 First US edition | |
| Author | Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Donald McKay |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Thomas Y. Crowell (US) Heinemann (UK) |
Publication date | June 1950 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 237 |
| ISBN | 0-690-13023-6 |
| Preceded by | Cheaper by the Dozen |
Belles on Their Toes is a 1950 autobiographical book written by the siblingsFrank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. andErnestine Gilbreth Carey. It is the follow-up to their bookCheaper by the Dozen (1948), and covers the period afterFrank Gilbreth, Sr. died. It was adapted as afilm in 1952.
The title is based on the line "Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes" in thenursery rhyme "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross" and alludes to the marriages of the Gilbreth sisters: "It was apparent that in order to get rings on their fingers, belles would have to be on their toes."[1]
Belles on Their Toes was written about the Gilbreth family afterFrank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr.'s death, and how they survived as their mother,Lillian Moller Gilbreth, continued the pioneering work inindustrial engineering,time and motion studies, and industrial and organizational psychology she had shared with her husband. This book is also the first place where the absence of the second oldest child, Mary Gilbreth, is explained; she died ofdiphtheria in 1912, at age five.
Ernestine and Frank decided to share the royalties from the books and movies evenly among their mother and siblings.[2]
Belles on Their Toes was made into a 1952 motion picture starringMyrna Loy as Lillian Gilbreth.Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is partly based on this novel.[citation needed]
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