As more jobs became available to women in the 1910s, those who had worked as domestics in private homes increasingly left to explore new opportunities. One result was that the back staircase, formerly used by domestic help, was not built for most new homes in this period; another consequence was that more women were obliged to do more of their own housework, with little or no outside help. Into these households came a flood of time-saying devices, often with unwieldy designs but always with new, practical applications to the daily housework routines. Large iceboxes, ornate gas-cooking ranges, hefty hot-water heaters, spindly telephones, and almost Gothic-looking hand-cranked washing machines all helped in various ways to reduce the number of hours required to run an average household. Furthermore, electricity became increasingly available in the 1910s; according to a government survey of family expenditures from...