Half a Banana, Two Baked Beans, and Zero Kisses: Parenting Advice in the Early Twentieth Century

05/23/23 • 30 min

Was Dr. Benjamin Spock’s bestseller The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care popular because early twentieth century parenting guides were awful and harsh?
Spock recording used with permission from WNYC Archive Collections.
References

Atkinson, V. Sue. “Shifting Sands: Professional Advice to Mothers in the First Half of the Twentieth Century.” Journal of Family History vol. 42, no. 2, 2017, pp. 128-146.
Cooper, D. “Dr. Benjamin Spock.” WNYC. 1 October 1973.
Maier, Thomas. Dr. Spock: An American Life. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998.
Needleman, Robert and Benjamin Spock. Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, 10th edition. Gallery Books, 2018.
Spock, Benjamin. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1957.
---. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1946.
Spock, Benjamin, M.D. and Mary Morgan. Spock on Spock: A Memoir of Growing Up with the Century. Pantheon Books, New York, 1985.

Keywords
Baby doctor, celebrity doctor, celebrity M.D., pediatrics, pediatrician, pediatricians, baby expert, baby whisperer, attachment parenting, attachment parent, koala parenting, gentle parenting, gentle parent, elimination communication, potty training, toilet training, hospital birth, homebirth, home birth, infant feeding, baby led weaning, behaviorism, hygienists, history, history research, history pod, history podcast, pasteurization, louis pasteur, infant mortality, food safety, formula feeding, formula, baby formula, united states history, american history, U.S. history, housewife, tradwife, traditional wife, house work, mother love, baby food, toddlers, fresh air, Healthy kid, healthy kids, spoiled milk, summer complaint, scarlet fever, malaria

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Atkinson, V. Sue. “Shifting Sands: Professional Advice to Mothers in the First Half of the Twentieth Century.” Journal of Family History vol. 42, no. 2, 2017, pp. 128-146.
Cooper, D. “Dr. Benjamin Spock.” WNYC. 1 October 1973.
Maier, Thomas. Dr. Spock: An American Life. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998.
Needleman, Robert and Benjamin Spock. Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, 10th edition. Gallery Books, 2018.
Spock, Benjamin. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1957.
---. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1946.
Spock, Benjamin, M.D. and Mary Morgan. Spock on Spock: A Memoir of Growing Up with the Century. Pantheon Books, New York, 1985.

Previous Episode

Introducing Spock Talk, A Podcast About the History of Parenting Advice

Spock Talk is a new conversational podcast about the history of parenting advice. Over ten episodes, we'll cover the life and legacy of Dr. Benjamin Spock, exploring his predecessors, privilege, medical training, written works, activism, and personal finances, as we try to answer: just who gets to tell parents how to parent?

Next Episode

Silver Spoon, Outdoor School, and Blue Striped Suits: How Nepo Privilege Created the Ultimate Parenting Influencer

Did a privileged upbringing, Yale legacy admission, and dapper fashion sense establish Dr. Benjamin Spock as a trustworthy authority on child rearing?
Spock recording used with permission from WNYC Archive Collections.
References

Bloom, Lynn. Doctor Spock: Biography of a Conservative Radical. The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1972.
Cooper, D. “Dr. Benjamin Spock.” WNYC. 1 October 1973.
Kaye, Judith. The Life of Benjamin Spock. Twenty-First Century Books, 1993.
Maier, Thomas. Dr. Spock: An American Life. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998.
Needleman, Robert and Benjamin Spock. Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, 10th edition. Gallery Books, 2018.
“Scroll and Key.” Wikipedia. Accessed 21 April 2023.
Spock, Benjamin. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1957.
---. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1946.
Spock, Benjamin, M.D. and Mary Morgan. Spock on Spock: A Memoir of Growing Up with the Century. Pantheon Books, 1985.

Keywords
Gentry, spock, spaak, outdoor school, new haven, new haven connecticut, connecticut, crew, rowing, crew team, yale grad, yale graduate, ivy league, ivy, rowing team, olympic, olympics paris, yale rowing, olympian, gold medal, olympic gold, olympics, olympic rowing, olympic crew, usa olympics, parenting influencer, skull and bones, skull + bones, legacy admission, white privilege, scroll and key, scroll + key, wolfs head, secret society, yale secret society, english major, yale undergrad, yale med, yale medical school, med school, medical school, medical school admission, ivy diploma, college diploma, college admission, yale gpa, louise farnam, lady doctor, nepo baby, columbia university, columbia medical school, columbia med, columbia medical school, new york, 1929, pediatrician, pediatrics, pediatrics practice, navy doctor, navy medicine, dapper, blue suit, blue striped suit, white coat, clotheshorse, fashion focused, fashion, vintage fashion, mens fashion, male fashion, book deal, baby book, parenting book, pocket books, baby clothes, baby and child care, fresh air

Spock Talk: A Parenting Advice Podcast - Half a Banana, Two Baked Beans, and Zero Kisses: Parenting Advice in the Early Twentieth Century

Transcript

Intro

Welcome to Talk Spock! The podcast The podcast that explores:

What’s the deal with Dr. Benjamin Spock?
How did Baby and Child Care become the preeminent parenting guide of the 20th century?
Who gets to tell parents how to parent?

Who are we?

First of all, who are we? And why are we talking about Dr. Spock?

I’m Deborah

And I’m Katie

And we co-host another podcast,