Cheaper by the Dozen

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were efficiency experts. Frank basically invented the field of motion study, looking to save a minute here and a second there at every opportunity. He tried shaving once with two razors, but the time he saved shaving he then spent - and then some! - tending to the cuts he inflicted upon himself. It was much to his chagrin, then, that in their quest to have "an even dozen," none of the children were multiples.

Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey have created a charming portrait of growing up in the midst of this large and eccentric family. Because of their parents' fame and wealth, life in the Gilbreth household was vastly different from life in most of America in the early part of the twentieth century. The family resides in an imposing home, maintains a summer home on Nantucket Island, and travels between the two in "Foolish Carriage," a temperamental 1914 Pierce Arrow that was, naturally, the most luxurious car money could buy.

Like Over the Top, Cheaper by the Dozen clearly illuminates life in another era. And what a life. Admittedly, the Gilbreths are so far ahead of their time, what with weekly trips to the movies and their propensity to go for long drives in Foolish Carriage, that I often felt like that era was three or four decades later than it actually was!

The adventures had by the Gilbreths, beyond outings in their automobile, were manifold, and mostly instigated by father Frank, "a born limilight-hogger," as he was described in a 2003 Washington Post review. (Notably, the Post reviewed Cheaper by the Dozen as part of an occasional series in which their book critics review "notable or neglected" books from the past. But I digress.) From teaching his clan to touch type, to learning to sail, to lessons on Morse Code conducted by painting dots and dashes on the walls of the summer home, Frank's energy and enthusiasm is the impetus behind the Gilbreths' memorable antics.

Yet it is clear from the opening pages that it is mother Lillian who truly rules the roost. Born to an exceptionally wealthy Bay Area family, Lillian did what few women in the 1890s managed: she graduated from college. In fact, at the time of her marriage, one of the newspapers reported that "Although a graduate of the University of California, the bride is nonetheless an extremely attractive young woman." Indeed. With her calm demeanor and distaste for all things "Eskimo" (i.e., off-color, even slightly), she infuses the book - and obviously her family - with warmth and love.

Overall, Cheaper by the Dozen was delightful. It makes an especially good beach (or airplane, as the case may be) read. I found myself quickly immersed in the Gilbreths' lives, and the pages just flew by.

*Footnote: I could not understand why Gilbreth #2, Mary, was not mentioned in the book beyond the fact of her birth. It turns out she died at age 5, in 1912, of diphtheria. And so, in fact, there were never actually a dozen Gilbreth children together.