With the knowledge we have now about the dangers of smoking, it’s hard to believe that in 1940s Britain even doctors might advise lighting up as a way of calming a patient’s nerves. It would be a common sight to see GPs smoking in a surgery, doctors and patients smoking in hospitals. Figures show thatContinue reading “Calm your nerves…”
Tag Archives: history
What’s a teenager?
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 leavingContinue reading “What’s a teenager?”
Don’t stop for breath
Factories offering no protection to their workers might be something we associate with Dickensian Britain. Workers subjected to long hours in harsh, polluting conditions – surely this belonged to the 19th century? Sadly, no. Thousands of factory and mine workers in 1940s Britain were subjected to dangerous working conditions that resulted in terrible preventable diseasesContinue reading “Don’t stop for breath”
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. ThisContinue reading “What’s your number?”
Combatting polio
There were many horrors to contend with in 1940s Britain and cruelly it was often children who suffered, despite adults’ overwhelming desire to protect them. For during the latter part of that decade there were annual polio epidemics, striking down thousands of people in Britain – many of them children. This viral infection, which beginsContinue reading “Combatting polio”
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 war wives and girlfriends could welcome the return of a loved one from the horrors at the frontContinue 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 LabourContinue 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 toContinue 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 monthsContinue reading “I do…or I shouldn’t have…”
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