_C. Henry Hathaway_




FOREWORD


The manufacture of home devices to be used by women in household work
is of comparatively recent development, the growth of the industry has
been so rapid that many manufacturers are still groping to establish
standards that will meet the new and uncertain conditions under which
their product must be used.

Dealers in household equipment as well as manufacturers are still
uncertain as to what constitutes the selling value of an article,
because it has been impossible to predicate the conditions, the care
and skill with which each device would be used after it was marketed.
It is comparatively easy for designer and factory manager to guard
against known conditions of use. The dishwashing machine for a hotel or
restaurant service can be built to perform with satisfactory
efficiency. Its operating purposes and costs are known, the skill of
its operators is more or less established, and the materials can be so
selected to result in a satisfactory life of the machine.

It is a different story when the manufacturer's product is to be used
in the typical American home. Household equipment of every type must be
made so that it will prove adaptable to different service conditions,
with regard to both homes and actual users. An even more important