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The 1910s At Home====================================================================== ====================================================================== ====================================================================== | ||
Upper Class | ----- | In the 1900s and 1910s, things began to change. Servants were getting harder to find. During the 1910s, the number of domestic servants declined by more than half. In the past, the "servant class" consisted of immigrants, African-Americans and single women. After the turn of the century, these groups had new job opportunities available to them, and many preferred to work in factories. Thanks to World War I, immigration from Europe was slowing down, and this reduced the number of people willing to work as servants. Those who remained in domestic service demanded higher salaries. | ||
 The homes of the wealthy had every modern convenience. This was in sharp contrast to most homes of the period, which often lacked such basic features as electricity and indoor plumbing. in the kitchen Large, modern kitchens contained the latest electric appliances: toasters, waffle irons, refrigerators and ranges. They also featured hot and cold running water and enough cooking and storage space to prepare dinner for 100 guests. bed & bath Electric toasters were valued quite highly. This prompted wealthy families to install one in every bedroom and guest room. Bathrooms were modern, with flush toilets and built-in tubs.  "yes, madam...." The lady of the house never set foot in the kitchen, never washed a dish, never did a load of laundry, never drew her own bath, never did her own hair and never drove an automobile. She had servants to do these things. New labor-saving devices changed the nature of housework. Vacuum cleaners, electric dishwashers, electric washing machines and electric irons made cleaning a bit easier. Electric lights eliminated the need to clean lamp chimneys.  The rooms were connected to each other by the inter-phone system. In the old days, the lady of the house called the servants by ringing a bell. Now she could summon them by telephone. |  Lyndehurst on the grounds A garage and a small fleet of automobiles replaced the stable, coach and horses. The coachman's job was now performed by the chauffeur, who was worth his weight in gold if he was also a mechanic. At this point, if a wealthy family owned horses, they were used primarily for pleasure riding. The gardens and walkways were designed by professionals and were impeccably maintained.  entertaining  The mansion had a large hall with space for dancers and an orchestra. The dining room could seat multitudes of guests. The music room had a grand piano, a phonograph and possibly a parlor organ. Click here to see more wealthy entertaining! In the 1910s, the era of conspicuous wealth was coming to an end. The "vulgar excesses" of the rich were no longer considered appropriate, and the new income tax of 1914 was keeping large incomes under control. | |||
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Appliances & Housework
| "mechanical servants" The new electric appliances were known as mechanical servants. They were used in upper and middle class homes where electricity was present. For the well-to-do, the decline in domestic servants meant that more wives were doing their own housework. Because of this, new appliances were adopting a more attractive and less "industrial" appearance.  vacuum cleaners The first electric vacuum cleaners for the home were sold in 1908. Owners of large houses could install a central vacuum system. Each room had an opening in the baseboard which was connected by pipes to a motor in the basement. The hose apparatus was moved from room to room and was connected to the opening.  My Electrical Home, 1916 This Western Electric ad shows the latest electric appliances in 1916....vacuum cleaner, iron, toaster, telephone, light bulb, flashlight and washing machine | ----- |  electric irons The first successful electric iron was introduced in 1907. Finally, no more heating irons on the stove, switching handles or guessing if the temperature was correct!  gas & kerosene irons Some irons were powered by gasoline or kerosene, which was stored inside the handle or in a small container behind the handle. manual washing machines Manually-operated washing machines were filled by hand. Water was lugged in from the pump or sink, heated on the stove and poured into the wooden tub. These machines used a variety of methods to force water through clothes. Turning a crank moved a wooden dolly back and forth, moved plungers up and down, tumbled clothes in a round chamber or rubbed clothing between rough wooden surfaces. A wringer mounted on top squeezed excess moisture out of clothes. 
electric washing machines The first electric washing machines went on the market in 1907. The job of moving the dolly or plungers was taken over by an electric motor placed beneath the tub. In all other ways, these new machines were just like their manual counterparts. Water was still hauled from elsewhere and heated on the stove, and wet clothes were still put through the wringer. | ||
| housewife's weekly schedule Monday - laundry Tuesday - ironing, mending, sewing Wednesday - baking Thursday - grocery shopping Friday - cleaning, dusting, sweeping Saturday - cleaning, baking for Sunday dinner Sunday - church, large family dinner, go visiting | |||
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In The Kitchen
In the 1910s, middle class kitchens began to resemble the kitchens of today. They contained a sink, stove and icebox (or refrigerator)....the three items we associate with the modern kitchen. Housekeeping books advocated the "triangle floor plan," which placed each appliance at the point of a triangle. This created a more efficient work space and was a far cry from the "hearth and scullery" plan of the Victorian era.
