Competence in the art of keeping and furnishing homes developed in the first half of the 20th century as an opportunity and means for women’s social emancipation. This article considers home economics not as a sphere of everyday life but rather as discourse and practice with political meaning. The aspirations of the Estonian Kodumajanduskoda (Chamber of Home Economics, which operated in 1936–1940 and 1941–1944) to reform society through the modernisation of everyday culture is analysed at length.

The Kodumajanduskoda was created in 1936 as part of the corporate system of the authoritarian state that Estonia had become. Four committees were formed: the nutrition committee; the gardening and housekeeping committee; the handicrafts and home industry committee; and the childcare, health care and home upbringing committee. The Kodumajanduskoda aimed its activities at all women, both wage earners and farm women, not only housewives. The Kodumajanduskoda followed the lead of Germany, Poland, and the Scandinavian countries in organising its work. The Kodumajanduskoda’s reformatory mentality was most prominently manifested in the spheres of housekeeping and food culture.

Interior spaces were the main focus in the field of housekeeping, especially in making kitchens and storage spaces more convenient, brighter, cleaner, and healthier for the housewife. The need to intervene in solving the most topical social and health care problems was the guiding principle in raising questions related to everyday life. The Kodumajanduskoda’s political activeness was manifested in drawing up regular memoranda on the employment of women, health care, nutrition, and other issues. The Kodumajanduskoda produced regular broadcasts for housewives on home economics in the national broadcasting system and published inexpensive booklets disseminating related advice. Numerous surviving books registering oral advice and written inquiries demonstrate the people’s great interest in the Kodumajanduskoda’s advice.

The development of Estonian food culture in the 1920s and 1930s took place primarily in the context of health awareness. The Kodumajanduskoda studied the improvement of nutritional conditions and provided guidance in this field. To this end, nutritional norms for different seasons were worked out and model menus were drawn up. Home-grown foodstuffs such as milk, fish, and potatoes were especially highlighted. Their consumption was also beneficial for the Estonian economy in addition to the people’s health. Particular attention was paid to the food provided to children. An extensive consultation service was launched, which was used very actively.

The Kodumajanduskoda spoke out on many questions more broadly associated with women’s social standing at the end of the 1930’s. For instance, it fought to increase the support provided for mothers’ welfare centres and to appoint more women to positions as school headmasters. Similarly, reductions in women’s opportunities in education were opposed. The Kodumajanduskoda continued to conduct educational work aimed at rationalisation and frugal management that was largely free of ideology during the German occupation in 1941–1944.

In summary, the Kodumajanduskoda’s activity in civilising everyday Estonian life, in fostering women’s emancipation, and in increasing society’s cohesion can be considered progressive. The Kodumajanduskoda used governmental financial support primarily for the rational, research-based civilisation of everyday life and for highlighting women’s professional and political competence. It developed into a public forum through which it was possible to present demands for promoting health improvement and the creation of a better physical and social environment much more effectively than before. Thus, through its activity, the Kodumajanduskoda stood for Nordic, civilising-rationalising nationalism with a social democratic inclination alongside official, conservative nationalism.