The female contribution to the configuration of the home through domestic economics manuals - 1940/1960

Abstract

Home economics manuals were widely consumed publications in the 20th century because they provided guidance on how to manage and solve household problems in an economical way. They included in their content techniques for cleaning the home for the health of the family, repairing and preserving clothes, using scraps, purchasing and preparing food, childcare, domestic accounting and arranging and decorating the house.  It was associated to women with the private environment and the view of their biological function of taking care of their family and husband, these manuals had writing aimed at them and, in addition to subjects related to the economy and efficient resource management, they also led female behaviors to what was expected by society. The objective of this article is to analyze, through publications by author Isabel de Almeida Serrano, how these manuals brought women closer, although in a restricted and biased path, to the “science of the home”. It was the way and language that allowed her access to areas such as Nutrition, Psychology and this approach to Architecture and Interior Design will be explored in this discussion.