Chasing Dirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness

by Suellen Hoy

Americans in the early 19th century were, as one foreign traveller bluntly put it, "filthy, bordering on the beastly"--perfectly at home in dirty, bug-infested, malodorous surroundings. Many a home swarmed with flies, barnyard animals, dust, and dirt; clothes were seldom washed; men hardly ever shaved or bathed. Yet gradually all this changed, and today, Americans are known worldwide for their obsession with cleanliness--for their sophisticated plumbing, daily bathing, shiny hair and teeth, and spotless clothes. In Chasing Dirt , Suellen Hoy provides a colorful history of this remarkable transformation from "dreadfully dirty" to "cleaner than clean," ranging from the pre-Civil War era to the 1950s, when American's obsession with cleanliness reached its peak.
Hoy offers here a fascinating narrative, filled with vivid portraits of the men and especially the women who helped America come clean. She examines the work of early promoters of cleanliness, such as Catharine Beecher and Sylvester Graham; and describes how the Civil War marked a turning point in our attitudes toward cleanliness, discussing the work of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, headed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and revealing how the efforts of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War inspired American women--such as Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton, and Louisa May Alcott--to volunteer as nurses during the war. We also read of the postwar efforts of George E. Waring, Jr., a sanitary engineer who constructed sewer systems around the nation and who, as head of New York City's street-cleaning department, transformed the city from the nation's dirtiest to the nation's cleanest in three years. Hoy details the efforts to convince African-Americans and immigrants of the importance of cleanliness,
examining the efforts of Booker T. Washington (who preached the "gospel of the toothbrush"), Jane Addams at Hull House, and Lillian Wald at the Henry Street Settlement House. Indeed, we see how cleanliness gradually shifted from a way to prevent disease to a way to assimilate, to become American. And as the book enters the modern era, we learn how advertising for soaps, mouth washes, toothpastes, and deodorants in mass-circulation magazines showed working men and women how to cleanse themselves and become part of the increasingly sweatless, odorless, and successful middle class. Shower for success!
By illuminating the historical roots of America's shift from "dreadfully dirty" to "squeaky clean," Chasing Dirt adds a new dimension to our understanding of our national culture. And along the way, it provides colorful and often amusing social history as well as insight into what makes Americans the way we are today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Sociology, American History

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 1995

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful narrative about how Americans became so interested in cleanliness and how tied to gender that was/is. The author made an attempt to address issues of race and ethnicity in this story. The integration of advertisements, religious and immigration history into this makes it very lively. The conclusion that cleanliness has decreased in household importance due to women wanting to do other things with their time could be augmented by discussion of how much disposability and waste are part of this story. A different way of looking at US culture.

[Cynthia Echterling · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have ever wanted to know how Americans became obsessed with cleanliness, this book gives you the answers, going from the time when Europeans considered American cities filthy, to changes that occurred after the Civil War when we learned the connection to germs and desease, the immigrations of the 19th century to modern advertising. Hoy's style is easy to read and her book contains many interesting anecdotes.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting study of changing standards of cleanliness and what the cultural implications of these changes were.

[Eric V · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a supplementary text for a literary analysis essay, but was quickly fascinated. This book is a super interesting peek into why Americans are obsessed with cleanliness, and how morality and cleanliness became intertwined. This book is not the most comprehensive manual ever, but it is written in a really interesting way and is a great place to start.

[Gemutlichkeit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh? I learned some things, particularly about the Reconstruction era. But the authors tendency to move through history through generalized statement - "the 50s were like this" — made last few swaths skimmable.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the obscure American history books that I absolutely adore. Fascinating!