model T Appliances

9.3.1 Introduction

The revolution of the home was not significant because of a brand-new technology, it was significant because electric and water appliances were first being delivered to the majority of Americans, not just the upper class.  But so far this chapter hasn’t shown why this took place.  How was it that things like electric ranges and vacuums suddenly appeared in middle- and lower-class homes?  Why would the manufacturer choose to make these things more affordable?  In researching for this chapter, I have found two mechanisms that could explain this phenomenon.

9.3.2 The Magic of Electricity

The first of these mechanisms has to do with the surge of electricity throughout the silent generation.  Electric grids were hugely profitable to their parent companies considering the rapidly growing demand for electricity.  As they were built larger and more often, homes had a simple and reliable access to electricity for a low price that continued to fall as the supply of electricity heightened rapidly (“Typical Electric Bills”, 1950).  However, as seemingly game changing as this may be, it needed a receiving device in the home to use the electricity.  By far the most common device in the beginning was the addition of light fixtures.  Something most Americans today don’t think twice about, this made lighting much simpler and cheaper.  Beyond this, there were many devices beginning to appear on the market that could use this new electricity but were typically quite expensive.  With millions of homes with new electricity and electric appliances on the market, it seems inevitable that the market would grow massively.  Consider the effect one electric range could have on an American household (as described earlier).  Each new appliance to the home had a major effect on the home.  Vacuums reduced cleaning time, radios provided an almost magical entertainment, washing machines would wash your clothes automatically.  Each new addition was a first for many homes and would change the lifestyle of homeowners more drastically and quickly than at any other time in history.  Imagine growing up with no electricity and seeing a light turn on, hearing a box play music, feeling the heat on a stove with nothing burning.  For the silent generation, this must have seemed like wizardry.

This is an image of an electric range in 1920 sold by the Potomac Electric Power Company. This addition to the household meant there was no need for a coal or gas stove in the kitchen. “Potomac Electric Power Co. electric appliances. “Working with electric appliances III” by the Library of Congress is in the Public Domain

9.3.3 – Affordable Prices

Now that the demand for these appliances has been considered, we must still consider their price.  These devices would definitely be sold just based on their magnitude of potential, but it was still very difficult to get them and was still typically reserved for the wealthier.  How was it that these appliances ended up, not in just many houses, but almost all of them?  The companies didn’t just lower their prices out of good spirit did they?  We can find an answer to these questions in one of the great tragedies of the silent generation: the Great Depression.  After the collapse of the stock market in 1929, the roaring twenties were officially over, and Americans were in for a rough time.  Millions of Americans were cast to the streets, living in desperate conditions, often with large families being forced to take refuge in small one room shacks.  In 1932 alone, over 275,000 Americans were evicted or forcibly removed from their homes.  These drastic conditions called for drastic solutions, as seen by the actions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the creation of many new organizations targeted at reducing prices and creating jobs.  One of these organizations called the Electric Home and Farm Authority (EHFA) was started in 1934 and was created to work with manufacturers, utilities, and retailers to reduce the price of appliances (Mock, 2014).  This was performed with lower prices, smaller down payments, and longer times to pay off appliances, all regulated by the federal government.  This was a warmly welcomed effort by many and led to a huge surge in new “Model T Appliances”.  It allowed for the national economy to grow more resilient and strongly promoted mass manufacturing for the mass market (similar to Henry Ford’s groundbreaking Model T car).  By the end of the 1930’s, these appliances were beginning to become very common, and would be in almost every home at the end of the silent generation in 1945.  By the end of the Second World War, America was one of the richest countries on the planet, and it could be seen in the modern nature of the typical home.

9.4 Transformation of the Home

9.4.1 – Lightspeed Changes

So far we’ve discussed what this new home technology is and how it became so popular, but what sort of changes did this new revolution bring?  The lifestyles of millions were transformed as once challenging tasks became either much easier or fully automated.  It makes sense that this would change the nature of operating a house, either with easier work or simply more free time.  While we can think of this like it’s obvious in the modern age, the people of the silent generation were being introduced to a style of living that hadn’t been seen before.  Their parents, grandparents, and ancestors for hundreds of years operated in a very similar fashion to the beginning of the silent generation.  House cleaning, cooking, and washing would all have represented challenging enough to warrant thinking about it as a full-time job, not to mention caring for children on top of all that.  How did the silent generation react to these jobs changing so drastically?

9.4.2 – The Changing Role of Housewives

When we think of what sort of social impact this would have, it makes sense to consider the people with the most exposure to these new technologies: housewives.  The role of the housewife before this revolution had been a strenuous one.  They were considered the masters of the home, overseeing the completion of all chores and caring for the children, all without the benefit of technology (Cowan, 1976).  For this reason, it was very common for households to have house servants of various types to help perform these duties.  In middle- and upper-class homes, these servants (often recent immigrants) were paid to help with all chores of the house while the housewife oversaw the whole operation.  However, during the silent generation these jobs became much simpler and easier to perform.  The number of house servants drastically declined as housewives began to be more involved with the specific chores of the household.  As these tasks became simpler, the need for house servants declined and a large transition occurred with housewives becoming used to performing the roles of the house themself.  One indication that this transformation was beginning can be found in the reputable magazines sent to homes, often demonstrating what it was to operate the ideal household.  They showed the beneficial side of directly executing chores with the emotional care a housewife was able to put into their household (Lux, 1918).  Making sure the house was spotless, food was delicious, and children happy and healthy were all roles in which housewives took great pride.  This was even shown as the nature of middle- and upper-class households where servants were still available.  This responsibility of operating a successful household was more and more directly tied to the housewife.  This also meant giving more direct care to children where nursemaids had previously been the direct caretakers.  Mothers more often took their children to practices and involved themselves in the schools they attended.  Where the role of a successful housewife had once been almost a managerial position, it was now becoming the role of an emotional connection with the house and children that in ways wasn’t possible before.

