Housework and Housewives in Modern American Advertising: Married to the Mop

276 Pages·2011·3.76 MB·English

by  Jessamyn Neuhaus (auth.)

Housework and Housewives
in Modern American
Advertising
Previous Publications
Manly Meals and Mom’s Home Cooking: Cookbooks and Gender in Modern
America (June 2003)
Housework and Housewives
in Modern American
Advertising
Married to the Mop
Jessamyn Neuhaus
HOUSEWORK AND HOUSEWIVES IN MODERN AMERICAN ADVERTISING
Copyright © Jessamyn Neuhaus, 2011.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-11489-0
All rights reserved.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States – a division of St. Martin’s Press
LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-29618-7 ISBN 978-0-230-33797-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230337978
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Neuhaus, Jessamyn.
Housework and housewives in American advertising : married to the mop /
Jessamyn Neuhaus.
p. cm.
1. Sex role in advertising—United States. 2. Stereotypes (Social
p sychology) in advertising—United States. 3. Women in advertising—
United States. 4. Housewives as consumers—United States. I. Title.
HF5827.85.N48 2011
659.1088'640973—dc23 2011018676
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by MPS Limited, A Macmillan Company.
First edition: December 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Transferred to Digital Printing in 2012
To Ella, Caroline, Natalie, Jacob, Manny, and Solomon
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 The Laundry Room 19
2 The Bathroom 69
3 The Kitchen 107
4 The Living Room 175
Conclusion 215
Note on Sources 227
Notes 231
Index 265
Figures
1.1 1949 Surf newspaper advertisement 35
2.1 1922 Sani-Flush newspaper advertisement 79
2.2 1949 magazine Old Dutch advertisement 83
3.1 1960 J. Walter Thompson advertising agency document 126
3.2 1916 Spotless cleanser print advertisement 151
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to the State University of New York Plattsburgh for a
Presidential Research Grant and to New York State / United University
Professionals for a Professional Development Individual Award, both of
which allowed me to pursue the research for this book. In addition, a
NYS/UUP Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Leave allowed me to take a semes-
ter’s leave from teaching in order to focus on writing. A fellowship at the
Institute for Ethics in Public Life at SUNY Plattsburgh, under the leader-
ship of Dr. Tom Moran, helped me devote the necessary time to clarifying
this project in its early stages. Thanks also to research assistants Victoria
Boccassini and Dylan Brown for tracking down magazine advertisements.
Female Faculty Advancing our Research (FFAR) on the SUNY
Plattsburgh campus provided both practical and emotional support dur-
ing the research for and the writing of Married to the Mop. Thank you
to all the members: Drs. Monica Corbineau, Lauren Eastwood, Elizabeth
Ketner, Martha Lance, Connie Oxford, Robin Riley, Susan Stewart, and
Connie Shemo. I am also truly grateful for the support of my colleagues
in the History Department at SUNY Plattsburgh: Drs. Sylvie Beaudreau,
Vincent Carey, Wendy Gordon, Jeff Hornibrook, Gary Kroll, Jim Lindgren,
Jim Rice, Richard Schafer, Doug Skopp, Connie Shemo, and Stuart Voss.
A special thanks to Dr. Hornibrook for his suggestion to just take it chapter
by chapter.
A fellowship with the Advertising Educational Foundation’s Visiting
Professor Program in New York City provided me with invaluable insights
into the business of ad making. Thanks to all the agency employees who
took time out of their busy days to speak with me. I am especially grate-
ful to Sharon Hudson at the AEF, John Bowman and Heather Murphy at
Saatchi & Saatchi, and Dr. Katherine Parkin for alerting me to this oppor-
tunity and sharing her insights.
A research grant from the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising
& Marketing History at Duke University allowed me to complete a major
portion of my research. A special thank you to Lynne Eaton and all the staff
and archivists at the Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library for their knowledgeable and friendly assistance.
xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you also to Dr. Jennifer Scanlon who generously took time to
talk with me about different research and writing strategies at an early
point in my work; Ed Wilson, reference librarian at the Manchester Public
Library in Manchester, Connecticut, who efficiently and cheerfully made
available the Beunhogar magazines I needed; and Katherine French-Fuller
at the Hartman Center and Marisa Kritikson at the Archive Center for their
assistance procuring illustrations. Finally, thank you to Chris Chappell and
the anonymous reader at Palgrave Macmillan, and Dr. Pamela Walker
Laird, for their excellent revision suggestions.
I am extraordinarily fortunate to have the friends and family that I do:
thank you all for the many ways you cheered me on during this work.
Dr. Kelly Austin opened her home to me during my research trip to Los
Angeles. Dr. Michelle Ladd drove me around, helped me brainstorm ideas,
and read portions of this book offering both her rigorous critique and her
loving encouragement. Dr. Kelly Douglass, supermom and avowed house-
work hater, gave me courage at several important junctures. I am especially
beholden to my parents, Dr. John Neuhaus and A. Lori Neuhaus, for always
being my biggest fans. My sister Alison Neuhaus regularly boosted my
confidence as a mother and a scholar. My aunt, Dana T. Payne, and grand-
mother, Alison Merriam Payne, offered hospitality and expressed a flat-
tering interest in this project during my research trips to Washington, D.C.
Most importantly, I am thankful beyond words for the abiding love and
support of my significant other, Douglas Butdorf. Navigating our mari-
tal boat together through the sometimes treacherous waters of a shared
domestic life has been and will continue to be the best ride of my life. For
being my partner in all things and because he can always make me laugh,
Doug is the one to whom I owe the most.
This book is dedicated to the next generation: Our awesome and amaz-
ing son, Solomon William Neuhaus; our Buckeye nephews Jacob and
Emmanuel Butdorf; and especially our beautiful and beloved nieces, Ella,
Caroline, and Natalie Neuhaus, with all my love. When you grow up and
make homes of your own, remember that no matter what you see in the
commercials, real men do housework.