Home Economics: Product Development and Promotion

An elite group of home economists found jobs in the 1920s working in business. Commercial work for home economists was nothing new; as early as the 1880s domestic scientists had provided consulting services for a number of companies. Many food processors relied on home economists during World War I to ally their brand-name products to the patriotic cause of food conservation. After the war corporate managers created a more permanent place for home economists because they saw them as a means of getting closer to female consumers. Home economists’ dual identity—as women and as scientists—perfectly suited the needs of these managers. By 1940 the AHEA’s business section included more than six hundred members working as permanent employees in more than four hundred private enterprises, including utility companies, women’s magazines, restaurants, manufacturers of household equipment, and retail firms. These women helped to correlate supply and demand for many elements of the modern kitchen.