Families and Farmhouses in Nineteenth-Century America Vernacular Design and Social Change

by McMurry, Sally

• ISBN13: 9780195044751
• ISBN10: 0195044754
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780195364514
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1988-06-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The antebellum era and the close of the 19th century frame a period of great agricultural expansion. During this time, farmhouse plans designed by rural men and women regularly appeared in the flourishing Northern farm journals. This book analyzes these vital indicators of the work patterns, social interactions, and cultural values of the farm families of the time. Examining several hundred owner-designed plans, McMurry shows the ingenious ways in which "progressive" rural Americans designed farmhouses in keeping with their visions of a dynamic, reformed rural culture. From designs for efficient work spaces to a concern for self-contained rooms for adolescent children, this fascinating story of the evolution of progressive farmers' homes sheds new light on rural America's efforts to adapt to major changes brought by industrialization, urbanization, the consolidation of capitalist agriculture, and the rise of the consumer society.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 3
Notes	p. 8
the Progressive Agriculturist's Vernacular	p. 10
the Shape of Cooperation: the Farmstead as Workplace, 1830-1855	p. 56
the Spheres Diverge: Work on the Progressive Farmstead, 1855-1885	p. 87
City Parlor, Country Sitting Room	p. 135
Supervision to Self-Culture: Children's Spaces on the Progressive Farmstead	p. 177
Notes	p. 204
from Production to Consumption: Progressive Farmhouse Design at the Turn of the Century	p. 209
Notes	p. 219
Epilogue	p. 223
Picture Sources And Credits	p. 251
Index	p. 255
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