User talk:Georgene01

House Work Saving Devices From 1856 upto and Including 2009

Georgene01 20:02, 31 March 2009 (UTC)Prior to the Civil War and 1856, I know we have the cotton gin, water wheel millers who ground grains such as wheat into flour. There was the cross-county train. I know that there was the electric light, gas lights, there was the first flying machine by the Wright Brothers. In 1904, at the St. Louis Worlds Fair, there was ice cream cones, coney islands or hot dog sandwiches. I believe sliced bread actually came to be in 1919. In 1917 we had the beginnings of WWI, and the inventions from that. There was Madam Curie, radiation, radiation sickness, x-rays, the fleuroscope, and the later hated foot fleuroscope to fit feet to the perfect size shoes which killed all of those involved w/raidiated illnesses of all sorts. Blood typing came into being. For surgery there was ether. How about milling clothing on a factory-wide scope. Let's not forget the Singer sewing machine. Was there one available as early as 1856? Please help me with this topic. Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Georgene01Georgene01 20:02, 31 March 2009 (UTC)Georgene01 21:57, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

   With respect to producing clothing and the Singer sewing machine; it is hard to consider these two elements having anything in common with each other.  But they come together in a movie, a documentary titled, " Triangle:  Remember The Fire".  These women, mostly teenager working daughters of immigrants who just came off the boat and entered the U.S. through Ellis Island at the turn of the century.  The fire occurred in New York on March 25th, 1911 and killed 146 workers.  There was a convergence of the employment conditions that existed in these sweatshirt facturies.  These young women, inspite of horrific conditions were proud of the fact that they could work.  As there were devices that contributed to freeing up these women; there were devices developed to bring women into the factories & offices of various companies.  Women could already obtain legitimate work as teachers, tutors, nursemaids, laundresses, and writers.  Some women, whose husbands held positions in business, industry, & government work, often took over for their husbands when the men became ill or died.  It was common for women to fill in roles held by their husbands when these husbands could no longer work.  Special accommodations had to be made to see to the needs of these women.  Restrooms, and lounges with a couch or lounge-chairs had to be installed.  Telephone operators was originally seen as a job for women.  But, it was found that if it was a woman's voice did more.  The caller on the opposite end of the call, paid better attention to what was said if the voice belonged to a woman.  This also added disparate pay between men and female operators.  In fact, a woman's paycheck was generally 64% less than a man with the same level of experience and seniority.  New rules had to be developed to accommodate these new women to the workforce.  And, as more and more women became active in the workplace, more devices had to be developed.  One very unique item is the bathroom dispenser.  A woman could put in a coin and out came products to accommodate the woman's special needs.  Sanitary napkins & tampons & little packs of aspirin her through that time of the month.  These machines & woman's expansion into the workforce cried for the development of these dispensers as well as machines like the typewriter, the calculator or adding machine, and eventually the keypunch machine.  And so, while the devices in the home freed up woman's time in the day...there were devices developed to accommondate the women as they entered into the workforce.  And, relatively enough, as more and more women entered into the workforce, it was evident that their voice needed to carry as voters as well.  A long time ago, a professor stated that, "It takes about 50 years for a new idea to catch on".  I have generally found that that is essentially true.  The women's movement for sufforage started at the beginning of the 1900's & achieved by 1950's.Georgene01 08:21, 14 April 2011 (UTC)
    There is cited all the larger and more well-known devices that freed women from being slaves in their homes. While everyone cites the Singer sewing machine, let's think of the other inventions that contributed that machine to it's success.  The was the invention of thread from cotton ball in the field to tiny string a certain width or length that went along with it.  Tiny sewing needles with different sizes.  Hand-needles that allowed the women to repair their upholstery, wool coats, extra heavy threat for buttons, etc.  Then came straight pins.  Sewing bees have always existed, since men could put together a wood frame.  There might be a special pattern.  Women would settle around these frames with the length and width appropriately set into the structure.  It was a social time. With the "Zipper," the time being saved from having to sew on buttons, allowed these "Bees" to get finished faster.  When "Cams" were invented for the sewing machine, button holes could be inserted in minutes instead of hours.  We all know how the bra replaced corsets and allowed women's dress from being so restrictive.  There were things that had to be invented to make that work.  Throughout history women could take in sewing & mending to make extra money.  After the sewing machine and cams; came patterns made for creating on the machine.  Then there was the addition to the sewing machine which turned it into a machine that made shoes.  In the beginning, the sewing machine was treadle-operated...by foot.  Then, by the 1920's, someone added an electrical cord, which further speeded up production.  We are all familiar with the tomato pin cushion, and later it's strawberry shaped addition that was supposed to help keep the straight pins sharpened.
