Bless Her Heart

Compared to homemakers in the late 1800 and early 1900s, we as Americans live a pretty placid life.

This was the goal of a small group of people meeting at Lake Placid, New York.

You may have heard of Lake Placid…probably because this is where the 1980 Olympics were held.

This is also where the field of “home economics” began as a group of They met in September 1899 to discuss the scientific study of domestic issues and women’s roles in society.

The group met from 1899 until 1908, hoping to

The goal of these early stages of the home economics movement was to improve the cleanliness and nutrition within the home.

These early home economists – teachers, nutritionists, administrators – were primarily concerned about germs.

The group also hoped to establish home economics as a distinct academic and professional discipline.

After all, President Garfield supposedly died simply because the doctor who treated him after he was shot failed to wash his hands…(excellent movie if you haven’t seen it)…

When home economics was first taken seriously, America was a completely different world.

Any hot water or food was prepared over a coal fire.

Food was never refrigerated.

Home water came from a nearby well.w

Only the wealthy owned cars. 

In 1912, only 16 percent of homes had electricity. In eight years the percentage of homes with electricity more than doubled.

But by the 1920s the goal of home economists was to help homemakers make wise decisions about new developments made after World War I.

So without a further discussion of the history of home economics, I would like to share with you what some of these early developments were…new things that most of us take for granted these days.

Timeline of household technology in the 20th century

• 1900:      Fly swatter, thumbtack
• 1901:       First electric vacuum cleaner
• 1902:      Air conditioner, teddy bear
• 1904:      Teabags, banana split
• 1905:      Windshield wipers
• 1907:       Curtain rod, paper towel
• 1908:      Candy apple
• 1909:      Instant coffee
• 1910:       Talking motion picture
• 1911:        Life Savers candy
• 1912:       Electric blanket, electric traffic light
• 1913:       Electric refrigerators, bra
• 1915:       Toaster with an automatic bread-turning mechanism. Pyrex
• 1916:       Stainless steel, hamburger bun, tow truck, light switch
• 1917:       Modern zipper, Lincoln logs
• 1918:       Grocery bag, French dip sandwich, Blender, Pop-up toaster
• 1920:       Eskimo Pie, Band-Aids
• 1921:       First commercial-grade refrigerators, garage doors
• 1922:       First 3D movie, convertible car
• 1923:       Frozen food invented by Clarence Birdseye, bulldozer, Q-tips
• 1924       Notebooks with spiral bindings, cheeseburger
• 1925:       Masking tape, Reuben sandwich
• 1926:      Garage door opener, Drive-through windows
• 1927:       electric washing machine, PEZ candy, jukebox, garbage disposal, pressure washer, Kool-Aid, corn dog,
• 1928: Recliner, ice cube tray, bubble gum, electric razor
• 1929 modern Tampon with applicator, eyelash curler, sunglasses
• 1930:      Electric dishwasher designed for home use, Scotch tape, Philly cheesesteak, chocolate chip cookies
• 1931        Bug zapper
• 1932        FM radio, toilet brush, staple remover, tape dispenser
• 1934       Charles Darrow claims he invented the game Monopoly
• 1935        nylon, parking meter
• 1936:      Bell Labs invents the voice recognition machine.
• 1937:       First modern front-loading washing machine, photocopier, shopping cart, polarized sunglasses, soft-serve ice cream
• 1938       Ballpoint pen, Nescafe or freeze-dried coffee
• 1939        Helicopter, yield signs, twist ties, ATM
• 1940       Modern color television, the Jeep, deodorant
• 1941        Aeresol cans
• 1943       Slinky, Silly Putty
• 1945       Atomic bomb
• 1946       Microwave oven
• 1947        Tupperware
• 1948       Frisbee, Velcro, Jukebox
• 1949       Cake mix