The Labour-Saving House.

Bookseller Notes

A manifesto for modernising households, from one of the major writers on household management of the day. Peel wrote for and edited numerous women's magazines, including a seventeen year position as editor of the household department of 'The Queen', as well as writing a series of popular cookery books. On the outbreak of the First World War, she worked as co-director of women's service for the Ministry of Food, touring the country delivering addresses on the economical use of food during the period of voluntary rationing. She was awarded the OBE in 1919 for her service during the War. (ODNB)The War is only occasionally mentioned, but its effects are felt fully as the work addresses and strives to solve the 'Servant Problem', the domestic labour shortage which had by 1917 become a pressing concern. In the opening chapters, Peel asks and answers the question of why this problem has come to be: '"The war," says every one. "All the young women are busy conducting tramcars, selling bacon, and punching railway tickets."' Peel's solutions range from the mundane - professional training and improved benefits for household staff - to the modern - fitting homes with gas and electric and embracing labour-saving new technologies - to the radical, arguing for women architects, as 'having houses built by men makes at least a great part of all the work and trouble'. The book both opens and closes with the adage 'The greatest Labour-Saving apparatus which we possess is the Brain: it has not been worn out by too much use', which Peel notes at the end bears repeating.Of particular entertainment to a modern reader are the plates illustrating these new technologies, such as the 'gas steamer' and the 'breakfast cooker'.