MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked a significant shift in American society. The generation that came of age after the American Civil War had greater access to education, urban jobs, and commercial luxury goods. Women especially experienced a wider variety of opportunities. Middle class women, now able to obtain college degrees, began professional careers and opted to remain single longer. Women actively worked to join the public sphere, which had previously been men’s domain.

Naturally there was backlash against women leaving the private sphere and groups worked to keep women in the home and in approved modes of employment. One such way was the use of women’s magazines to train women to be better consumers. This paper examines how Good Housekeeping, between 1900 and 1910, encouraged women to remain in traditional roles by training them to be consumers. By using methods such as the Seal of Approval, offering advice on everything from fashion to canning, and addressing current issues Good Housekeeping introduced women to many new products and ideas that were intended to make them better wives and mothers.

Through careful examination of the issues of Good Housekeeping published during the first decade of the twentieth century, this paper will show that the magazine encouraged women to remain in the private sphere and helped created the cult of the housewife.