Caroline Dwight Emerson wrote this delightful book in 1936. Her clear intention was to demonstrate to the children of 1936 that the modern conveniences they took for granted were not always there. Indeed, 1936's modern conveniences were astonishing new inventions to children in the 1880s and 1890s.
In the 1880s and 1890s, the Marshall family was like everyone else in their town. Their house had been built in 1792 by great grandfather Marshall, and grandma thought it was perfect as is. Father, however, wanted indoor running water. So, the house was torn up while the pipes were installed. When the plumbers left there was an indoor bathroom where an old bedroom used to be! Father did not know, however, that pipes burst if they freeze during the winter. Next Father had a furnace installed to replace the old stoves in each room. But Jimmy Marshall forgot that he put his coat over the chimney while rescuing his kite, and the house filled with smoke.
Then Father wanted electricity, and the house was again torn up. When relatives came for Christmas, all the new lights were turned on, and from a distance the relatives thought the house was on fire! It was so much brighter than any other house on the street. Next, Father had a telephone installed and Mother complained that it rang constantly since each house was assigned a different number of rings and calls often rang in the wrong house.
Finally, Father bought an automobile, but it stoped working because Father did not know it needed refills of gasoline. Notwithstanding all of the initial problems with the new technologies, Jimmy and his sister Nan were excited over each new addition to the house, and the entire town was astonished at these modern miracles.
Ms. Emerson was born in 1891, so it's a sure bet that she was writing about her memories as a child. By 1936, electricity, indoor plumbing, central heating, telephones and automobiles were very common. Nonetheless, imagine the reaction of a 1936-child to the technology of 2017, and you will understand how incredible new technologies appeared to an 1890's child. Would Mr. Marshall be excited over the internet or cable television or smart phones or airplanes? I think so, but this would be a good question to ask after a child has read this book.
The book is out of print, but used copies can be bought from Amazon or Abe Books or other used book sellers. It also is for sale as a scanned version from Scrib.com, and it is available on the Open Library (https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15139411W/Father's_big_improvements). The book was reprinted at least three times in 1960s (and, as a child, I read and adored one of those reprints), so there are many used copies available. Hopefully, the publisher will one day in the near future re-release it.
Published 1965 by Scholastic Book Services, New York.
