Travel back with us to the days when houses had no bathrooms and clothes closets were unknown. Learn how new technology combined with human dreams shaped the modern house and its inhabitants. Listen to a modern house tell its life story from fireplaces and outhouses to microwaves and satellite dishes. This video is useful for courses in housing, household management, or the history of everyday technology.
Explore:
- How did people keep food fresh before electric refrigerators?
- in 1860, Boston had one bath tub for every 45 people. Many thought that was far too many. Why?
- Why is the kitchen in most houses today located at the rear and bedrooms are upstairs?
- Why are indoor bathrooms a surprisingly recent invention?
- How did the discovery of oil in the U.S. help save the whales?
- What group of women invented "washboard abs?"
- Why are wakes held in buildings called a funeral "home" or "parlor?"
- Why did some people resist cooking on a gas stove even though it was a major time saver?
- Where did folks store their clothes before closets were invented?
- What was two tons of coal doing in the basement of many houses in the 1950s?
