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Modern (Laundry) Production

Item date(s): 2001

Susan Johanknecht


Pages: 22pp
Size: 380mm
Binding: Card slipcase
Edition: One of 150 copies

Type: Accordion fold

Place publication: London
Publisher: Gefn Press

Additional notes:
The book began as a reformation of texts from laundry trade books dating from the 1940's. These books were written in the ambitious management -speak of their day, describing the processes and machinery which structures 'operators' lives. The authors predicted their industry would expand hugely in the future, soon 'the housewife' would prefer to send her washing out to the industrial laundry than do it at home. Of course the technology of cheap domerstic machines radically altered this vision of the future. Most 'operators' today are in open-plan officeslinked to their PCs rather than in sorting rooms or feeding calendar machines, yet similar managerial rules structure their institutions.

The imagery of the book is derived from early twentieth century time and motopn studies. These divided up and recorded 'cycles' of work with a view to standardization and increased production, prefiguring the panoptic efficiency of the twenty-first century workplace.

Printed at the Paupers Press.

Featured on the website: www.pauperspublications.com

Ref: GB/3267



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