Perfect Motherhood: Science and Childrearing in America

224 Pages·2006·1.259 MB·English

by  Rima D. Apple

Acknowledgments i
Perfect Motherhood
ii Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments iii
Perfect Motherhood
S
CIENCE AND
C A
HILDREARING IN MERICA
(cid:1)
R D. A
IMA PPLE

Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
iv Acknowledgments
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Apple, Rima D. (Rima Dombrow), 1944-
Perfect motherhood : science and childrearing in America / Rima D. Apple.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8135-3793-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8135-3843-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Mothers—United States—History. 2. Motherhood—United States—History.
3. Physician and patient—United States—History. I. Title.
HQ759.A58 2006
306.874'30973—dc22
2005024943
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British
Library.
Copyright © 2006 by Rima D. Apple
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without

written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce
Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this prohibition is
“fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Acknowledgments v
ToAlyssa Lee Cotton and Alexander Seth Apple,
who remind me every day that the more things change,
the more they stay the same
vi Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments vii
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Redefining Motherhood 1
1 “Follow the lead of physicians”: Motherhood in
the Late Nineteenth Century 11
2 “Mamma’s scientific—she knows all the laws”:
Motherhood in the Early Twentieth Century 34
3 “Follow my instructions exactly”: Experts to
Mothers in the Interwar Period and during
World War II 56
4 “The modern way”: Mothers circa 1920–1945 83
5 “Now I know that an authority has the same opinion
as mine”: Motherhood in the Postwar Period 107
6 “Use it to guide, not to dictate”: Motherhood
in the Late Twentieth Century 135
Conclusion: “I wanted to do it right” 154
Notes 171
Index 195

vii
viii Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments ix
ILLUSTRATIONS
1.1. Baby’s bath, 1901 13
1.2. Night-drawers with closed feet, 1899 14
1.3. Cover of Babyhood, 1885 20
2.1. Infant welfare station, Chicago, 1912 42
2.2. Young girl with her sibling, 1907 44
2.3. Little Mothers Class, Milwaukee, c. 1915 46
2.4. Cover of Infant Care, 1924 51
3.1. Mothers and infants at doctor’s office, 1938 62
3.2. Hospital nursery, 1938 63
3.3. Time cards, c. 1935 65
3.4. Seventh-grade girls participating in demonstrations preparing
children’s food, clothing, and toys, and in bathing infants 68
3.5. Advertisement for child-care class, 1938 72
3.6. Scot Tissue advertisement, 1928 73
3.7. Lysol advertisement, 1936 74
4.1. Hospital nursery with nurse bathing baby, 1945 102
4.2. Hospital class; notice the face masks on the mothers as
well as the nurse, 1945 104
5.1. Package of face masks, c. 1940s 112
5.2. Mother and physicians in hospital rooming-in ward, 1948 113
5.3. Mother, father, and baby in hospital room, 1948 114
5.4. Mother and baby in hospital room, 1948 115
C.1. New Yorker cartoon, 1999 156

ix
x Acknowledgments