Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- PART I THE MCMW'S BACKGROUND, 1850- 1875 -- CHAPTER 1 Growing Up Female in Mid- Century England -- CHAPTER 2 Greater London in 1875: A Resident's View -- CHAPTER 3 The MCMW's Spouse and the Couple's First Home -- CHAPTER 4 The Matron's Appearance: Her Looks and Her Clothing -- PART II THE REALITY: LIFE IN GREATER LONDON, 1875- 1900 -- CHAPTER 5 The Housewife as Lowly Domestic: Cleaning the House and Doing the Laundry -- CHAPTER 6 The Housewife as Specialized Domestic: Preparing the Meals and Clothing the Family -- CHAPTER 7 The Housewife as Employer: Managing the Servants -- CHAPTER 8 The Housewife as Financial Manager: Balancing the Budget -- CHAPTER 9 The Housewife in Her Maternal Role: As Bride, Potential Mother, and Pregnant Wife -- CHAPTER 10 The Matron as Guardian of the Family's Health -- CHAPTER 11 The Matron as Nurturer of the Children: Early Child Care and Education -- CHAPTER 12 The Matron as Social Secretary and Activities Coordinator -- CHAPTER 13 The Matron as Morals Arbiter: Managing the Family's Religious and Charitable Obligations -- CHAPTER 14 The Matron as Her Own Person: Satisfying Personal Needs Within and Outside the Home -- CHAPTER 15 The Middle- Class Housewife as Shopper: The Emergence of Late- Nineteenth- Century "Consumerism" -- PART III THE END OF THE CENTURY: CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 16 London in 1900: A World City Reluctant to Change -- CHAPTER 17 The Middle- Class Housewife in 1900: Inadvertent Agent for Change -- Appendix: Victorian Money -- Bibliography -- Index.