Story: Household management

Parents and children often worked together on household tasks – this 1958 photograph shows a mother and daughter doing dishes together. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was common for a girl in a family to be picked as the one who would help out at home and in some instances be responsible for caring for parents as they grew older. This was often an older child, who was expected to spend her life performing the repetitive and physically demanding work of caring for others.