    Another unsung contributor to make women freer was the development of pants or slacks for women.  In many jobs, women couldn't be used because their long skirts made them a liability in the work place.  The long, flaring skirts could easily get caught in the industrial machinery.  The first real slacks were called "bloomers".  They narrowed at the waist and hugged the ankles.  If a zipper was installed, it was either on the left side or the back side of the waist.  It was considered indecent if the slacks showed off too much of the woman's actual figure.  In the 1920's, the bloomers were shortened to come in just above the knees.  With a blouse that was loose fitting and tightened in at the neck and waist; and had a bit of a skirt that flared out just above the knees so that women could participate in gyms and clubs which catered to women's health.  For the first time, it was publically accepted for women to excercise and to diet, to keep "That girlish figure".  They hired professional nurses and other specialists to teach things such as a "balanced diet".  In the 1920's, decent girls did not wear slacks out in public.
    There became a few new vocabulary words.  Women wore slacks while men wore pants.  There were these woolen leg coverings called, "Leggings".  They itched unceasingly.  Even in the early 1960's, the confounded things still exsisted.  I know because I had to wear them, and I was born in 1956.  I had to wear them from when I first started school in 1961-1962 (six years old) and went on until 1964-1965 (nine years old).  During the years when the first slacks were made, it was not uncommon, out west, for women who help with the care of livestock or farming, often wore their fathers or brothers cast-offs.  They'd use belts to cinch them in at the waist.  On the east, women wore "habits" for the first time.  The habit was actually another type of gym clothes.  Slacks, that balooned in the middle and tightened at the waist and just below the knees.
    Children have been taking their lunches to school, since just about forever.  But, then the idea of having a child's lunchroom came about.  That was followed by schools providing first cold lunches and then hot lunches.  The teacher in the classroom would send home an envelope with a questionaire inquiring the child's participation into the school's lunch program.  Now, we take lunchrooms and cafeterias as a fact.  But, even as far back as the depression; and even the 1920's when these lunch programs were implemented.  This allowed studies to be developed to provide a proper environment for children and nutrition studies.  When women entered the workforce in the early 40's, WWII time, the lunchroom provided a safe area where children could eat their meals provided by their mothers and packed in paper bags or lunch "boxes".  Lunch boxes were around for the working man and/or women.  But, the idea of a lunch box for a child of school age was a new idea.  It held a thermos, a container which could carry cold or hot liquids.  There was a space for a sandwich and maybe a small banana or apple.  While WWII raged on, professionals were hired to study children in the modern school.  They began to notice that before lunch, a child's ability to concentrate was severely affected.  There was a severely reduced level in the child's ability to study and retain what was taught.  They also noted how much the child picked up after lunch.  With some children, who's families had poor income, they were sent to school without breakfast.  These children had severely poor skill in reading, writing, and arithmatic.  This eventually lead to schools providing a breakfast.  They also developed programs which assisted in the child's nutritional needs.  Some of these programs were called "Head-Start".  The school could buy in bulk at prices cheaper than the regular supermarket. Head-Start was partially funded by the federal government in order to give children in slums and poor households to get a breakfast where before the child simply went without.  An invention such as aluminum foil, as well as wax paper, and plastic wrap, allowed meals brought from home to be as fresh as possible when they were opened.  While I cite these developments around WWII, the more progressive environments already had lunchrooms and/or cafeterias.  
