Cheaper By the Dozen,
Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Stephen Kiernan

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN was read by Stephen Kiernan, raised near Albany, New York, in a baker’s half dozen—that’s 7 kids. He’s a journalist and editor
It’s a rarity now to grow up in a crowd of children, but the story of the Gilbreth family still makes us laugh. And their family adventures and squabbles sound awfully familiar. The story was published 50 years ago, about growing up 40 years before that and you still can’t help laughing aloud when you read it.

THINGS TO DO ONLINE

The Gilbreth clan
Families had just started taking snapshots when the Gilbreths were children because Eastman Kodak developed the Brownie and other simple cameras. Here is a Gilbreth family album.

What are time-and-motion studies?
The Gilbreth family carried on at home their parents’ business—making American workplaces more efficient. In fact, you could say they were Gilbreth guinea pigs. But helping people work efficiently—smoothly and with the least effort—was the Gilbreths’ main goal. Ever seen a TV show about doctors where they do surgery—like M.A.S.H.—and their instruments are laid out in rows on a tray so the nurse can put their hands on them almost without looking? That’s something the Gilbreths' showed the medical professional how to do. After World War I, when many soldiers lost their legs or arms, the Gilbreths studied amputees’ motions and different jobs to see which jobs they could do. This was a great help, because otherwise many of these men could not have gotten back to work. If you want to know more, look on the web for “time-and-motion” then add “+Gilbreth”.

What’s a therblig?
Look into Puzzling Events for the Cheaper by the Dozen challenge.

Trivia quiz
What’s a watershed? Try this kids’ quiz and learn a few things about engineering that makes it sound like fun.

MORE THINGS TO DO

Make family history
Maybe you have a relative who grew up in a large family, as most people in your grandparents’ and certainly great-grandparents’ generation did. Talk to them about what that was like. You might even get them to help you write these family stories down so you have them many years from now.

Do a drawing
The Gilbreths tried to organize everything they did—from brushing teeth to getting everyone out of the house if there was a fire alarm--was organized, organized, organized. Think about something your family does every day and see if you can figure out a way to do it more efficiently. Then do a drawing that shows us the way it’s done now and how you would change it. Send it to us, by having it scanned into the computer as a .jpg or .gif and then attaching it to an email sent through the Contact Us section.

Cook chili for a crowd, efficiently
Go to Camel’s Hump Cooks for a warming chili recipe—vegetarian. Follow our directions to see how efficiency can make cooking faster and easier.

Note: The "Things to do" sections can often use an adult's help or encouragement.



FROM THE CHR LIBRARIAN

The Gilbreth chronicles
Cheaper by the Dozen’s sequel, Belles on Their Toes takes up right after Frank Gilbreth Sr. dies and getting the family raised and through college is tough going but handled resourcefully even when Mother has to be away. It’s just as hilariously funny as Cheaper by the Dozen, but possibly for slightly older children. Both books were made into movies that are available on video.

Take your daughter to work…with Lillian Gilbreth
Read a profile of one of the sturdiest American women pioneers—in engineering, that is. Lillian Gilbreth isn’t the model of motherhood she once was, but as a scientist, who could be better—practical, effective, absorbed in her work but also finding time for her children?

What will I be when I grow up?
What do children want to grow up to be nowadays, other than Leonardo Di Caprio, Julia Roberts or a rock singer? It can be a little hard to communicate what some more realistic goals are, so take a look at this website directed at kids that tells about industrial engineer Tyler Kress. There’s plenty more out on the web that you can share with kids.

The Gilbreth way—“therbligs”
Yes, their work on making American manufacturing, businesses and professions more efficient was done 80 or more years ago, but ‘being more efficient’—which means doing things faster but also more comfortably while increasing output—fits remarkably well today. Here’s an illustrated overview of the Gilbreths’ innovations.

Lillian Gilbreth carries on
Frank Gilbreth died young, in his mid-50s, but Lillian Moller Gilbreth carried on with their time-and-motion studies, taught at Purdue University and became known across the country. She also managed to get all 12 children through college after he husband’s death. For your amusement, here’s a photo gallery of Lillian’s household recommendations for efficiency in the kitchen. We’ve given an ‘efficiency lesson’ for making chili in Camel’s Hump Cooks, but here’s an online Lillian-influenced chicken recipe, showing that her work still influences Americans today.