Readers of Cheaper by the Dozen remember Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972) as the working mom who endures the antics of not only twelve children but also an engineer husband eager to experiment with the principles of efficiency -- especially on his own household. What readers today might not know is that Lillian Gilbreth was herself a high-profile engineer, and the only woman to win the coveted Hoover Medal for engineers. She traveled the world, served as an advisor on women's issues to five U.S. presidents, and mingled with the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart. Her husband, Frank Gilbreth, died after twenty years of marriage, leaving her to raise their eleven surviving children, all under the age of nineteen. She continued her career and put each child through college. Retiring at the age of ninety, Lillian Gilbreth was the working mother who "did it all." Jane Lancaster's spirited and richly detailed biography tells Lillian Gilbreth's life story-one that resonates with issues faced today by many working women. Lancaster confronts the complexities of how one of the twentieth century's foremost career women could be pregnant, nursing, or caring for children for more than three decades. Yet we see how Gilbreth's engineering work dovetailed with her family life in the professional and domestic partnership that she forged with her husband and in her long solo career. The innovators behind many labor-saving devices and procedures used in factories, offices, and kitchens, the Gilbreths tackled the problem of efficiency through motion study. To this Lillian added a psychological dimension, with empathy toward the worker. The couple's expertise also yielded the "Gilbreth family system," a model that allowed the mother to be professionally active if she chose, while the parents worked together to raise responsible citizens. Lancaster has woven into her narrative many insights gleaned from interviews with the surviving Gilbreth children and from historical research into such topics as technology, family, work, and feminism. Filled with anecdotes, this definitive biography of Lillian Gilbreth will engage readers intrigued by one of America's most famous families and by one of the nation's most successful women.

The #1 New York Times–bestselling classic: A hilarious memoir of two parents, twelve kids, and “a life of cheerfully controlled chaos” (The New York Times). Translated into more than fifty languages, Cheaper by the Dozen is the unforgettable story of the Gilbreth clan as told by two of its members. In this endearing, amusing memoir, siblings Frank Jr. and Ernestine capture the hilarity and heart of growing up in an oversized family. Mother and Dad are world-renowned efficiency experts, helping factories fine-tune their assembly lines for maximum output at minimum cost. At home, the Gilbreths themselves have cranked out twelve kids, and Dad is out to prove that efficiency principles can apply to family as well as the workplace. The heartwarming and comic stories of the jumbo-size Gilbreth clan have delighted generations of readers, and will keep you and yours laughing for years. This ebook features an illustrated biography including rare photos from the authors’ estates.

In this delightful memoir by the authors of Cheaper by the Dozen, the twelve Gilbreth children cope with the loss of their father as they grow up together. With twelve kids, life at the Gilbreth house has always been a big project. But after their father passes away, there are more challenges than ever. And yet, with the irrepressible blend of humor and good cheer characteristic of one of the most beloved families in America, the Gilbreths happily rise to every occasion and find a way to keep it all together. With the clan struggling to make ends meet, everyone has to pitch in. As their resourceful mother works to keep the family business running without Dad, the kids tackle the adventures of raising themselves and running a household. Their attempts to pinch pennies frequently result in chaos. From tragedy and the trials of the first year as a single-parent household to the daily crises of a family with a double-digit headcount, the episodes in Belles on Their Toes are poignant, inspiring, and hilarious. “From start to finish, it is a reading joy,” raved the Chicago Sunday Tribune. “There is a sincere and heartwarming atmosphere in this second volume,” wrote Library Journal, “that makes it almost better reading, if possible, than the first.” This ebook features an illustrated biography including rare photos from the authors’ estates.

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Reminiscences of Lillian Gilbreth, co-author of Cheaper by the Dozen and recipient of honors and awards which are listed at the end of the book along with academic degrees, memberships, and books and articles she authored.