    Today, we regard these places as common everyday conventions.  But, back then, these food programs were radical.  The idea of women wearing slacks allowed them to work in factories without their clothing getting caught in the machinery.  First came bloomers, and then gym suits.  In the east coast, women wore habits when they rode horses.  In the west coast, women usually wore the off-cast blue jeans from their men folk.  There was a popular phrase that was taught to girls from the first time they could put a sewing needle through a piece of cloth. "Idle hands are the devil's work/or fare".  A girl or woman was expected to keep their hands busy at all times.  Girls sewed samplers, embroidred art pieces that usually had a bible saying in letters.  If sewing was done, knitting and crocheting were done.  Tating, was a type of looping thread to make lace.  The lace pieces were used to decorate table cloths, doilies, and dressware.  The special needles needed to do various types of sewing were developed.  Even today, you can going into a fabric store and buy hand-sewing needles.  There were needles for sewing and needles for keeping a garment intact until the different pieces were permanently sewed together.  Straight pins reduced the amount of basting that was done.  A base stitch is an extra long-length stitch which holds all the pieces of the garment together until it could be more permanently sewed together by hand or machine.  The red stuffed tomato and it's strawberry were use to keep the needles in a convenient place where they couldn't roll on the floor and get lost.  Sewing bees were projects which used a hugh wooden frame to make large items such as quilts.  Towels, napkins, hankerchiefs, drawstring-handbags were all made by hand followed by machine sewing.  Cams on sewing machines allowed for a series of stiches to take on a decorative quality as well as allow for such things as blind hems.  They also helped the sewer by sewing the design needed for the button holes.  Once the cam makes the needle's particular button hole design, all the sewer had to do was to snip in the middle of the button-hole and voila!  A button-hole is made in just a manner of a minutes.  Patterns were developed allow a person to copy a particular dress pattern that was seen in a magazine.  The patterns not only made it easy to make a dress, or a shirt, but, slip-covers for an easy chair or a sofa could be made.  A woman with a modest budget could brighten up the furniture and create a new look for the livingroom.  Schools that provided a lunchroom and/or a cafeteria, could provide hot and cold lunches freed the woman from more work in the kitchen.  It wasn't until WWI, that things such as vitamins, diets to lose or to gain weight, or just to maintain a balanced diet for soldiers in the field.  By the 1920's those women of means had gymnasiums and women's clubs which taught these things to women.  Bloomers, gym suits gave a way to be presentable even when not wearing a dress.  Some women who maintained their gym suits from high school, also used them in the home while cleaning.  The long dress skirt gave way to bloomers and then slacks which made working in a factory environment a lot safer.  Leggings were stockings made of wool which a girl wore under her dress or skirt.  While the leggings were early prototypes of the pantystocking, were designed to protect the girl's legs from getting scratched up while playing.  Even as late as 1965, I had to wear them.  My grandmother, born in 1899, was a teenager during the 20's, said that decent girls wore dresses and leggings.  No decent girl in that time would disgrace herself and her family by wearing slacks or pants.  I had to dress like that because she was dressed like that in the 1920s.  While it's easy to note the larger advancements which contributed to freeing up the time a woman needed to spend in the kitchen and the home.  We cannot forget the littler items that were invented as well. When I cited myself with having to wear leggings, it was to describe how it was to wear them.  And while there's no question to it's history, the fact that as soon as 1965, there were girls still being dressed in them.Georgene01 06:16, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Elfman: The Geneology of...

    I'm trying to do a geneology search of my family tree.  My name is Brenda G Oliver.  But, I was born Brenda Georgene Elfman.  My father is Brian Paul Elfman and my mother is Isabel Fleisher Elfman Stamper.  My Dad has a brother named Bradley Elfman.  The grandparents on my mothers' side of the family were Morris and Charma Fleisher.  The grandparents on my fathers' side were Shirley and Standley Elfman.  My dad has a brother named Bradley Elfman.
    On the Fleisher side, my roots only go as far back as 1899.  My grandmother came to the USA with her mother and father; she was one year old.  My grandfather came to this country later when he was eight years old.  They settled in South Philadelphia, PA.  They got married during the 1920's.
    On the Elfman side, my Dad told me that Elfman clan was already settled here in America long before the Fleishers.  The name of Elfman seems to be showing up a lot both in Show Business and in the news.  Just this evening, I found out that the "Elf" part of my name means "Love" in German.  This is a Teutonic name; completely of German origin.  Yet, both sides of my ancestry is Russian Jew.  I suspect that maybe many, many years ago the Elfman clan resided in Germany.  Maybe because of some upheaval, they had to migrate to Russia.  While the progeny became Russian, the name of Elfman stayed the same.
