When the need for telephone operators arose in the 1870s, the assumption was that they should all be male. Wages for adult men were too high, so boys were hired. They proved quick to argue with the subscribers, so females replaced them. Women were calmer, had reassuring voices and rarely talked back. Within a few years, telephone operators were all female and would remain so. The pay was low and working conditions harsh. The job often impaired their health, as they suffered abuse from subscribers in silence under pain of dismissal. Discipline was stern--dress codes were mandated, although...
When the need for telephone operators arose in the 1870s, the assumption was that they should all be male. Wages for adult men were too high, so boys ...
Looks at women who passed themselves off as men for a variety of reasons. This book is about a large number of women who were engaged in individual revolt against an obscenely unfair economic system that discriminated openly and egregiously against women. For virtually all the women profiled in this book the act of passing as a man was an act of rebellion against patriarcy.
Looks at women who passed themselves off as men for a variety of reasons. This book is about a large number of women who were engaged in individual re...
The electric vehicle seemed poised in 1900 to be a leader, even the dominant force, in the early American car market. They were clean, odorless, noiseless and they were mechanically simple, compared to their rivals. Yet just two decades later the electric car was dead. This book explores this early history of the electric car.
The electric vehicle seemed poised in 1900 to be a leader, even the dominant force, in the early American car market. They were clean, odorless, noise...
