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ladyphoenixqueen's review
4.0
So fascinating! I learned a lot that I didn't know, and I really wish I had the opportunity to take home economics classes in school.
luminous's review against another edition
5.0
This was suggested as a nonfiction pairing to read along with Lessons in Chemistry. I don't think it was a great suggestion. Don't get me wrong; this book is great! But Lessons in Chemistry, as we all know, really has nothing to do with home economics and to imply that it does, does a disservice to this book. But then again, I loathed Lessons in Chemistry so keep that in mind.
I've never thought much about home economics. Had to take it for a semester in middle school in the 1980s. I think every student had to, along with a semester of shop. I remember some cooking stuff, and frankly having a dozen mini kitchen setups for students to muck around with in a giant classroom was pretty cool. i also remember hand-sewing an animal-shaped throw pillow. None of that held a candle to my shop projects, one of which was a wall sconce that was so perfect that Mom hung it on the wall for twenty years. So home ec didn't make a huge impression on me, but I didn't hate it either. But I thought its time was long past back then, in the 80s. This book showed me that it wasn't, but that it was on the wane by then.
I love a nonfiction book that painlessly teaches me cool things. The Secret History of Home Economics does that! I really love early 20th century American women's history (American being the one I've been most exposed to and I don't want to pretend to be knowledgable about other locales), and it turns out that the most exciting times in the history of home ec were the latter 19th and early 20th century. I loved learning about all the women trailblazers and how they dealt with the times, and their persistence and self-confidence were inspirational. The author worked to ensure that proper attention was paid to women of color and working class women whose contributions to the field may have been overlooked in the past.
I have gained a respect for home economics that I confess I didn't have before. I didn't realize this field was so instrumental in research and application of nutrition, home safety, food and drug safety, rural electrification, so many challenges that we faced in health and technology. I learned that home ec fragmented and today is seen only in its parts, such as dietitians and interior designers, who don't even know the history behind their specialized field.
Why not 5 stars? I think we spent a lot of time in the weeds (very entertaining weeds though!) and not enough top down view keeping the reader's perspective aligned. This may be an artifact of listening to audiobook. There were passages where I lost track of what decade we were in, and felt like I was in too deep without having a sense of which part of the ocean I was in, know what I mean?
But that may be a nitpicky critique.
I've never thought much about home economics. Had to take it for a semester in middle school in the 1980s. I think every student had to, along with a semester of shop. I remember some cooking stuff, and frankly having a dozen mini kitchen setups for students to muck around with in a giant classroom was pretty cool. i also remember hand-sewing an animal-shaped throw pillow. None of that held a candle to my shop projects, one of which was a wall sconce that was so perfect that Mom hung it on the wall for twenty years. So home ec didn't make a huge impression on me, but I didn't hate it either. But I thought its time was long past back then, in the 80s. This book showed me that it wasn't, but that it was on the wane by then.
I love a nonfiction book that painlessly teaches me cool things. The Secret History of Home Economics does that! I really love early 20th century American women's history (American being the one I've been most exposed to and I don't want to pretend to be knowledgable about other locales), and it turns out that the most exciting times in the history of home ec were the latter 19th and early 20th century. I loved learning about all the women trailblazers and how they dealt with the times, and their persistence and self-confidence were inspirational. The author worked to ensure that proper attention was paid to women of color and working class women whose contributions to the field may have been overlooked in the past.
I have gained a respect for home economics that I confess I didn't have before. I didn't realize this field was so instrumental in research and application of nutrition, home safety, food and drug safety, rural electrification, so many challenges that we faced in health and technology. I learned that home ec fragmented and today is seen only in its parts, such as dietitians and interior designers, who don't even know the history behind their specialized field.
Why not 5 stars? I think we spent a lot of time in the weeds (very entertaining weeds though!) and not enough top down view keeping the reader's perspective aligned. This may be an artifact of listening to audiobook. There were passages where I lost track of what decade we were in, and felt like I was in too deep without having a sense of which part of the ocean I was in, know what I mean?
But that may be a nitpicky critique.
ralphiegirl516's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.0
I wish it would have been written before 2020 when "racism" wasn't at the forefront of everything. The history of it was interesting, but the current black vs. white storylines felt like it was more for selling books during a time where that's a hot button issue.
ameyawarde's review against another edition
5.0
This book definitely did make me wish I took Home Ec.! Especially what it *used* to be..