Chasing Dirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness

How did the U.S. get so obsessed with cleanliness? Indiana historian Suellen Hoy goes back to the 19th century to explain how a decades-long struggle to educate government and the public on the need for sanitation and health reforms has now turned into a cultural obsession fueled by many millions of dollars in carefully calibrated ad campaigns. It may have originally been a question of stopping disease in America's booming new cities, but now it's really about our self-image--and the private house-cleaning business is booming.