{"id":10541,"date":"2011-01-08T05:01:23","date_gmt":"2011-01-08T05:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/"},"modified":"2011-01-08T05:01:23","modified_gmt":"2011-01-08T05:01:23","slug":"when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/","title":{"rendered":"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers – Domecons, Norths, and Souths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"practicebabies_wide1.jpg\"<\/a>\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. . .\u201d<\/i> starts a very recent novel \u2013 \u201cThe Irresistible Henry House\u201d<\/b> written by Lisa Grunwald<\/p>\n

There was a time in US, when young girls were given practice for motherhood. And this practice was given not with dolls or theory but actual practice. Little babies were brought in from the orphanages to the dorms of universities offering \u201cHome Economics\u201d. One of top ones \u2013 Cornell \u2013 had Practice apartments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At Cornell each semester, eight women students lived with a resident advisor in the \u201cpractice apartment,\u201d where they took turns performing a full range of homemaking activities in a scientific and cost-efficient manner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The first baby who came to Cornell in 1919 was called Dicky Domecon. Domecon for \u201cDomestic Economics\u201d. These babies were called \u201cPractice Babies\u201d. Every baby in Cornell shared the same last name \u201cDomecon\u201d. In another University \u2013 Illinois State University \u2013 kids had last names as North<\/b> or South<\/b> \u2013 depending on which building they were raised in.<\/p>\n

The entire practice of \u201cmothercraft\u201d was very carefully scheduled and programmed. Mothers cared for the babies in rotation. Either one girl would have the baby for one week to 10 days at a time and then another girl would take over. In other cases, while one girl would take care of the baby in the morning until his nap, and then the other girl would take over after the baby woke up.<\/p>\n

From the records that people have found, it doesn\u2019t seem that the public opinion was against that practice. In fact, in some cases, the babies had a better deal. They would come into the \u201cPractice Apartments\u201d malnourished and become well fed very soon and well looked after.<\/p>\n

Although in case of these kids, they would have developed an issue of attachment to people and relationships. Since no mother had any long term relationship with any baby, the babies did not get to relate with any mother.<\/p>\n

These babies, however, used to be most sought after for adoption, since as per the norms and wisdom of the American society of that time, they had been \u201cScientifically raised\u201d. Remember, that was the society which had Gurus of management, such as Frederick Taylor, who propagated scientific measurement of actions on the shop floor<\/p>\n

So, as unethical and lacking of basic human feelings this practice of \u201cPractice Mothercraft, Babies and Apartments\u201d it may seem \u2013 that Home economics of that time was, it was a win-win for most of the stakeholders. This at least gives one indication \u2013 that sometimes we evaluate a lot of things based on the mores of our times and sensibilities and at times, what may seen \u201cbad\u201d may actually work pretty well for most.<\/p>\n

How would you think about the practice babies?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1517,"featured_media":12312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciences"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers - Domecons, Norths, and Souths<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. .\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers - Domecons, Norths, and Souths\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. .\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Drishtikone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-08T05:01:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Desh Kapoor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Desh Kapoor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/\",\"name\":\"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers - Domecons, Norths, and Souths\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-08T05:01:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-01-08T05:01:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/e24bcebf9da3425dd595b71543245311\"},\"description\":\"\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. .\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers – Domecons, Norths, and Souths\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/\",\"name\":\"Drishtikone\",\"description\":\"Perspective on Life and World from Hindu and Indian standpoints\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/e24bcebf9da3425dd595b71543245311\",\"name\":\"Desh Kapoor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3cc132f0b1d11236e6dc28b12e598a23?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3cc132f0b1d11236e6dc28b12e598a23?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Desh Kapoor\"},\"description\":\"Making sense of the world via the perspective of Dharma and Hinduism. Drishtikone literally means \\\"View from an Angle\\\" in Hindi. It is a word used for \\\"Perspective\\\" in Hindi conversations.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/author\/drishtikone\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers - Domecons, Norths, and Souths","description":"\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. .","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers - Domecons, Norths, and Souths","og_description":"\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. .","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/","og_site_name":"Drishtikone","article_published_time":"2011-01-08T05:01:23+00:00","author":"Desh Kapoor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Desh Kapoor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/","name":"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers - Domecons, Norths, and Souths","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-01-08T05:01:23+00:00","dateModified":"2011-01-08T05:01:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/e24bcebf9da3425dd595b71543245311"},"description":"\u201cBy the time Henry House was four months old, a copy of his picture was being carried in the pocketbooks of seven different women, each of whom called him her son. .","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2011\/01\/when-practice-babies-were-raised-practice-mothers-domecons-norths-and-souths\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Practice Babies were Raised by Practice Mothers – Domecons, Norths, and Souths"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/","name":"Drishtikone","description":"Perspective on Life and World from Hindu and Indian standpoints","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/e24bcebf9da3425dd595b71543245311","name":"Desh Kapoor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3cc132f0b1d11236e6dc28b12e598a23?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3cc132f0b1d11236e6dc28b12e598a23?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Desh Kapoor"},"description":"Making sense of the world via the perspective of Dharma and Hinduism. Drishtikone literally means \"View from an Angle\" in Hindi. It is a word used for \"Perspective\" in Hindi conversations.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/author\/drishtikone\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1517"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}