    It is my wish that as my family tree becomes revealed, there maybe found a long lost connection between all of the Elfman people.  With the Fleisher side, I can only go back to Ellis Island.  But, the Elfman side has been making it's mark here in the USA long before 1899.  Wikipedia is such a wide-spread encyclopedia.  There are the VanderBuilts, the Barrymores, and Rockafellers.  With doing my family tree; not only will I discover my roots, but I might bring to light the Elfmans who have made newsworthy contributions just like those other famous families.  If you know something and can help me with my search, I would appreciate it very much.  Thank you for your help.  Georgene01Georgene01 10:14, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

World's Fair vs. Labor Saving Devices invented for the Average Housewife at Home

    While technologies for safer mining conditions, the view of seeing cotton being extracted from it's plant to finished cotton clothing in the mills, and improvements with other matters of industry:  when the listing of improvement of household technologies, there is little detail as to actually what household technologies were actually developed.
    I need a historical account of what household technologies were developed between 1856 and 1920.  This includes the prior World's Fairs that started from 1851 up to 1856 as well.  Somewhere between then and 1920, the corset was replaced by the brassier, if I'm not mistaken.  The improvements in medicine included the acceptance of sterilizing surgery instruments, washing hands before surgery, especially in the birthing of babies.  Louie Pasteur succeeded in proving the existence of germs and how cross-contamination contributed to the reduction of woment dying in childbirth.  Madam Curie, her work with radium which lead to the development of X-rays.
    In 1920, there-about, came the invention of bread manufacture and the invention of sliced bread.  I once had the priveledge of baking and cooking on a real wood-burning stove.  There was no specific thermostat on it.  It simply had warm, medium, hot, and very hot on the oven dial.  To make sure the temperature was correct, the woman knew how hot by feeling with her hand, how hot the oven so as to successfully bake a cake, chicken, or a pie.  
    I'm not very sure exactly when it happened but, someone figured out how to marry the clothes washer with electricity.  But the idea of agitating the clothes in a washing machine had already been invented.  I saw one mechanical clothes washer where by rocking a connecting rod made an agitator go back and forth, and up and down.  This improved the laundry soap the ability to swish through fabric to better get rid of stains.  But, most women did not trust it; nor could they afford it.  I've met people in rustic, backwoods homesteads where they still use either a mechanical washer with a wringer attached, & a tub & washboard.  This actually happened up in the Poconos, up from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
    This same person's log cabin home actually had a root cellar underneath the floorboard in the livingroom.  She did not believe in electric refrigerators as well.  Her name was Wendy, and only in her 50's back in 1975.  We posted letters every month until 1981.  Then the letters from her stopped coming and mine came back "No such person at this address".  
   What technology existed for a house in 1851; the same house in 1861, 1871, so on and so forth?  I know that in 1900, the University of Pennsylvania refused to let women have babies in their hospitals.  A movie appearing every now and then called,"What The Lord Made".  It is about a black man who came to work as a Lab Assistant for a Dr. Blalock, at John Hopkins Hospital.  He helped to develop heart surgery in a young child to keep her from dying from, "Blue Baby".  A disorder where the child can not breath in enough oxygen to stay alive.  He got an honorary doctorate from John Hopkins.  His name was Vivian Thomas.  In my studies of African-American history in the U.S., his name never came up before. See "Something The Lord Made" for more details on this fact.
    This information is needed for a PH.D. paper.  While women were starting to work out of the home and in the milling factories in the New England states; it was still a while before women became a major force working outside of the home.  In order for them to be able to go to work were technologies that reduced their work in their homes.  I, myself, was born in 1956.  And, I know what technologies have been invented to improve the lives of women in the home as well as in the work force.  But, if I'd been born in 1856, a hundred years earlier, my life would have been very much different.  On Discovery Science, there are projected technologies that are expected to come about.  So, there is some idea of what women in the future can expect to improve their lives.  But, what specifically came about a hundred years ago?  How different could my life had been then?  And while a risk of humanity being destroyed in 2012 might happen; should something bad happen to make us revert to a former, simpler, way of life; women could again find themselves subjugated in the home like before.  That should not happen.  Technology helped women to become a viable force in society.  And, it could be technology in the form from a terrorist attack that has society reverting to a former life before technology got women out of the household.  Irregardless of what happens, if history repeats itself, let's not let women revert to their former jails of the household.  Any reliable input would be good to have. BGOliverGeorgene01 06:48, 10 July 2010 (UTC)
    Any input from reliable sources out there would be greatly appreciated.

