["Cheaper by the Dozen" is not] merely a remembrance of things past in a household geared to scientific management…. There is an abundance of data on the basic economy of operating a household of fourteen people. The big family is on the way out, if it isn't out already—a fact which makes "Cheaper by the Dozen," among other things, the case history of an anachronism. Which, of course, is no fault of the brother-sister authors.

As story—as true story—"Cheaper by the Dozen" is always entertaining, occasionally hilarious, occasionally touching…. It is sound Americana. It has a hero and a heroine. The heroine is worth knowing more about….

John T. Winterich, "Case History of an Anachronism," in The Saturday Review of Literature (copyright © 1949 by Saturday Review; all rights reserved; reprinted by permission), Vol. XXXII, No. 2, January 8, 1949, p. 19.