Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life, 1876-1915

This was purchased to help with research for this time of our history. It is excellent and has provided much needed and trustworthy information.

This is the best book I have found so far detailing life in Victorian America.

Make no mistake about it: this book is less a history of everyday life in the United States in the Gilded Age than it is an encyclopedia of an astonishing range of facts about life in that period arranged around a series of very general themes. In a lesser book, this could be accounted a flaw, but in Schlereth's case it is a virtue because of the quality and pertinence of the particular bits of information that Schlereth pulls together. I felt I came away from the book not merely with a deeper knowledge of what life was like in America around the beginning of the 20th century, but a deeper appreciation for and sense of what life was like at the time. This was especially brought home to me upon reading SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser shortly upon finishing Schlereth's book. On almost every page I remembered something from his book that illumined in some way or other the events in that novel (which was published in 1900, but set in around 1890).What I most appreciate about the book is the sense that it was during this period that a way of life that most people living today would recognize and feel at home with developed. Most of the conveniences that we take for granted--grocery and department stores, electricity, the telephone, our particular forms of housing, indoor plumbing, and a host of other services and products, all became prevalent during the period covered in this book. I urge anyone with an interest in the deep background of life in this century a century ago to look closely at this volume

I'm an old house owner (and writer!) who was *searching* for answers to the curiosities of old house living, 100 years ago. I found this book 100% fascinating. Lots and lots of "aha...that's why they did that..." I originally checked it out of the library and then found it so intriguing, I purchased my own copy. As a prior reviewer said, it is an unusual book because it deals with the 1001 nuances of everyday life in an average person's day. GREAT reading. Rose Thornton author, The Houses That Sears Built co-author, California's Kit Homes

I had to read this book for a history class and I must say that I was extremely impressed. This book does not concern itself with wars or political leaders, but instead focuses on the everyday life for the ordinary American. This is a social history, presenting the dramatic change that occurred in the workplace, housing preferences and communication, during the years of 1876 to 1915. It is a very vivid account of this age and one can learn a lot about what it was like to live in America during this time period, by just reading the book. I highly recommend it.