End of an Era?

Before speaking to my Grandma and undertaking the challenges of the 1950s, I thought life for the humble housewife would have been easy. It is only now, after hearing her stories and experiencing just some of their daily tasks that I realise life for housewives in the 1950s was actually very hard.

The lives of young women today are probably less labour-intensive, however, they are hard in other ways. Young women now juggle domestic expectations with career goals and often are still required to complete the tasks of housewives after work.

I think my most interesting discovery was the fact that women from both eras share a common focus: the health, happiness and well being of their families. While today's mothers are often rushed and may purchase take away rather than baking from scratch, their children and husbands remain as important as they were in the 1950s.

My confidence in my own domestic abilities was increased by my surprising success in baking an Apple Pie ( even if the pastry and apples were from a packet). While knitting proved a challenge, I managed to persevere and learn a new skill as a result. While I wouldn't choose to live the life of a housewife, completing these challenges helped me realise that, if I had to, I could probably survive.

Interviewing my Grandma Dot and speaking with her about her life as a young woman was the most rewarding part of my project. Her recollections have enabled me to relate to her on a new level. I now realise many of my own personal struggles are not unique: she went through them just as I am.

I hope I will grow old as my Grandmother has; with wisdom and grace.
Perhaps the secret to life is Epsom Salt.

Challenge 3: A Stitch in Time.

My Grandma, to this day, still knits beanies, gloves, hats and scarves. I have a whole box at home of the crazy creations she's made for my sister and I over the years: pom-pomed hats, knitted bags, butterfly fridge magnets and tonnes of those 'feather wool' scarved that were all the rage a few years ago.

So, for my final 50s challenge, I decided to ask my own mother ( who Grandma taught to knit when she was a little girl) to test her patience and teach me how to knit a single square. Doesn't sound too difficult really... have a look at what happened.




THE FINAL PRODUCT: This challenge gave a new meaning to the phrase "cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye"! I was terrible at knitting and stuffed up more times than I'm willing to mention. My square took about 5 hours to produce and was still full of holes. I have a new appreciation of the skills and patience of the 1950s housewife because if my children relied on my skills they would be going to school either freezing cold from the holes in their gloves or completely naked!

Video: Leisure in the 50s.

Listen in as Grandma reflects on having fun in the 1950s.

Grandma Dot Posts: What Was It Really Like?

For fun in the 50s my family and I would go on picnics to the Royal National Park where lots of men would go rowing on a Sunday. Women would play tennis with friends at local clubs or go to the weekly movie show with their friends or husbands.

There were no coffee shops or cafes like there are today either- we used to buy drinks and treats for our children from ‘milk bars’.

At the 'Rainbow Club' dance- 1952.

Weekend football games and the beach were also popular places to go on the weekends. In the afternoon I would always listen to ‘The Hit Parade’ on the ‘wireless’ or radio. We didn’t have a TV so quiz shows and serials on the radio were a must.

When the men went out, women weren’t allowed in the bars and had to sit in separate sections called ‘saloons’ to have a drink. Because of this, lots of the wives would host ‘street parties’ where we each contributed some food and drink and had neighbours over at one of the houses.

Card nights at friend’s homes were also popular. The hosts always provided supper but no money was used to gamble.

At a picnic-1954.

All Work and No Play?: Leisure in the 50s.

Television ( if your family had one) was one of the biggest sources of entertainment during the 1950s. Variety shows were popular in the early years of TV, as were 'I Love Lucy' and 'Gunsmoke'. Have a look at this clip from 'I Love Lucy', which ran for six seasons.

Going to the movie theatre was another popular pastime in the 50s, with drive-ins or 'passion pits' reaching their peak. The drive in was designed to compliment the windshield of cars ( which were just starting to become affordable for the average family) and provided the ideal setting for families to look after babies while watching a movie and for teenagers and young couples to have some privacy on dates. Popular films included Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rear Window', 'A Streetcar Named Desire' ( starring the delicious Marlon Brando) and 'Ben Hur'.

Oh Marlon, you could scream outside my 1950s balcony any day!

Dance nights were also popular ( particularly for young couples) and would be held each Saturday night at a local hall. Rock n Roll music was just beginning and women the world over were going weak at the knees for Elvis Presley. Other popular musicians included Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Fats Domino.

Though women didn't play competitive sport, going to the beach and playing tennis at local clubs were popular active past-times. They would ride bicycles and walk for fitness but were yet to be accepted into public gymnasiums as they are today.

Sewing, cross-stitch and knitting were common craft activities. Items such as jumpers, hats, gloves and blankets were often made while women did other things such as look after children, ride public buses or listen to the radio ( even in the 50s, multi-tasking was a major part of being a woman). Have a look at some of the swell hats you could make from this 50s pattern book!

Challenge 2: Make Me a Lady.

With my grandma's memories of the 1950s in mind, I decided to challenge myself to create an authentic 50s outfit from the clothes in my own wardrobe. The fact that I already owned all of the items used for the costume really proved that 50s fashion has managed to inspire several trends even in today's world of short skirts and pantihose.

Here's what I managed to find in my cupboard:


Waist-length bra, suspenders and stockings: Yes, ok the bra purchase was inspired by Lady Gaga rather than Marilyn Monroe but the stockings and suspenders are very 1950s. I've only worn them a few times as today's outfits are too short to cover the leg bands- but they are very sexy and I imagine women would have felt that way wearing them during the decade.

Petticoat, Step In and New Look dress: Look what I found!!! A petticoat and a little gem I like to call The Fat Sucker. My Fat Sucker is a modern-day alternative to the elastic Step Ins Grandma told me about: designed to make the waist appear thinner. Guess women's body hang-ups haven't changed much after all! Also in my cupboard was this red, very 5os, very New Look dress purchased from Portmans only a few years ago.


Gloves, shoes and accessories: I have a bit of a thing for gloves, so I own a few. Except, when I wear them out to nightclubs I get asked " are you a Michael Jackson fan?" as no one appreciates their gorgeousness anymore. However, during the 50s gloves were the height of fashion so I was in luck finding these. I also own far too many shoes and accessories and came across this cute pair of peep toes along with a black hair piece, stud earrings and a pearl necklace that Grandma gave me for my 18th birthday which was hers in the 1950s!


Putting it all together: It took three petticoats, lots of eyeliner and a slick of red lipstick ( which I love to wear everyday anyway) to create my 1950s outfit. I tried to remember Grandma's reflections about nipped in waist and full skirts as well as the focus on femininity and 'prettiness' of the period.

The final result: I felt very womanly and dainty in my 5os outfit. It was definitely very hot ( why did I choose to dress up on a 30 degree day?) and a little restrictive, but overall it made me feel more special and girly than my every-day clothes. What do you think?

Video: Fashion in the 50s.

Grandma Dot had a lot of interesting things to say about fashion in the 1950s. I thought her memories of the beach were most interesting- the 'beach robes' and 'sand shoes' the women wore were certainly very different from the skimpy bikinis of today. Check it out!