Introduction / Peter N. Stearns
Family and childhood
The cute child and modern American parenting / Gary Cross
Abduction stories that changed our lives: from Charley Ross to modern behavior / Paula Fass
"If they have any orders, I am theirs to command": indulgent middle-class grandparents in American society / Linda W. Rosenzweig
Emotions and consumer behavior
There's no place like home: homesickness & homemaking in America / Susan J. Matt
Horseless horses: car dealing and the survival of retail bargaining / Steven M. Gelber
Death and mourning
American death / Peter N. Stearns
Laid out in "big mama's kitchen": African Americans and the personalized theme funeral / Suzanne Smith
Perception of the senses
Making scents make sense: white noses, black smells, and desegregation / Mark M. Smith
Sexuality
Tainted love: the transformation of oral-genital behavior in the United States, 1970-2000 / Kevin White.