Households, Hubbub, & Humor

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