Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-177) and index. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Prologue: The urban hearth -- How the industrial economy made the stove -- How mineral heat came to American cities -- How the coal trade made heat cheap -- How the industrial hearth defied control -- How steam heat found its limits -- Epilogue: The industrial hearth -- Appendix: Abbreviations of archives consulted.
Summary:
"Using the challenge of staying warm in the industrializing North as a window into the complex world of energy transitions, economic change, and emerging consumerism, Sean Patrick Adams presents the development of new home heating methods in order to trace connections between structural transformations in the American economy and the experience of average Americans at home. How, in fact, did Country and Hearth negotiate this industrial makeover? Home Fires, the inaugural publication in the new series How Things Worked, lets students see how. Though seemingly simple, the question of home heating prods students to think about natural resources (first wood, then, coal, then oil), logistics, and evolving business practices. Adams depicts the problem of dwindling supplies of firewood and the search for alternatives; the hazards of cutting, digging, and drilling in the name of home heating; the trouble and expense of moving materials from place to place; changing technological means, chiefly the rise of steam power; the rise of an industrial economy; and economic questions, both household and macro. It becomes increasingly clear that debates over energy sources, energy policy, and company profit margins have been around a long time"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.