Had I Been Born in 1856 Instead of 1956

    When I turned 11 yrs old, about 2 1/2 months later I got my first period.  This was in 1967.  This was at least several years before the development of the sanitary napkin with adhesive backings and later on wings to help keep the napkins secure and prevent leaks.  I was taught to use the old-fanshioned pad and belt assembly.  I cannot tell you just how many accidents I had especially in public.  It was 18 when I experimented and resorted to tampons which were inherently better.  Now I only used a napkind to catch whatever leaks might occur.  Especially if it was nighttime and I didn't wake up in time to change the tampon.
    I still remember the classes we had in 5th grade and up to 12th grade.  I used to wonder about how women managed before Kotex came out with it's first sanitary napkin in 1921.  When the classes happened, one of the topics covered were a brief history of the sanitary napkin.  Just as grinding wood into wood pulp to create toilet tissue; was that the same wood pulp used by the ladies in the early 1900's?  I somehow conjure up a picture of something that looked like cork.  Cork which is used to plug bottles.  These bottles might hold a liquid pain reliever like morphine.  That had to be somewhat uncomfortable.
    In my article of "If I'd Been Born a Hundred Years Ago", I comment on how different my life would be.  I would have gotten my monthly cycle 11 years later in 1867.  In the first version called, "Southall's Pad" in 1888.  I would have been 32 years old.  Even as a young youth, I was mesmerized by Science as well as Chemistry.  And while there were a few colleges who educated women, the number of fields of study onto me very limited, a nurse or doctor the hardest.  If I was lucky and married a medical doctor or chemist, I would probably work along side him in his practice or laboratory.
    In 1856, when I was born, the notion of germs, bacteria, and good hygiene; were still in years to come.  By 1867, I would have gotten my first period.  I guess I might have used rolled up cotton wadding for protection.  As unreliable as it was, I would have been more housebound.Georgene01 13:08, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

A Perspective On What Was Available Before 1865

    Georgene01 03:05, 18 August 2011 (UTC)The idea of a stove or an oven was something only people of means could afford. In an agrarian society, such devices were very rare.  Most women had to become adept with using a Dutch oven over a fireplace.  The well known Franklin stove was good for bringing water to a boil on a round surface.  In homes of the rich, or plantations, had buildings set apart from the main house.  They usually sported a huge brick oven, with iron ware for cookwork.  Metal tongs, spatulas, and spoons were manufactured by the home blacksmith; or the blacksmith in town.  They also made the pots & pans, cookie sheets, and other metalware needed for the cook to make a variety foods.
    At a plantation like one by George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, and even John Adams; these self-suffient places provided for food grown, raised, or hunted.  Sadly enough, the kitchen, separate from the main house, was manned and maintained by slaves.  Their children helped with mixing, stirring, and toasting bread w/irons desired to hold over carefully over a flame.  Heaven help the child who accidently burned the toast.  If your mother was head of the kitchen, then her children would automatically be used to help with cutting, chopping, & peeling.
