Growing up in the 50's and 60's Remembering how it was living in a 1950's House |
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1950's - The HomeGrowing up as a child in a 1950's HouseSometimes I look back to the 50's and can't believe I have lived in an age where things were so very different. You may still see some furniture in people's houses which have been around since then, but always inter-mingled with modern technology and design. The Kitchen for many was the centre of the house. The Mother, or Housewife' was the mainstay of the family and would, for no want of her own, have to spend quite a lot of time in it. In my own home, we didn't have a Fridge or a Washing Machine. The Kitchen would have a solid wood table, no laminates to talk of then and would often be nicely curved by the overworking saucepans and kitchen utensils which were used on it. The terraced house's then were more conventional in their way. You seldom saw an example of the Front Room to Back Room being knocked into one. Larger Houses wouldn't have Front and Back Room, they would have 'Sitting Room' and 'Dining Room' with the occasional 'Reading' or 'Writing Room'. One of the centrepiece furniture items was The Writing Desk, something replaced now by the PC Table. I can't recall wall to wall carpeting. It was rug with floorboard surround as standard. There were electric Hoovers around, but the average Housewife would use her reliable push pull carpet sweeper and spit and polish for the floorboards. As I recall, the only flowers in bowls were Sweet Peas. For some reason or other, everyone grew these and each home you walked in appeared to have the same over riding smell. Above all this would be the aroma of coal burning and the coal itself being stored either in the Kitchen or a shed just outside The combination of above made being a Housewife and Mother, a full time occupation. The upkeep of a 1950's home meant her being a Business person, Budget Holder, Cleaner, Chef, Mother and general Dogs Body - a man's world it was then.. Children's bedrooms then were completely different; no TV, no PC, no Games Console and no massive stacks of toys. All you had were a few books and some toys, all of which would be tidied up before you went to bed or went out. The 50's house was a working house and not often one of luxury, that was for the rich.As time went on and TV grew, the House slowly developed more into the entertainment mould. Sitting Room chairs would be turned to face the TV rather than the fire and just walking into the house next door for a chat became a disappearing social activity. The 60's got nearer and the 'cultural revolution' was warming. |
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Growing up in
50s and 60s 50's & 60's In the Blog 1960's Year by Year A trip to London in the 50's meant a meeting with smog. Environmental changes during the 60's (mainly banning solid fuel fires) put an end to it.
'Ladies man' Dickie Valentine and below, Party Pianist Russ Conway, both big names in the late 50's
In 1958, the divorce rate in the UK was less than 1% |
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