[HN Gopher] Mina Miller Edison
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       Mina Miller Edison
        
       Author : prismatic
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2023-03-05 03:45 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.smithsonianmag.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.smithsonianmag.com)
        
       | Aloha wrote:
       | This was posted two days ago -
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35022029
        
         | dang wrote:
         | On HN, reposts are fine if an article hasn't had significant
         | attention yet.
         | 
         | https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
        
       | kwhitefoot wrote:
       | > Still, he remained smooth enough to flirt in Morse code, even
       | proposing by tapping out the question.
       | 
       | Now that says something about Mina Miller and the education she
       | received! At least it does if Edison didn't have to immediately
       | explain what he was doing.
        
       | mock-possum wrote:
       | This post deserves a more appealing title - her name alone
       | doesn't really tell users anything about the article's content.
       | 
       | Something like "Mina Miller Edison, America's first Home
       | Executive" or "Straddling An Era: the life of Edison's Partner &
       | America's Home Executive, Mina Edison"
       | 
       | (*I am not a copy writer)
        
         | kwhitefoot wrote:
         | > Mina Miller Edison, America's first Home Executive
         | 
         | That doesn't tell me noticeably more than just her name does.
         | It says that she was the first example of something I have
         | never heard of.
         | 
         | > Straddling An Era: the life of Edison's Partner & America's
         | Home Executive, Mina Edison
         | 
         | That's much better, it makes it clear that the Edison name is
         | not merely a coincidence. At least it's better for me and I
         | suspect that Edison the inventor is familiar to more people
         | around he world than "Home Executive" whatever that is.
         | 
         | Still, you have piqued my interest; now I'll try to find out
         | what one is.
        
           | mock-possum wrote:
           | for sure - given that she invented/popularized the term, I
           | think it's a fun hook to let people's curiosity about the
           | meaning lead them to read the article - but there's probably
           | a more masterful way of crafting that hook.
           | 
           | > Straddling An Era: The Life of Iconic Inventor Thomas
           | Edison's Steadfast Partner & America's First Self-Styled Home
           | Executive, Mina Edison
           | 
           | Too wordy.
           | 
           | Shit you know what, maybe this is a job for ChatGPT - what if
           | I just ask it to make my title shorter
           | 
           | > "Straddling An Era: The Life of Mina Edison, Thomas
           | Edison's Partner"
           | 
           | No mention of Home Executive though. What if I just ask it to
           | title the article?
           | 
           | > "Mina Edison: The Brain Behind the Wizard of Menlo Park"
           | 
           | Eh, but that kind of implies she was the one with the science
           | smarts, not Edison - which isn't really what we're going for.
           | I do kinda like the cheeky reference to Edison 'the wizard of
           | menlo park' without explicitly mentioning _Thomas_ Edison.
           | 
           | > "Beyond the Wizard: How Mina Edison Revolutionized the
           | American Household"
           | 
           | That's actually interesting. Still not perfect, but does seem
           | like a 'better' title than just her name.
        
       | triyambakam wrote:
       | I showed this article to my wife, and she said: I think many
       | people, especially now, would view her perspective as behind the
       | times. But for women who do want to stay in the home, she's very
       | inspiring. I choose to live as a home executive and it's the way
       | that I am happiest.
        
       | DoreenMichele wrote:
       | She was significantly involved in the World War I version of the
       | _Victory Garden_ which was apparently home food preservation and
       | recipes for meatless and wheatless meals. This is a program I had
       | not previously heard about but it helps explain why victory
       | gardens did so well: it wasn 't the first time this type of model
       | was used to help address shortages etc during a major conflict.
       | 
       | For anyone interested in the history of women's work and
       | household technology, I highly recommend the book _More work for
       | mother._
        
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