    One of the innovations for baking over a fireplace, was the iron swing arm which held the dutch oven.  While the stew baked in the dutch oven, biscuits were baked on top of the metal lid.  Supermarkets were still an idea that came after the turn of the 20th century.  The garden out-back contained the veggies and spices.  What was seasonal was exactly that.  A trip into town by a pioneer woman was at the dry goods store.  Like on "Little House On The Prarie", the wife brought in their extra fresh eggs to trade on-account.  The creation of baking soda made cake making available on the home.  Cream of Tartar could be added to make single-acting baking powder.  It was a tricky, as with timeing to get the batter for a cake into a cake pan and into the oven before the carbondyoxide from the baking powder went flat.  There also was needed an effort to keep the house still; otherwise wind up with a fallen cake.  Not to waste food.  Such a cake could be turned into a "Triffle".  A layer of cut up cake, a layer of fruit, whipped cream, and if available, nuts.  Sometimes, the only leavening available were eggs.  But, with the experience housewife, however the cake was made, no one had the ill-manners of pointing out a cake's texture.  I, actually, had the experience of cooking in an oven of which wood or coal was the cooking medium.  The gauge had warm, medium, hot, & very hot.  An adept cook could tell the level of heat by holding her hand over the heat to judge.  I had the experience of baking a cake in such an oven.  Believe it or not, with using only single acting baking powder, she/he could manage breads, cakes, cookies, pies, & biscuits.
    With having to harvest crops, grow fruits & vegetables, having livestock for food, chickens for laying, and for eating allowed the pioneer woman to cook and bake either her hearth on the fireplace, or a real brick or cast iron oven.  But there was little to reduce the work the woman needed to do in the household.  Young girls, both teen and pre-teen, had little outside work to do.  If the girl possessed a loom, spinning wheel, and handy with a sewing needle could turn herself into a seamstress.  She could look at a picture of a dress and concoct her own pattern.  It was much later in the 1800's when Singer came up with the sewing machine. Young, Christian girls could work for a local mill producing fabrics.  They had to maintain a pure and obedient lifestyle.  The few cents she earned through the week, were expected to be given to her parents to help her family.  A savy group of women at this one mill began to gather and read periodicals.  They actually striked for better pay and better hours...and succeeded.  These particular women were the seed of raising women who were politically minded.  They showed that women could work outside the home and be independent of a husband.
    Some improvements made at the mill, initiated by these women increase production as well as safety in the work environment.  On the prarie, women and men were a bit more egalitarian.  The job of plowing, seeding, raising, & picking were done by both.  The success of the home depended on each other.  As the 1800's moved on, other innovations began to appear.  While few and between, college education became available to women.  For the purpose of educating women about midwifery, some places of higher learning began to appear.  Magazines produced by women editors for subjects pertaining to women also became profitable, outside-the-home employment.  In the United States, even though women did not vote, the men voting would include their wives opinions.  Holding and kissing a bay lost it's appeal as political sway.  If the representative promised a road to be built and wasn't; the wives would be sure to remind their husbands not to vote for that candidate again.  He didn't keep his promises.
    One of the areas to spark up women's roles in society, was the need for them to aid their husbands in their jobs.  It was common for a woman to take over her husband's role.  If he got sick, injured, or died; the wife taking over his job was common.  Particularly if she was well known in their society, and were well educated about their husbands' work.  Many Congresswomen got their position in the Senate or the House of Representative if their husbands became too ill or died.  If the women showed intelligence, a command knowledge of her husband's work, and was well like by the other representatives.  These early women lead the way for the next generation of women whose numbers increased as time went by.  Jobs as teachers, seamstress', editors of magazine, book writers, business presidents and congresswomen opened more ways for women to have financial independence on their own.  The inventions to come, the sewing machine, bicycles, womens' bras, washing hands before birthing a mother to prevent spread of disease, were inevitable inventions as they continued to march through society & time.  And, these early inventions increased more women to achieve on their own.
    While the mid to later 1800's came along, more and more new inventions lead to freeing women from house drudgery.  Sewing bees, women's clubs, even at bridge club games, they would share and talk about success's of independent women.  With some women, if their father was a doctor, it was not unusual for the daughter to be sent to college, to join in with her father's work.  These increasing number of women began to realize that becoming a wife and mother was not the only option out there. A college professor of mine told me that changes in society's morals take about fifty years to become accepted.  It was the late 1800's & early 1900's for the idea of women voting to start.  And, it was in the 1950's when women finally achieved getting the vote in all states.  But, before these women suffragettes, there were those early independent-minded women before 1865 who lead the way for their later sisters to acheive and do something even more.  And, with their lead, came women to have more a say in the household as her income did not depend on a husband, or any man in her life.Georgene01 03:05, 18 August 2011 (UTC)