User:Jcornw/sandbox

Progressives believed that the family was the foundation stone of American society, and the government, especially municipal government, must work to enhance the family.[72] Local public assistance programs were reformed to try to keep families together. Inspired by crusading Judge Ben Lindsey of Denver, cities established juvenile courts to deal with disruptive teenagers without sending them to adult prisons.[73][74]

During the progressive era more women took work outside the home. For the working class this work was often as a domestic servant. Yet working or not women were expected to perform all the cooking and cleaning. This “affected female domestics’ experiences of their homes, workplaces, and possessions, While the male household members, comforted by the smells of home cooking, fresh laundry, and soaped floors, would have seen home as a refuge from work, women would have associated these same smells with the labor that they expended to maintain order.” With increased in technology some of this work became easier. The “introduction of gas, indoor plumbing, electricity and garbage pickup had a significant impact on the homes and the women who were responsible form maintaining them.” With the introduction of new methods of heating and lighting the home allowed for use of space once used for storage to become living spaces. Women were targeted by advertisements for many different products once produced at home. These products were anything from mayonnaise, soda, or canned vegetables. (]100)

The purity of food, milk and drinking water became a high priority in the cities. At the state and national levels new food and drug laws strengthened urban efforts to guarantee the safety of the food system. The 1906 federal Pure Food and Drug Act, which was pushed by drug companies and providers of medical services, removed from the market patent medicines that had never been scientifically tested.[75]