Steam Laundries. Gender, technology and work in the United States and Britain, 1880-1940
Details:
- Author(s) Mohun, Arwen P
- Publication type Monograph
- Year published 1999
- Pages 348pp; illus
- Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
- Place Published Baltimore MD
Topics:
- Name Worker / employee & work, women alone
- Name Worker / employee & industrial relations inc conflict, negotiation, demarcation, perogative, etc
- Name Health & safety at work inc legislation & regulation
- Name Comparative international studies
- Name Innovation, diffusion & invention, inc technology & products
Countries:
- United States
Library:
- Name British Library
- City London
- County Greater London
- Country England
- Postcode NW1 2DB
- Visit British Library's website
Groups:
Notes:
Scholarly account dealing with the development of the steam laundry industry from the late 19th century to the introduction of home appliances from the mid 20th century, in particular the removal of the laundry function from middle class homes into local mechanised laundries, social and cultural issues surrounding this, and the role of women, notably as workers but also as customers. Compares experience of USA and Britain. Also covers industrial relations, working conditions, state regulation, response of industry to domestic appliances, etc. In two parts: 1] 'Origins and growth of an industry, 1880-1920' - technical and cultural origins / business of laundry / inside the laundry / women workers and the laundry industry / unionisation and regulation, 1880-1914; 2] 'Confronting maturity' - production and consumption during the interwar period / laundries in black and white / bringing in the state / compliance and enforcement at the other end of the stick / women and men and unions / facing the domestic threat