Today is the birthday of Lillian Moller Gilbreth, an industrial/organizational psychologist. The title sounds fancy, but it’s really quite practical. She, along with her husband Frank Gilbreth ran a consulting business, helping companies increase productivity and efficiency in their systems. They were particularly looking at things on the human level. 

[A lot of their early work was on how to increase worker efficiency. In one instance, they determined that changing the tone and brightness of the lighting in the workspace would decrease the employees’ eyestrain, thereby increasing productivity. In another, they recommended adjustments to machinery to fit the height of each worker would make for more comfortable and efficient movements. Today we recognize this as ergonomics.]

When Frank Gilbreth passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack, their business took a hit. Frank had struck most of the deals with executives and Lillian found the contacts unwilling to deal with a woman. Soldiering on, Lillian carved out a niche in household markets. She found that she could leverage her motherhood to her advantage. Household brands like Johnson & Johnson and General Electric became top customers for Lillian. 

She is credited for inventing, among other things, the wall switch and foot-pedal trash can, and for adding shelves to refrigerators. Gilbreth helped popularize kitchen layouts that included the “work triangle" which has the fridge, sink, and stove creating a triangle. 

The Gilbreth children said their mother’s own kitchen was a paragon of efficiency, though the only thing she could cook well was cake. 

The Gilbreths involved their 11 children in home efficiency experiments, often with hilarious results, many of which were chronicled in their son & daughter’s memoirs Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes. 

Come Monday, we will be celebrating Memorial Day. Memorial Day has evolved over the years to be the unofficial kick-off to summer in America, with parties, barbeques, and sometimes fireworks. 

The real reason for the holiday though is to remember the servicemen and -women who lost their lives fighting for the United States. The holiday has conflicting origins but is generally recognized as one that started after the civil war as a day to remember those lost in battle. 

Sometimes called ‘Decoration Day’ early Memorial Day celebrations often took place at cemeteries. Family members gathered to decorate the graves of loved ones, often sharing memories and a meal together on the scenic cemetery grounds. Perhaps this is where we get the notion that Memorial Day is a day to cook something on the grill and be outside, enjoying the first hints of summer.

 

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

 

Half a league, half a league,  

  Half a league onward,  

All in the valley of Death  

  Rode the six hundred.  

"Forward, the Light Brigade!  

Charge for the guns!" he said:  

Into the valley of Death  

  Rode the six hundred.  

  

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"  

Was there a man dismay’d?    

Not tho’ the soldier knew  

  Some one had blunder’d:  

Theirs not to make reply,  

Theirs not to reason why,  

Theirs but to do and die:     

Into the valley of Death  

  Rode the six hundred.  

  

Cannon to right of them,  

Cannon to left of them,  

Cannon in front of them    

  Volley’d and thunder’d;  

Storm’d at with shot and shell,  

Boldly they rode and well,  

Into the jaws of Death,  

Into the mouth of Hell    

  Rode the six hundred.  

  

Flash’d all their sabres bare,  

Flash’d as they turn’d in air  

Sabring the gunners there,  

Charging an army, while   

  All the world wonder’d:  

Plunged in the battery-smoke  

Right thro’ the line they broke;  

Cossack and Russian  

Reel’d from the sabre-stroke     

  Shatter’d and sunder’d.  

Then they rode back, but not  

  Not the six hundred.  

  

Cannon to right of them,  

Cannon to left of them,      

Cannon behind them  

  Volley’d and thunder’d;  

Storm’d at with shot and shell,  

While horse and hero fell,  

They that had fought so well    

Came thro’ the jaws of Death,  

Back from the mouth of Hell,  

All that was left of them,  

  Left of six hundred.  

  

When can their glory fade?     

O the wild charge they made!  

  All the world wonder’d.  

Honor the charge they made!  

Honor the Light Brigade,  

  Noble six hundred!