Working Americans, 1880-1999 - Volume 2: the Middle Class

Each of the volumes in the Working Americans 1880-1999 series focuses on a particular class of Americans, The Working Class, The Middle Class and The Upper Class over the last 120 years. Chapters in each volume focus on one decade and profile three to five families. Family Profiles include real data on Income & Job Descriptions, Selected Prices of the Times, Annual Income, Annual Budgets, Family Finances, Life at Work, Life at Home, Life in the Community, Working Conditions, Cost of Living, Amusements and much more. Each chapter also contains an Economic Profile with Average Wages of other Professions, a selection of Typical Pricing, Key Events & Inventions, News Profiles, Articles from Local Media and Illustrations. The Working Americans series captures the lifestyles of each of the classes from the last twelve decades, covers a vast array of occupations and ethnic backgrounds and travels the entire nation. These interesting and useful compilations of portraits of the American Working, Middle and Upper Classes during the last 120 years will be an important addition to any high school, public or academic library reference collection.

This set looks at what kind of work Americans did, the homes they lived in, the goods they bought, the entertainment they sought, and the society and history that shaped their world from 1880 to 1999. The well-organized books are designed to facilitate our understanding of the growth and development as well as the lifestyle and economic life of the working and middle classes over a century. Information to paint this picture was taken from government surveys, social worker histories, economic data, diaries and letters, and newspaper and magazine articles.

Each chapter in each volume covers a decade (except the first chapter, which encompasses 1880 to 1899), and each opens with an overview of important historical events to place the decade in time. Next, a "Family Profile" takes a representative but fictional family (e.g., "Italian Oyster Inspector from New York," "Life Insurance Agent from Nebraska") and examines the income, expenses, cost of living, selected prices of the time, amusements, life at home, life at work, and life in the community. Statistical data provided by a governmental study were often used as the basis for the profiles, fleshed out by extensive research into the times, professions, and geographic locations of the families, each of which was given a name. A "Historical Snapshot" for each decade--including advertisements, magazine covers, posters, campaign buttons, postcards, cartoons, and articles from local media--enriches the look and feel of the standard information provided. An "Economic Profile" provides statistical comparisons to put the family's life in perspective. Charts include income of standard jobs, selected prices, and sometimes commercial events and inventions. Some chapters also provide discussions of important issues faced by families, such as war.

Volume I: The Working Class offers 72 family profiles covering more than 25 ethnic groups and 34 occupations, from urban factory workers to homesteaders. Volume II: The Middle Class covers 32 occupations and many ethnic groups in 76 family profiles. A detailed table of contents in each volume provides clear guides to chapters and sections. Each volume also gives a lengthy list of source documents. The second volume offers a comprehensive index providing access to many more specific topics.

These interesting, unique compilations of economic and social facts, figures, and graphs will support multiple research needs. They will engage and enlighten patrons in high-school, public, and academic library collections. REVWR
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Following Derks's Working Americans, 1880-1999. Vol. 1: The Working Class (LJ 7/00), this second volume in a proposed multivolume set shifts its focus to the history, occupations, homes, and lifestyles of the middle class. The approach is, however, the same: Derks analyzes several families decade by decade using a variety of sourcesAgovernment surveys, social worker histories, economic data, family diaries and letters, newspapers, and magazine features. This second volume, whose 76 family profiles cover a wide variety of occupational and ethnic backgrounds across America, examines such issues as income, expenses, life at home, life at work, life in the community, and so forth. Each chapter covers one decade and includes an economic profile, historical snapshots, news profiles, articles from local media, and illustrations from popular materials of the period. Like its predecessor, this volume includes a detailed table of contents, index, and bibliographical references but no traditional footnotes. It complements other works, such as Melvin Williams's The Black Experience in Middle Class America (Edwin Mellen, 2000) and Stuart Blumin's The Emergence of the Middle Class: Social Experience in the American City, 1760-1900 (1989). Both engaging and informative, this well-written volume will enhance the study of the middle class and social history.AEdward G. McCormack, Univ. of Southern Mississippi Lib., Gulf Coast
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