Throughout its history, America has seen incremental improvements in the domestic and social lives of its citizens. Just for instance, Will K. Kellogg--who operated a Battle Creek, Michigan, sanitarium with his brother--developed a new crunchy breakfast cereal to serve in the sanitarium, and sold it to the nation by mail order. The business grew, revolutionizing American eating habits by replacing the traditional heavy, hot breakfast with cold cereals. This reference book is divided into these sections: Agriculture, Art and music, Business and finance, Clothing, Communications, Education, Energy, Entertainment, Food and drink, Health, Labor, Law, Manufacturing, Public service, Religion, Science, Shelter and domestic furnishing, Social welfare, Sports, and Transportation. Within each section the reader will find subsections detailing innovations and advances in that field--for example, Business and finance is made up of Accounting, Banking, Business machines, Exchanges, Hotels, Insurance, Lotteries, Merchandising, Money, Taxes, and Time keeping. This work describes the beginnings of many aspects of daily life in America, covering most innovations through approximately the 1930s. Dedicated to detailing the introduction of various advances or innovations, the book does not attempt to carry them through today.

The Greenwood Press "Daily life through history" series

In the early years of the American Republic the political ideals of the Revolution had pervaded the daily lives of Americans, affirming and transforming the country and its people in the process. Rapid developments in agriculture, encouraged by a strong sense of dignity in work and a bold new spirit of ingenuity sharply reduced the percentage of people who made their living in the fields; the tone of religious tolerance taken up by the founders manifested itself in a fervent yet diverse spiritual community; working and educated citizens alike attended intellectual lectures together in an effort to become responsible and informed citizens; and the family dynamic underwent a profound transformation, especially as it involved children, at the hands of a new democratic idealism. David and Jeanne Heidler discuss the people who lived during this critical time, and uncover the essential and unexpected realities of ordinary life in the early American republic. Included are sections on agriculture; rituals of life, love, and death; employment and the economy; leisure; religion; life beyond the mainstream; and life in the military. This volume is ideal for school and college students, as well as anyone interested in examining the prosaic realities underpinning the lives of the people of the time. A chronology of the time period, maps, illustrations, a bibliography and an index are also included.

Introduction : "I felt everything get bigger and go quicker every day" -- The city -- The railroad -- The factory and organized labor responses -- Housework, houses, and women at home -- Childhood and family life -- Consumer culture -- Leisure and entertainment -- Education and health care -- Religious and civic life -- Conclusion : not the Gilded Age.

While other resources focus on different aspects of the 19th century, such as the Civil War or immigration, this is the first truly comprehensive treatment to cover all aspects of 19th-century history including: population, politics and government, economy and work, society and culture, religion, social problems and reform, everyday life and foreign policy. This set includes more than 600 A-to-Z articles illustrated with more than 400 illustrations and maps, an exhaustive year-by-year chronology, original documents, tables and a complete index. Articles such as Exploration and Explorers, Slavery, Party Organization, Women's Rights, Education and more fulfill curriculum requirements of the National Standards for U.S. History.

In the year 1800 the United States was a fledgling nation. By the time the century ended we had expanded westward exponentially, stamped our imprint as the major power in the Western hemisphere, revolutionized our economy from agriculture to manufacturing, and suffered the schism of a civil war that nearly brought the nation as conceived by our forefathers to an end. To help students better understand the cataclysmic changes of this century, this unique resource offers detailed description and expert analysis of the most important 19th-century events in America: the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, the Monroe Doctrine, Jacksonian Democracy, Abolition, the war with Mexico, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the closing of the frontier, and the Spanish-American War. Each of these events is dealt with in a separate chapter. A factual introductory essay provides clear, concise information in chronological order. The interpretive essay, written in a widely appealing style by a recognized authority, then places each event in a broader context and explores the short-term and far-reaching ramifications of the event. A selected bibliography that follows identifies the most important and recent scholarship about the event. A full-page photo or illustration of each event portrays a visual component to the narrative. The volume contains three useful appendices: a glossary of names, events, and terms; a timeline of important events in 19th-century American history; and a list of 19th-century U.S. presidents, vice presidents, and secretaries of state. This work is an ideal addition to the high school, community college, and undergraduate reference shelf, as well as excellent supplementary reading in social studies and American history courses.

Victorian America, 1876 to 1913 investigates America during a period of immense innovation and profound change. Illustrating numerous aspects of American life, both public and private, the book is a kind of mosaic, from which we discover what Americans ate; what they wore; what they did for entertainment; what songs they sang; what games they played; what books they read; who they voted for; what they worried about; how much they earned and how they spent it; what they grew, manufactured, and produced; how they did or did not provide social services; how they celebrated themselves in three World s Fairs; and much, much more. Readers will find in these pages many perspectives on the culture, the arts, the economy, the politics, and the conditions of ordinary life in the United States during the period between the Civil War and World War I. They will find evidence of diversity, growth, and prosperity, as well as of bigotry, economic blight, and miserable existences wasted in ill-compensated toil. They will find the mansions of Newport and the slums of the Lower East Side, the open door to immigrants and the confinement of the Indians of the western frontier, the capital accumulation of the robber barons and the struggles of workers including child labor for dignity and decent wages. They will find the overwhelming development of technology for example, the invention and spread of the light bulb, the telephone, the automobile, the airplane, and the movies as it fueled the country s growth and changed America forever. In short, Victorian America, 1867 to 1913 reflects all the variety and contradiction of American life in this extraordinary historical era. Carefully chosen and representative information, in a concise, easy-to-use mix of documents, text, tables, and illustrations, allows the reader to sample the texture and flavor of Victorian America.

Summary holdings: 1923-To Date. The World Almanac® and Book of Facts is America's top-selling reference book of all time, with more than 82 million copies sold. Published annually since 1868, this compendium of information is the authoritative source for all your entertainment, reference, and learning needs. The 2015 edition of The World Almanac reviews the events of 2014 and will be your go-to source for any questions on any topic in the upcoming year. Praised as a ''treasure trove of political, economic, scientific and educational statistics and information'' by The Wall Street Journal, The World Almanac® contains thousands of facts that are unavailable publicly elsewhere. The World Almanac® and Book of Facts will answer all of your trivia needs—from history and sports to geography, pop culture, and much more