>
>Again, I would classify baking cakes and the like in a
>modern household to be more of a leisure activity than
>necessary "housework". Of course, I'm a bachelor with
>a very messy house, so I probably don't know what I'm
>talking about (as usual)...
again, the theme was 19th century/turn of 20th. today, i go shopping for bread and so, yes, it doesn't take any time at all. but back then the work load of a housewife increased significantly as the industrial revolution severed "home" from "work" and technological developments were geared with an eye toward the convenience of those running factories (desire for greater efficiency), not for those doing the housework. combine that with heavy marketing shaping people's values re cleanliness, fashion, style, health and the like and you are easily talking spending much more time obtaining those standards. i agree that since early 70s women are spending more time doing housework. my fave indicator of that is the increasingly shelf space devoted to "smelly stuff" to cover up the smell or make it all "feel" like it's been freshly scrubbed: candles, scented toilet paper holders, plug in deodorizers, etc etc.
as for making things from scratch, for people who are poor, it's not unusual to make things from scratch. i make a great deal from scratch when i'm living on grad salary. while i'm transitioning from that world to a better paid one, now, i wash a lot of my clothes by hand and hang them up to dry. imagine that. when married and on edge of poverty, i had a garden and canned and froze a lot of food to save money. it was a way of life for a lot of people in my neighborhood, not a hobby alone.
also, i know of NO ONE with a vagina who sits and waits for the laundry to finish. a load gets thrown in, you scrub and bleach dirty clothes for another load while waiting, fold and put away the dried load, clean laundry room, sweep and mop floors, wash out laundry baskets, etc
god, between you and my son who has managed to misplace all the groovy tools from my tool box and spread them from one end of this house to another.....
kelley