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Cheaper by the Dozen

First edition cover (Thomas Y. Crowell Co.)
Author	Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Language	English
Genre	Autobiography
Publisher	Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
Publication date	1948
Media type	Print
Pages	237
ISBN	0-06-076313-2
Followed by	Belles on Their Toes (1950 book; 1952 film)

Cheaper by the Dozen is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, published in 1948. The novel recounts the authors' childhood lives growing up in a household of 13 children. The bestselling book was later adapted into a feature film by Twentieth Century Fox in 1950 and followed up by the sequel, Belles on Their Toes (1950), which was adapted as a 1952 film.

Plot

The book tells the story of time and motion study and efficiency experts Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and their children as they reside in Montclair, New Jersey, for many years. Lillian Gilbreth was described in the 1940s as "a genius in the art of living".

The best-selling biographical novel was composed by two of her twelve children who wrote about their childhoods. Gilbreth's home doubled as a sort of real-world laboratory that tested her and her husband Frank's ideas about efficiency.

The title comes from one of Frank Sr.'s favorite jokes: it often happened that when he and his family were out driving and stopped at a red light, a pedestrian would ask, "Hey, Mister! How come you got so many kids?" Gilbreth would pretend to ponder the question carefully, and then, just as the light turned green, would say, "Well, they come cheaper by the dozen, you know", and drive off.

In real life, although the Gilbreths had 12 children who survived infanthood, only 11 were still living at the time of the stories. In fact, when Mary died of diphtheria at age five, seven of her siblings were not yet born, so there never were 12 children alive at the same time. The book mentions by name only the 11 children who lived to adulthood, though it sometimes talks as if the total number were 12. From oldest to youngest, they are Anne, Ernestine (Ern), Martha (Mart), Frank Jr., Bill, Lillian (Lill), Fred, Dan, John (Jack), Bob, and Jane. It was not until the sequel, Belles on Their Toes, was published in 1950 that Mary's death is mentioned in a footnote.

The stories in the book are organized topically. They skip around in time, in ways that are not always clear. For example, Bill is mentioned as having been 6 years old at the time of the story in which he honks the car horn while his father is under the hood trying to fix the engine. This would have been around 1919, before the three youngest children were born, though this detail is not mentioned.

At the time of Frank Sr.'s death in 1924, the oldest child (Anne) was 20 years old and the youngest (Jane) was nearly 2 years old.

Adaptations

Cheaper by the Dozen was made into a 1950 motion picture, starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.

Cheaper by the Dozen was adapted as a stage play in 1992 by Christopher Sergel. It played at Grey Lite Theatre in 1992, directed by Lori David.

Cheaper by the Dozen has been adapted as a musical, dramatized by Christopher Sergel with a score by David Rogers and Mark Bucci.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), starring comedians Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, make a few references to the 1950 film. On the cover of Kate's book (Kate is the female lead character in the movies), the title is shown to be Cheaper by the Dozen, and the author's maiden name appears as Gilbreth (the name of the real family in the book upon which the 1950 film was based). During a game of Apple Schmear, Nora tells Hank that her "Great Grandma Gilbreth" invented the game. Furthermore, Lorraine and Tom argue about how much time she should be allotted in front of the mirror in the mornings. He allots her a few extra minutes, connecting back to the time efficiency specialist that the father, Frank Gilbreth, was in the 1950 film.

On August 7, 2019, it was announced by Disney CEO Bob Iger that a remake of Cheaper by the Dozen was in development and would premiere on the Company's upcoming streaming Service, Disney+. Gail Lerner in talks to direct the film.

Contemporary appraisals

Re-reading the book in 2003, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Yardley wrote in The Washington Post: "t is a joy to report that Cheaper by the Dozen still reads remarkably well. ... The prose ... is unadorned and matter of fact, and its organizational structure is a bit difficult to detect, but what matters most is that it is a touching family portrait that also happens to be very, very funny."

The book won the French International Humor Award and has been translated into a dozen languages.

References

1. ^ Carol, Kennedy (2007-01-01). Guide to the management gurus. Random House Business. ISBN 9781905211029. OCLC 655247876.
2. Tamny, Elizabeth M. (1 January 2004). "Cheaper by Eleven?". Chicago Reader.
3. "Cheaper by the Dozen". Dramatic Publishing. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
4. "Cheaper by the Dozen (musical)". Dramatic Publishing. ISBN 0871295601. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
5. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/disney-will-remake-cheaper-by-the-dozen-home-alone-more-beloved-films
6. https://thedisinsider.com/2019/08/11/gail-lerner-to-direct-cheaper-by-the-dozen-reboot/
7. Yardley, Jonathan (August 25, 2003). "Second Reading - Gold by a Couple: 'Cheaper by the Dozen'". The Washington Post.
8. McLellan, Dennis (2006-11-07). "Ernestine Carey, 98; wrote a comical look at her big family in 'Cheaper by the Dozen'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-01-08.

Further reading

• Gilbreth, Frank B., Jr. (Summer 1991). "The Gilbreth 'Bug-lights'". Historic Nantucket. Vol. 39, no. 2. Nantucket Historical Association. pp. 20–22.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (Article by Frank Jr. about their summer home on Nantucket Island.)
• "The Gilbreths: An Extraordinary American Family"., comprehensive family and professional history.

• 1948 books
• American biographies
• Time and motion study
• Thomas Y. Crowell Co. books
• Novels set in New Jersey
• Novels set in the 1920s