“As the new century opened, old Victorian social patterns were further substantially modified by Progressive Era emphasis on the housewife as a ‘domestic engineer’...now she was a manager responsible for the ‘scientific management’ of the home. This meant she had to know budgeting, sanitation, and the characteristics of food (balanced meals); she had to be an informed consumer.” (155-56)

(Palen, J. John. The Suburbs. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995. Print.)