A 1950s Housewife: Marriage and Homemaking in the 1950s Kindle Edition

A really sweet book that provides a snapshot into a time passed when homemaking was the norm for women. As a SAHM I really appreciated the viewpoints of the those who took pride in their homes and their families. I do not romanticize the past and recognize how far women have come since the 50s, but this is a beautiful look into a time that has passed. An enjoyable quick read.

Eh. I was a little disappointed to be honest. It's about the 1950's British housewife, which is fine. But I just expected it to be about life for an American housewife. It's also a small paperback that I'd pay less for because of the quality of the book.

This is a lovely little book, well written and organized and I’m enjoying reading it HOWEVER... it was not mentioned that the author is writing about Englad and not America so all the money references are in ponds and honeymoons around Europe are by train. Just be aware.

I did not realize this was written by a British woman living in Britain. Some things I could identify with but a lot I could not.

It's quick look at what is was like to be a newlywed in the 1950s. From high school and education, expectations of the young single lady, wedding planning, and homemaking. Interesting and amusing. Some good practices and skills have gone by the wayside seen then but this made me glad to be a Gen-X-er😊

I love the period of the 1950s so this was a fun read all about the every day life of a woman, wife and mother in those days. Quite a bit of fun information on housekeeping, meal planning, fashion, and leisure of the era.

I watch a lot of 50's British films and this book helps with the background of some of these queries. A time period I'm fond of and being an Anglophone, I found this book informative. I recommend this fun facts read.

This book will take u to the long long ago, all sweet magical old time!!!

This book is best for understanding the basics: i.e. how the 50s women dressed, made their hair, got married, shopped plus some bits about sex at the end of the book. What it's not good for is how they FELT about their situation. The author must have interviewed a few women but included mainly the 2 narratives - Jean and Diana - and it was only about how they married. I kept thinking there must have been more to her interviewees insights which weren't included in the book. You don't hear the voice of the 50s housewife in this book, mainly what she did. And, according to the author, she did a lot...My main problem with it is that it assumes that most married 50s housewives also worked (and full-time at that), as she states at the beginning of the chapter "Daily routine": "Most young women who had worked before they married took it for granted that they would continue to do so until such time as they started a family". She then goes on to describe how a 50s housewife would rise each morning to make a breakfast for herself and her husband, and, after he left, would wash, clean the kitchen, soak the clothes for washing, clean the fire grate - and then go to her own job! And on the way home from it would do shopping. And cook, clean etc in the evening.I'm sorry but this description doesn't sound like a "housewife"; what she is describing is a "working woman with a useless husband" (who'd have leisure time in the evening while she works her socks off at home). At least, when one thinks of the 50s housewife with all the educational, financial and cultural limitations of this role, one can think she had an entire day to perform her work at home, thus being "saved" from having a paid job as well. In fact, a book on the similar subject - Virginia Nicholson "Perfect wives in ideal homes" - states that only 22% of married women in 1951 worked (p. 57), meaning 78%, the majority, didn't. And that year Mass Observation project reported they spent 15hours A DAY on domestic activities. Which is impossible to do if one had a paid job as well. So I don't know where Sheila Hardy got her happy clappy working "housewife" with a job and home to look after from.But, all in all, this is an informative book, if not a somewhat confusing over the facts one.

My parents married in 1956 and my mother was a '1950s Housewife' though one with a top-class degree from a Scottish University so perhaps not typical. She was definitely one of the brides-to-be who lived on breakfast cereal for months before her wedding in order to collect a full canteen of EPNS cutlery!The book is a light but informative read supported by research and personal accounts. There were only a few places where the women interviewed by the author were quoted extensively. I would have loved to hear more of their stories in greater detail. The detailed descriptions of life in the 1950s rings true in the main but the the author does make a lot of generalisations. For example she says electric sewing machines only came on the market after the 50s but I believe it was possible to retro-fit a motor to a standard Singer machine much earlier; my granddad had one which he passed to my mum who made all her clothes (and wedding dress!) on it. There is a lot about the crafts a young couple could do together and the pretty furnishings a new wife could make for the home but apart from mentioning turning sheets 'sides-to-middle' there is little about the boring mending which features in contemporary accounts.I couldn't work out if this book was intended as a text book to dip into or a cover-to-cover read. When the author mentions the 'Diana' case study several chapters after this is featured you would need to have read the whole book to understand the reference; on the other hand some chapters, particularly the Honeymoon and Holiday sections, repeat themselves in places.On the whole I would recommend this to anyone interested in the mid-century period.

Well, I was hoping it'd teach my wife how she's supposed to treat me, but its not working. I think it'll have to be the tranqulisers next!

This was actually a really easy read. The only reason I gave it a 3* though is that it did not describe a typical day and the promised plates (photographs) and appendices (ref p104) weren't in the (paperback) book. Would have liked to have seen those.

I was disappointed with this book. It wasn't a good source for finding out about the poorer classes . It seemed to be aimed at the middle class.