9.4.3 – Connection to Women’s Movement

Another interesting phenomenon is the difference between this setting and the movement for women’s rights and independence later in the century.  Between these two times, two factors that changed significantly were divorce rates and the number of women in the labor force.  It would make sense to predict that this would begin in the silent generation.  Surely the mechanization of the home would free up time for housewives to become more autonomous and lead lives not so tied down to running their households.  What’s interesting is how these predictions are often very different to the statistics shown during this period and beyond (Cowan, 1976).  For example, while divorce rates did rise during the silent generation and beyond, this was almost completely from the lower classes where this technology was difficult to afford (Burgess, 1956).  The divorce rates of middle- and upper-class families remained impressively constant throughout the silent generation and beyond.  As far as the labor force, another interesting statistic shown is that the time spent on household tasks generally went up, not down, over the course of the silent generation.  Statistics were taken before and after the second world war showing the number of hours per week housewives generally dedicated to their households.  Before the war, this figure was roughly 60-65 hours per week, whereas after this figure had jumped to seventy and even eighty hours per week.  Despite the chores becoming simpler and more automated, housewives were spending more time on them.  Additionally, the percentage of women from the middle and upper classes in the labor force remained fairly constant, not counting the massive increase needed during the Second World War.  While this revolution had significant impacts on housewives across the country, they do not indicate the women’s movements that would occur later in the century.

9.5 The World of Modern Appliances

9.5.1 – Gradual Changes

These changes clearly had some drastic effects on the silent generation and those around them, but it’s also worth noting how it continued to change following the silent generation.  Here we explore how the movement continued past the silent generation and up to the modern day.  As we can likely expect, the revolutionary aspect of this new technology was at its strongest during the silent generation.  Beyond even technology, this was the period that saw millions of homes gain access to electricity and running water.  The appliances themselves were also brand new, regarding items such as electric ranges, washing machines, vacuums, and radios.  Following the silent generation, these items continued to upgrade in small ways, becoming more efficient or easier to use, but their primary function remained very similar after its introduction.  For example, we still vacuum the same way they did a hundred years ago, but their power and cleaning ability have improved significantly.  That being said, there have still been new appliances since the silent generation that had large impacts.

9.5.2 – New Technology

While there are dozens of inventions that have appeared and grown popular since then, some have been more significant than others.  One of the most significant inventions since the silent generation has been the microwave oven.  It was invented in 1947 and gradually reached most households over the following few decades.  The microwave oven allows people to heat up meals much faster than a typical electric oven and is much more user friendly, being operated by buttons and incredibly safe for children.  For this reason, it is rare today to find a household with a kitchen not equipped with a microwave oven with over 90% of households having one.  Another significant invention was the keurig machine in 1998.  While this is clearly not as revolutionary as the new appliances of the silent generation, it did address a desire for simplicity and mechanization of a daily chore: making coffee in the morning.  Coffee is popular throughout the world for its taste and caffeine, and this innovation allowed it to be made with the push of a button.  There are now 33 million households with keurig machines.  A general trend with many recent appliances has also been the introduction of computers to appliances.  One of the most recent, but significant inventions has been the concept of appliances and utilities being controlled digitally as “Smart Homes”.

Chapter Summary

Today almost everyone has access to these appliances.  We consider things like ovens, fridges, and vacuum cleaners a fairly constant and mundane part of our everyday lives.  For that reason, I think it is important to see how they were introduced and how they shaped the world at the time, roughly a hundred years ago.  These appliances were game changing for the average American household and were once a point of huge pride to own, similar to the way electric vehicles and the best smartphones are places of pride for us today.  These technologies allowed many everyday tasks much easier and allowed families to take more control over their houses and individual lives.  Tasks that would normally take tens of hours a week to complete are now heavily reduced or even fully automated.  Just consider the amount of time it takes to wash and fold clothes with a laundry machine and dryer and then compare that to the time it would take to do the same job by hand.  Imagine doing that by hand after having to boil water over a coal fire before even starting with the clothes.

Because of these inventions, we are able to be more independent as people and use our time more efficiently, either for things we find productive or things we simply enjoy and use to relax.  Consider the entertainment industry: all the movies, tv shows, sports channels, internet videos, and games that couldn’t have been possible before this revolution simply due to a lack of time.  Consider how food can now be stored and saved for days or weeks at a time, only because we now have refrigerators and freezers.  Consider the effort that would have to go into preparing a hot meal before having any access to electricity.  These seemingly mundane inventions revolutionized the lifestyles of Americans everywhere and are one of the dominant reasons that we are allowed to be people we are today.

References

“Arabelle Nuclear Steam Turbine: Ge Steam Power.” Gepower-Steam, GE Steam Power, https://www.ge.com/steam-power/products/steam-turbines/nuclear-arabelle.

Burgess, Ernest W., and William J. Goode. “After Divorce.” American Sociological Review, vol. 21, no. 5, 1956, p. 44., https://doi.org/10.2307/2089136.