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 electric toasters The first electric toaster went on the market in 1909. Before this, bread was toasted in a metal "cage" that was placed over an opening in the cookstove. In an electric toaster, doors on each side held the bread against a central heating element. Now it was possible to make toast without firing up the entire stove. There was one drawback, however....bread still had to be watched and flipped by hand. other electric appliances The modern kitchen in the 1910s contained the latest electric applances....waffle irons (1918), refrigerators (1911), ranges (1906) and dishwashers (1914). Click here to see more kitchens from the 1910s! | ||
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Electricity & Lighting
 electricity Although electricity was still expensive, it was gradually coming down in price. During the 1910s, the number of homes wired for electricity grew steadily: 16 percent in 1912, 20 percent in 1917 and 35 percent in 1920. Most homes had only enough wiring to power their electric lights. The few appliances that were available (fans, toasters, irons) were plugged into the light sockets with a special adaptor.  Sewing machine plugged into light socket During this decade many homes had a combination of gas fixtures and electric lights. Electricity was still very unreliable and was prone to outages of up to a month at a time. Alternative lighting came in handy. In the 1910s, larger electric appliances (vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators) required higher power levels. Some homeowners began to install additional heavy-duty wiring to support them. | ----- | gas lighting Gas was first used for street lighting in 1807 and was adopted for home use in the 1860s. The introduction of the incandescent lamp (light bulb) in 1879 spelled the beginning of the end for gaslight. Even so, gas continued to be a popular choice for home lighting until the 1920s. Even though electric service may have been available in your town, conversion to electricity was still expensive and was generally not undertaken until a house was sold to new owners. The invention of the gas mantle in 1887 improved the functionality of the typical gas lamp, and this kept the gas lighting industry in business a bit longer after the light bulb came along.  A gas mantle is a cotton mesh "sock" soaked in minerals. When placed inside the gas lamp, the cotton burns away, leaving a chemical mesh that glows brightly when heated by a gas flame. A mantle can increase the light output of a gas lamp tremendously.  Some homes were fitted with electric wiring even before electricity was available in the neighborhood. Other homes were lit by both electricity and gas at the same time. During this transitional time you could install transitional fixtures that used both systems. The electric bulbs pointed down and the gas flame pointed up. | ||
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day current & night current Before the 1900s, power plants operated during the evening only. This was because electric lights were generally the only things they powered. Usually this night current was turned on between 8 p.m. and midnight. When the first practical electric appliances were introduced in the late 1900s, customers requested that electricity be turned on during the day, too. Irons were very popular, and most of the housewives who requested day current wanted it for ironing. Since Tuesday was "ironing day" in most households, this was the one day a week when power was turned on during daylight hours. By the 1910s, most towns had adopted day current for at least one day a week, and many towns had expanded to 24-hour service. | ||||
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In The Bathroom
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In the 1910s, most middle class homes had running water, and most towns of 5,000 or more inhabitants had city water and sanitary sewers. People who owned older homes converted unused bedrooms into bathrooms, or installed individual fixtures wherever they could find room for them. Most new homes were built with complete, fully-connected bathrooms. It was easy to include a modern bathroom in your plans. The 1910 Sears catalog sold a complete bathroom set for $49.95. This included a sink, claw-foot bathtub and "water closet" (toilet). The Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company sold bathroom sets ranging in price from $78 to $600. Built-in tubs were replacing claw-foot bathtubs in many homes, which gave the bathroom a contemporary appearance. | ----- |
 In older homes, it wasn't always possible to install the fixtures in the same room. Toilets were installed in closets or in the basement, and bathtubs were installed in the kitchen or lean-to. By 1920, the number of American homes with a flush toilet reached 20 percent. This figure represents all homes, regardless of class or location. For middle class homes, the figure was probably closer to 40 or 50 percent. Click here to see more bathrooms from the 1910s! | ||
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Middle Class
 Foursquare In Victorian times, the one word that best described home decor was MORE. More knick-knacks, more scrollwork, more contrasting colors and more curtains and tassels. By the 1910s, homeowners wanted a simpler look. Suburban middle class homes were less ornate and less cluttered than the Victorian homes of 20 years earlier. Popular home styles included bungalows, prairie style homes and foursquares with stucco surfaces. | ----- |  Bungalow, 1918  | ||
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 open floor plans On the first floor, prairie style homes and bungalows usually had an open floor plan, with internal spaces that flowed into each other. Instead of being separated by walls and doors, a parlor and dining room might be separated by nothing more than a large archway or some pillars. in the parlor In the 1910s, the function of the parlor was changing. In the old days, this musty, seldom-used room was reserved for visitors and special occasions, and was basically just for "show." In the 1910s, the parlor was becoming known as the living room and was being used for all sorts of family gatherings and activities. Here is where you would find the desk telephone, bookshelves, family heirlooms and comfortable furniture that was meant to be used. Recreational items were also kept here, including the piano, victrola, magic lantern machine, cabinet photographs, stereo viewer and stereo cards. | ||
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in the bedroom Bedrooms were also becoming less ornate in the 1910s. The heavy, frilly Victorian look was being replaced by light colors, light fabrics and a minimum of decoration. Health and cleanliness were the main reasons for this change of taste....wallpaper and heavy bedcurtains were developing a reputation for being unsanitary. On the walls, white paint and pretty wallpaper borders were replacing the old flowered wallpaper. Chromo-lithographed prints replaced big, heavy oil paintings. The addition of central heating in many homes made the bedroom fireplace obsolete. Indoor plumbing reduced the number of bedrooms containing a washstand with bowl and pitcher. Bedrooms were starting to include built-in closets instead of large wooden wardrobes. Improved window screens kept more insects out, which made sleeping in the summer a more pleasant experience. Large wooden beds were still popular, but so were lightweight steel beds and fold-out sofa beds. The attractive simplicity of mission-style furniture was quickly becoming a favorite look. Click here to see more bedrooms from the 1910s! |
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| adding a driveway & garage Many families purchased their first motor car during the 1910s. Before this, there was no need for a garage. What passed for a driveway was nothing more than a patch of ground in the front yard where the grass was worn away. After buying a car, homeowners added gravel or concrete driveways. Building a detached garage eliminated the need to rent space in a commercial garage, which many people did during the winter. | |||
| the middle class servant problem Before the 1910s, even middle class households usually had a live-in maid, and perhaps a few other servants hired on a part-time or as-needed basis. The lack of domestic servants that plagued the upper classes also affected the middle classes. By the late 1910s, most middle class households found that they couldn't afford to hire any domestic help at all. Those who did usually hired a part-time housekeeper who lived outside the home. A middle class household with a live-in maid or housekeeper became the exception, rather than the rule. New brides had grown up assuming that they would direct a full staff of servants when they got married. At the very least, they would have a maid to help out. Suddenly they found themselves doing the housework themselves. |  | |||
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