Cheaper by the Dozen
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- For the film, see Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 film), and Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film).
Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1948 book by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey that tells the story of motion study and efficiency experts Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and their twelve children. The title comes from one of Gilbreth's favorite jokes: it often happened that when he and his family were out driving and stopped at a red light, a pedestrian would ask "Hey, Mister! How come you got so many kids?" Gilbreth would pretend to ponder the question carefully, and then, just as the light turned green, would say "Well, they come cheaper by the dozen, you know," and drive off.
Other humorous incidents recounted in the book include a neighbor campaigning for birth control, who was flabbergasted when all twelve children lined up on signal, and a motion study of tonsillectomy which produced no results because the photographer forgot to remove the lens cap.
In real life, the Gilbreth's daughter second eldest child, Mary, died before reaching her later teenage years. In the movie, the role was cast as younger than the Gilbreth's daughter would had been, and the actress playing Mary appeared with the other children for group scenes, but had no lines and the role was uncredited.
Cheaper by the Dozen was made into a 1950 motion picture starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.
A second book, Belles on Their Toes, published in 1952, outlines the family's adventures after Frank Sr.'s death in 1924. Belles on Their Toes was also made into a movie, starring Jeanne Crain and Myrna Loy, in 1952, and focused on the lives of Mrs. Gilbreath and her eleven children.
Another movie called Cheaper by the Dozen was produced in 2003, starring comedians Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, but bearing no resemblance to the original book except that both feature a family with twelve children. A sequel to the film, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 was released in December 2005.
See also
- Belles on Their Toes
- Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 film)
- Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film)
- Cheaper by the Dozen 2