"Although homes in 1955 were startlingly different from those of 1915, they would turn out to be remarkably similar to homes in 1995 ... By the 1950s most homes had long had electricity, modern plumbing, and heating, and the average home had a vacuum cleaner, a modern refrigerator, and an automatic washing machine and dryer. Automatic dishwashers were familiar to everyone, although not many people had one. Synthetic fibers, prepared soaps and detergents, and polishes were not new. Sewing and needlework of all sorts were already fixed in their new status as enjoyable leisure-time crafts, instead of the urgent necessities they had once been ...
... so many people (now) imagine housekeeping to be boring, frustrating, repetitive, unintelligent drudgery. I cannot agree ... I am convinced that such attitudes toward housekeeping are needlessly self-defeating. You can be male and domestic. You can have a career and be domestic. You can enjoy keeping house. No one is too superior or intelligent to care for hearth and home."
--Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendelson
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