The Woman Who Revolutionized Housework Poem by Paula Glynn

The woman who revolutionized housework
Being an inspirational founding director
Professionally named DD Cottington Taylor
Of starting-out "Good Housekeeping" magazine
March 1922 the year she would set society's scene
Bringing the mission of "no drudgery in the house"
While still being house proud and for others doing good.

Where middleclass women were encouraged
To clean their big houses themselves
While their husbands faithfully worked
And were also soldiers in the World Wars
In later years of "Good Housekeeping" magazine
Being successfully sold on shop shelves
DD Cottington Taylor keeping up morale for women.

Dorothy Daisy Cottington Taylor
Described as "a perfect dynamo of energy" it did seem
Being part of the "Good Housekeeping" team
Two years going by Dorothy also achieving the dream
A Domestic Science qualification after leaving school
Awarded an amazing five First-Class Diplomas
From the National School of Cookery, having the tools.

Also achieving a Certificate in Household
And essential clever Social Science
From King's College For Women in London
Dorothy highly motivated and emotionally strong
Knowing in the world where she did belong
The "Good Housekeeping" institute in London full of rooms
To test ironing and intricate sewing: testing what could be wrong.

And laundry equipment that would be effective and last
Working hard even though now in 2023 it is in the past
But Dorothy paved the way for modern housekeeping
And "Good Housekeeping" magazine keeps her memory alive
She having also published more than 20 cookery books
And household management books that deserve a modern look
That include brilliant "Good Housekeeping With Modern Methods".

From types of insurance policy needed when buying a house
From how to paint a ceiling to how to organize your pantry
From a selection of weekly menus for hungry young children
1926 "Food Wisdom" a book Dorothy published
Exploring the science of refrigeration and conducting tests
To the 14th edition of "Encyclopaedia Britannica"
Appearing alongside George Bernard and Albert Einstein.

In 1927 Dorothy recording on BBC Radio Broadcasts
From jam making to housekeeping for business people
Broadcasts very popular throughout Britain on the wireless
Travelling Britain to judge cake making competitions
Giving talks on expert diet and nutrition
Confidence keeping her vast career alive
"Good Housekeeping" magazine her joy and her pride.

Her personal life hard: losing her husband in 1929
Her husband talented artist Thomas sadly gone
But Dorothy was strong when Albert Mash came along
He later becoming Publicity Officer for the
Ministry of Aircraft Production
Essential work when the first World War came along
Dorothy praying for Albert when in war he was briefly gone.

Dorothy leaving "Good Housekeeping" magazine in good hands
With Phyllis Garbutt in charge, outbreak of war in 1939
The Institute advising how to radically ration going to plan
And wartime recipes and soap saving ideas
Articles that were researched and did highly please
And to Dorothy's house she did have the permanent keys
The ownership with her name on the deeds.

Dorothy Daisy Cottington Taylor a legend:
Her wonderful and charismatic memory living on
And with her husband Albert at war she had to be strong
But she was ambitious and bold with her legend still strong
In the pages of "Good Housekeeping" magazine today
Older and mature women knowing how to work, rest and play
Dorothy living in the magazine's pages: even today.