It might be strange to think about a time not so very long ago when the term ‘teenager’ didn’t exist. Now we accept it, but in 1940s Britain young people aged between thirteen and nineteen lived a very different life to the life they might live today. School leaving age was fourteen, with many leavingContinueContinue reading “What’s a teenager?”
Category Archives: family life
What’s your number?
Nowadays telecommunication is considered so vital that even some children have mobile phones. Yet in 1940s Britain a landline telephone was so rare that barely ten percent of households had one. And if you did decide to have a phone installed you might choose to have a shared line to help reduce the cost. ThisContinueContinue reading “What’s your number?”
No more than 2.4
I’m sure there are many things that might trigger a rise in the birth rate – but consider these particular influencing factors for post-war Britain: couples were finally able to celebrate the end of six years of warwives and girlfriends could welcome the return of a loved one from the horrors at the frontBritish womenContinueContinue reading “No more than 2.4”
This will do nicely…
Consider how it must have been after the Second World War for millions of families who were all desperate for somewhere to live – somewhere ‘fit for purpose’, many having lost everything during the wartime London Blitz and similar devastation across the country. House building on a grand scale was promised by the post-war LabourContinueContinue reading “This will do nicely…”
Lessons to learn
The #Butler Act of #1944 promised great and sweeping changes to the British #education system, but #post-war economic difficulties meant implementation was less than smooth…
Choosing four wheels over two
If you wanted to travel around Britain in the 1940s it’s likely you would have been walking, cycling or travelling on public transport. And if you were a critical worker, delivering milk to doorsteps early mornings, then you might even still be relying on a horse-drawn cart. The average distance people needed to travel toContinueContinue reading “Choosing four wheels over two”
I do…or I shouldn’t have…
The perils of war concentrate the mind when it comes to romance. If your sweetheart is about to go off to fight and you couldn’t be sure when or if you would see them again, then it would make sense to confirm your love for each other by ‘tying the knot’. In the early monthsContinueContinue reading “I do…or I shouldn’t have…”
Crossing the world
After the Second World War Britain saw arrivals of folk from all across the globe – many from Commonwealth countries who were intrigued to discover what the ‘mother country’ was like. But it was also a time when some British people decided to leave – to emigrate. The situation in Britain was dire. For someContinueContinue reading “Crossing the world”
Better than a tin bath
When I dig around in my tin of old photos I find a picture of my brother – just a toddler at the time – standing in the kitchen sink to be washed. In 1940s Britain this would have been a typical scene in many houses as few had indoor bathrooms, with the only runningContinueContinue reading “Better than a tin bath”
All washed up!
Imagine yourself in 1940s Britain, when it was more than likely you would be sharing an outside toilet with other houses in the street, or sharing one on the landing of your block of flats. The kitchen sink might have doubled up as a bath for the little ones in the family, and the luxuryContinueContinue reading “All washed up!”
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