Home labor saving devices

In Short

This book is a technical guide and manifesto for rural home improvement, written in 1917 to provide women and families with the skills to construct their own labor-saving devices. By detailing how to build everything from vegetable paring tables to iceless refrigerators, the work aims to replace domestic drudgery with efficiency. It has lasted as a fascinating historical record of a time when manual skill, home economics, and agricultural extension work converged to redefine the labor of the country housewife and improve the quality of rural life.

The Story

The narrative of this volume begins with a clear, principled assertion: the rural home deserves to be a place of light, health, and beauty, yet it is often hampered by unnecessary toil. The author, drawing on her experience as an Assistant State Agent for Home Demonstration, argues that true social and cultural development in the country is impossible so long as the housewife is trapped by endless physical labor. To solve this, she posits that efficiency must be engineered into the home through simple, home-built appliances.

The book transitions from philosophy to application, presenting a series of chapters that function as a workshop manual. Each entry provides a specific problem, such as the strain of preparing vegetables or the lack of refrigeration, followed by a solution in the form of a wooden device. The reader is guided through the construction of kitchen conveniences like zinc-covered tables and jelly strainers, moving outward to porch equipment such as iceless refrigerators and fly traps. The progression is methodical, extending from the heart of the kitchen to the dairy, the poultry yard, and finally into the fundamental techniques of woodworking required to build these items.

As the book nears its conclusion, the focus shifts to specialized needs: the technical requirements of poultry care—including roosts, nests, and dry mash hoppers—and the intricate processes of dairy production, covering butter churning and cheese making. The manual does not merely offer plans; it insists on the dignity of labor. It concludes with an appendix that demystifies the craft of carpentry, providing definitions for joints, braces, and panels, thereby empowering the reader to move from passive user to active builder. The final sections offer lists of supplementary readings and government bulletins, inviting the reader to continue their education beyond the confines of the printed page. The work ends as it began, with a steadfast commitment to the idea that easing physical burdens is the essential first step toward the intellectual and spiritual growth of the rural family.

How It Unfolds

The philosophy of efficiency The introduction sets the stage by identifying the lack of leisure time as the primary barrier to the cultural development of rural women. It positions labor-saving devices not as luxuries, but as essential tools for social and personal advancement.

The kitchen workshop The text moves into the heart of the home, providing detailed lists of materials and dimensions for items like vegetable paring tables and dish racks. It emphasizes the importance of sanitation and step-saving, showing how simple carpentry can minimize the daily fatigue of cooking and cleaning.

Porch and outdoor utility The scope expands to include external household needs, such as iceless refrigerators that utilize capillary attraction to cool food. Here, the text demonstrates that the home environment is not static but can be engineered to suit the requirements of the season.

The poultry and dairy focus The latter chapters shift to agricultural production, treating the henhouse and the dairy as extensions of the home. These instructions focus on the specific mechanical needs of animal husbandry, from moisture-draining sprouting trays to precise milking stools.

The tools of the trade The final section serves as a technical glossary, defining the mechanics of joints and framing. It equips the reader with the precise vocabulary and geometric understanding necessary to execute the builds described throughout the manual.

The People

The book is centered on two figures: the rural housewife and the "boy on the farm." The housewife is the primary audience, portrayed as an over-burdened individual whose energy is currently consumed by manual tasks like peeling vegetables, washing butter, or fetching coal. She is someone who seeks a more efficient existence but lacks the specialized equipment to achieve it.

The "boy on the farm" acts as the intended craftsman. He is the personification of the labor potential on the homestead, capable of taking pride in "working out the problem" of constructing a towel roller or a chicken coop. The author frames the relationship between these two figures as collaborative: the boy provides the manual skill, and the woman benefits from the resulting domestic improvements. Both figures are encouraged to move beyond their traditional roles—the woman by managing her home with mechanical efficiency and the boy by applying his labor to constructive, rather than merely repetitive, tasks. By the end of the manual, both are intended to emerge as more capable stewards of the farm, having participated in a shared, practical project that upgrades their entire living environment.

In Its Own Voice

To make two blades of grass grow where one formerly grew is certainly a very valuable achievement; but to save muscles and nerves, and to give time and energy for mental and social and spiritual development, is far more valuable and desirable.

The author defends the importance of labor-saving devices in the preface, prioritizing human well-being over simple agricultural output.

This device is especially convenient to the Canning Club Agent as she goes her daily rounds teaching the housekeepers the art of jelly-making.

In the section describing a jelly strainer, the author highlights the role of the extension agent in spreading domestic knowledge across rural communities.

A towel roller built so simply that any boy on the farm would take pleasure in working out the problem.

The author encourages the reader to view even a simple household project as an engaging exercise in problem-solving.

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is about the democratization of efficiency. It argues that the principles of industrial design and labor management, often reserved for factories or large-scale farms, belong in the domestic sphere. It challenges the assumption that the "drudgery" of housework is a natural, unchangeable state of being. Instead, it asserts that domestic labor is a system that can be redesigned through simple engineering and basic carpentry. The underlying question is how to create a rural life that allows for more than just survival. By providing the tools to build a more functional home, the book suggests that the path to a higher quality of life—marked by leisure, education, and social development—must be paved with the practical, tangible results of one’s own hands.

Why Read It Today

Readers with an interest in the history of home economics, agrarian life, or the "maker" movement will find this book deeply rewarding. It provides an unfiltered, practical window into the 1917 rural American home, capturing a period when the DIY ethos was a necessity for survival rather than a hobby. It feels like stepping into a workshop where the blueprints have been waiting for a century.

The book is not without its challenges. The prose is strictly instructional, and some of the materials or methods may seem archaic to a modern reader accustomed to plastic, mass-produced appliances. Furthermore, the period-specific gender roles—which assign the labor of housework to women and the labor of construction to men—are woven into the text's logic. However, these elements offer an honest look at the attitudes of the time. What stays with you is the book's profound respect for the intelligence of the rural housewife and the ingenuity required to make a home function. It is a quiet, steady encouragement to look at your own living space and ask, "How could this be made more convenient?" For anyone who finds satisfaction in building things that serve a clear, daily purpose, this volume is a treasure of practical, historical wisdom.