Easy living : the rise of the home office / Elizabeth A. Patton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Patton, Elizabeth, 1975- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Home offices--Social aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Home offices.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 216 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, [2020]

Summary:

How did Americans come to believe that working at home is feasible, productive, and desirable? Easy Living examines how the idea of working within the home was constructed and disseminated in popular culture and mass media during the twentieth century. Through the analysis of national magazines and newspapers, television and film, and marketing and advertising materials from the housing, telecommunications, and office technology industries, Easy Living traces changing concepts about what it meant to work in the home. These ideas reflected larger social, political-economic, and technological trends of the times. Elizabeth A. Patton reveals that the notion of the home as a space that exists solely in the private sphere is a myth, as the social meaning of the home and its market value in relation to the public sphere are intricately linked.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. THE HOME AND ITS FUNCTION

2. INDUSTRY STAY OUT

3. THE TELEPHONE AND BETTER LIVING

4. PORTABLE TYPEWRITERS FOR HOME USE

5. THE QUEST FOR EASY LIVIN’ IN THE SUBURBAN HOME

6. THE BIG BUSINESS OF HOMEMAKING

7. JUNIOR-SIZED OFFICES

8. AN OFFICE AWAY FROM THE OFFICE

9. REAL MEN LIVE IN THE CITY

10. PSEUDO-BOHEMIAN BACHELORETTES

11. WORK WHERE YOU LIVE

13. ADAPTABLE PARENTS, FLEXIBLE JOBS, AND ADAPTIVE HOMES

14. URBAN PROFESSIONAL LIFESTYLES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781978802261

1978802269

OCLC:

1156664673