Globalising Housework: Domestic Labour in Middle-Class London Homes,1850-1914 - Paperback

by Laura Humphreys (Author)

This book shows how international influences profoundly shaped the 'English' home of Victorian and Edwardian London; homes which, in turn, influenced Britain's (and Britons') place on the world stage. The period between 1850 and 1914 was one of fundamental global change, when London homes were subject to new expanding influences that shaped how residents cleaned, ate, and cared for family. It was also the golden age of domesticity, when the making and maintaining of home expressed people's experience of society, class, race, and politics. Focusing on the everyday toil of housework, the chapters in this volume show the 'English' home as profoundly global conglomeration of people, technology, and things. It examines a broad spectrum of sources, from patents to ice cream makers, and explores domestic histories through original readings and critiques of printed sources, material culture, and visual ephemera.

Author Biography

Laura Humphreys is Curatorial & Collections Engagement Project Manager at the Science Museum Group, UK. She was a project curator at the National Maritime Museum, following completion of a PhD at Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with the Museum of the Home.