Chasing dirt

Suellen M. Hoy

Americans in the early 19th century were, as one foreign traveller bluntly put it, "filthy, bordering on the beastly" - perfectly at home in dirty, bug-infested, malodorous surroundings. Many a home swarmed with flies, barnyard animals, dust, and dirt; clothes were seldom washed; men hardly ever shaved or bathed. Yet gradually all this changed, and today Americans are known worldwide for their obsession with cleanliness - for their sophisticated plumbing, daily bathing, shiny hair and teeth, and spotless clothes. In Chasing Dirt, Suellen Hoy provides a colorful history of this remarkable transformation from "dreadfully dirty" to "cleaner than clean," ranging from the pre-Civil War era to the 1950s, when America's obsession with cleanliness reached its peak. . Hoy offers here a fascinating narrative, filled with vivid portraits of the men and especially the women who helped America...

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