Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life, 1876-1915 (The Everyday Life in America Series, Vol. 4) (Paperback)

by Thomas J. Schlereth (Author) "Migration and movement, mobility and motion characterized identity in Victorian America..." (more)
Key Phrases: bonanza farming, lithograph courtesy, card receiver, New York, United States, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
From Schlereth (American Studies/Notre Dame): a detailed, lively survey of the commonplace objects, events, experiences, products, and tastes that comprised America's Victorian culture, expressed its values, and shaped modern life. Between the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and the San Francisco one in 1915, the US population doubled, redistributed itself, and developed the character and lifestyle identified with the middle classes in the 20th century. Its mobility required roads, trains, trolleys, maps, canals, autos; new means of communication in telephones, telegraphs, and mass media; and a standard time devised by railroads and measured by alarm clocks, time clocks, and cheap watches. New economic systems emerged: farms were commercialized; foods were processed (Kellogg's), condensed (Borden's), preserved (Heinz), distributed in food chains (A&P), promoted through advertising, and identified with brand names and slogans. New occupations emerged; typewriters created secretaries who cultivated new standards of personal appearance wearing shirtwaists, using cosmetics, shopping in department stores, and visiting beauty parlors. Toothpaste, razor blades, health foods, and spas expressed the rising interest in personal fitness as well as recreation, which extended to moving pictures, spectator sports, public gardens, amusement parks, and bicycles--all based on the new technologies, on the new vision of people mastering nature. But the book is not all trivia, not just the Juicy Fruit gum and the cafeteria-eating that Americans discovered at the San Francisco Fair. Schlereth, a writer of immense tact and range, recounts with equal interest and vitality the whole constellation of events that surrounded the development of suburban living, domestic history, the labor movement, the architecture of colleges--and conveys it seamlessly. The notes reveal something of his erudition, his ability to see the relationships, to depict unpretentiously this complex period of cultural history with all its ironies and color. A splendid achievement. (Forty-three pages of photographs--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

A valuable and compelling portrait of the daily life of Americans during the Victorian era--the fourth volume in the Everyday Life in America series

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (July 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060921609
• ISBN-13: 978-0060921606
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,247 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb despite its encyclopedic nature, December 15, 1999

By	Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Make no mistake about it: this book is less a history of everyday life in the United States in the Gilded Age than it is an encyclopedia of an astonishing range of facts about life in that period arranged around a series of very general themes. In a lesser book, this could be accounted a flaw, but in Schlereth's case it is a virtue because of the quality and pertinence of the particular bits of information that Schlereth pulls together. I felt I came away from the book not merely with a deeper knowledge of what life was like in America around the beginning of the 20th century, but a deeper appreciation for and sense of what life was like at the time. This was especially brought home to me upon reading SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser shortly upon finishing Schlereth's book. On almost every page I remembered something from his book that illumined in some way or other the events in that novel (which was published in 1900, but set in around 1890).

What I most appreciate about the book is the sense that it was during this period that a way of life that most people living today would recognize and feel at home with developed. Most of the conveniences that we take for granted--grocery and department stores, electricity, the telephone, our particular forms of housing, indoor plumbing, and a host of other services and products, all became prevalent during the period covered in this book. I urge anyone with an interest in the deep background of life in this century a century ago to look closely at this volume

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read...easy to read and very very interesting, November 4, 1999

By	Rosemary Thornton "The Houses That Sears Built" (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I'm an old house owner (and writer!) who was *searching* for answers to the curiosities of old house living, 100 years ago.

I found this book 100% fascinating. Lots and lots of "aha...that's why they did that..."

I originally checked it out of the library and then found it so intriguing, I purchased my own copy.

As a prior reviewer said, it is an unusual book because it deals with the 1001 nuances of everyday life in an average person's day. GREAT reading.

Rose Thornton
author, The Houses That Sears Built
co-author, California's Kit Homes

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyday life for the Ordinary American, September 6, 1999

By	Todd Hancock (Douglas, GA) - See all my reviews

I had to read this book for a history class and I must say that I was extremely impressed. This book does not concern itself with wars or political leaders, but instead focuses on the everyday life for the ordinary American. This is a social history, presenting the dramatic change that occurred in the workplace, housing preferences and communication, during the years of 1876 to 1915. It is a very vivid account of this age and one can learn a lot about what it was like to live in America during this time period, by just reading the book. I highly recommend it.