Cheaper by the Dozen

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For the films, see Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 film), and Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film).

Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1948 novel by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey that tells the story of Time and motion study and efficiency experts Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and their twelve children. The title comes from one of Frank Sr.'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.

In real life, the Gilbreth's second eldest child, Mary, died of diptheria at age six. The book does not explicitly explain the absence of Mary Gilbreth; it was not until the sequel, Belles on Their Toes, was published in 1952 that her death is mentioned.

Cheaper by the Dozen was made into a 1950 motion picture starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. The film positively portrays the Roman Catholic opposition to birth control, with Mildred Natwick's character ridiculed for belonging to a Planned Parenthood-like organization supporting birth control.

In the movie, as with the book, no mention is made of Mary Gilbreth's death. The role was cast as younger than the Gilbreth's daughter would have been, and the actress playing Mary appeared with the other children for group scenes, but had no lines and the role was uncredited. Additionally, the birth order of the last two children was reversed, presumably for scripting reasons.

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. Gilbreth and her children.

A similar movie, Yours, Mine and Ours, is a 1968 film, starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball. In this film, Fonda's character is a Navy warrant officer, while Ball's character is a nurse. After some initial tension, the couple and their eighteen children bond to make one large blended family. Both versions of Yours, Mine and Ours and Cheaper By The Dozen served as inspirations for the television show, "The Brady Bunch".

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.