Households, Hubbub, & Humor
Comic Tales of American Domestic Disasters

In the hands of these classic American humorists, even the simplest household task can become a spectacular catastrophe.

A cook turns a respectable home upside down. A burglar alarm causes more trouble than any burglar. Weddings descend into chaos, automobiles become runaway hazards, and the well-meaning Peterkin family proves that common sense is anything but common.

Filled with wit, satire, unforgettable characters, and laugh-out-loud predicaments, these twenty-six tales celebrate the timeless humor found in family life, social pretensions, neighborhood feuds, and everyday disasters.

Featuring the work of renowned authors and hidden gems of classic American fiction, including:
Wanted, A Cook, by Alan Dale
Mrs. Peterkin Wishes to Go to Drive, by Lucretia P. Hale
Our New Bedstead, by Frederick S. Cozzens
The Educational Breakfast, by Lucretia P. Hale
The Boys around the House, by M Quad
The Wolf at Susan's Door, by Anne Warner
The Weddin'
, by Jennie Betts Hartswick
Mrs. Peterkin’s Tea-Party, by Lucretia P. Hale
Tempest in a Tub, by James M. Bailey
The Widow Bedott's Visitor, by Frances M. Whicher
The Trawnbeighs, by Charles Macomb Flandrau
Araminta and The Automobile, by Charles Battell Loomis
The McWilliamses & the Burglar Alarm, by Mark Twain
How We Bought a Sewin' Machine and Organ, by Marietta Holley
The Colonel's Clothes, by Caroline Howard Gilman
Hezekiah Bedott's Opinion, by Frances M. Whicher
Why the Peterkins had a Late Dinner, by Lucretia P. Hale
The Peterkins Snowed-Up, by Lucretia P. Hale
The Peterkins are Obliged to Move, by Lucretia P. Hale
A Kitchen Colonel, by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
The Peterkins at the Farm, by Lucretia P. Hale
The Old Maid's House: In Plan, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
The Lady Who Put Salt in Her Coffee, by Lucretia P. Hale
Lucilla's Diary, by Lucretia P. Hale
The Peterkins’ Christmas-Tree, by Lucretia P. Hale
Aunt Pen's Funeral, by Harriet Prescott Spofford