This very interesting book discusses the history of female secretaries and stenographers in the United States work force. Due to a shortage of male workers due to the Civil War the first female office workers were hired in 1862 by the Treasury Department to trim paper money. Women have "dainty fingers, can use scissors better than a man and will do it cheaper". How prophetic those last few words would prove to be for decades to come. In those early days of women working outside the home they were viewed as unsavory characters because they were stealing jobs from men. The protestations grew so strident that several states tried to pass legislation that would ban married women from working outside their homes, because, it was believed that once a woman was married the man would provide everything she would ever need. The author includes many quotes from business journals and magazine advertisements from the 20th century an abundance of which depict the steno as a gold digger and a homewrecker.

At first when I began the book I thought these quaint stereotypes of the working woman were rather funny but it did not take long for me to be both angry and sickened by what women were forced to put up with in order to make their way in business. Want ads from the early years of the last century plainly asked for beautiful women under the age of 30 to apply for the jobs. An advertisement as late as 1970 for a new calculator stated that the ultimate test for their product was the "dumb blonde" secretary who was depicted filing her nails. Thank heaven there were women, and some men of course, who stood up for the females in the workforce and helped ease the road for their daughters and granddaughters to be able to achieve the amazing things that woman of today have accomplised. My only problem with this book is that it became very repetitive after awhile but other than that it was a good read.
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Another fascinating exploration of "pink think" culture by Lynn Peril. This time, Peril takes on women in the workplace during the early to mid 20th century--a time when a career woman's highest goal was to be executive secretary to her (male) boss. The idea that a woman could become the boss herself was laughable during this time, despite the fact that there were many educated and talented women swimming around in the steno pool. Chapters include sex in the office (including a description of "scuttle"--a favorite office "game" of Helen Gurley Brown's), dealing with the boss, and the liberated secretary.

I've taken it upon myself to read everything Peril has written--including her two earlier books, "Pink Think" and "College Girls". She is one of my favorite authors and she never disappoints. Her books combine a casual, chatty, funny style of writing with fascinating historical research. "Swimming in the Steno Pool" is a fun, informative read. I can't wait to see what Peril writes next! ( )

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Swimming_in_the_Steno_Pool:_... ( )

A detailed and interesting history of secretaries, stenos and typists. It's easy to look back at this and smugly say "we've come so far", but in today's office environment, the glass ceilings, double standard and a priori judgements are still rife. Well researched, my only complaint with this book is "so what do we do now" -- I wished that the book had more of a hook to give the history a point. ( )