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Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1948 book by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey that tells...

Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1948 book by Frank 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 book focusses on the many years the family resided in Montclair, New Jersey. It was adapted to film by Twentieth Century Fox in 1950. 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 Gilbreths' second eldest child, Mary, died of diphtheria 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 that her death is mentioned in a footnote. Belles on Their Toes, published in 1950, outlines the family's adventures after Frank Sr.'s death in 1924. Belles on Their Toes was also made into a movie, starring Jeanne