From Fireplace to Cookstove: Technology and the Domestic Ideal in America

About this book

Examines the development and history of the first American appliance the cast-iron stove which sparked debates on the role of women industrialization the definition of social class and the development of a consumer economy. Sheds new light on the supposedly separate spheres of home and the world in 19th-century America and considers responses to technological development the emergence of a consumer ethic and the attempt to preserve a distinct Anglo-American middle- class culture. The author teaches American studies at the University of South Florida. Annotation c. Book News Inc. Portland OR (booknews.com)