I found this really interesting article on the Mail on Sunday website, from which I borrowed the picture in my last post! It is all about women who live lives from past eras, right down to the authentic home decor and clothing. I love it!
There are three examples, from the 30s, 40s and 50s ~ and all these ladies have spent a fair bit of money on creating the past in their homes! But if you read through the article, it’s not just about re-creating the “look” but also about re-creating the values of each era. These are some of their comments:
“Women were these amazingly glamorous creatures, with their perfect hair and immaculate makeup, and they were treated with such respect by men. Men and women knew their roles in society and there wasn’t all this pressure on women to have to go out to work and try to be equal to men. I do work part-time, but only because we need the money. However, we still have clearly defined roles in the home and I am the one who does most of the cooking and cleaning. I adore baking cakes and if I had my way I would spend all of my days in my pinny, making my house look immaculate.”
Diane Rowlands, 1930s Housewife
“When I see a girl walking down the street wearing next to nothing, I think: ‘Why don’t you have more respect for yourself?’ Other women may laugh at my determination to make my home perfect for my husband, Martin, but I enjoy spending my leisure time baking cakes and sewing. I really believe that women today have lost their way, with binge drinking ladettes and children as young as 11 going out in tiny tops. The age of innocence has been lost and it is such a shame. Other people may laugh at me, but I really don’t care. I think I have a far happier marriage than many other people I meet, because we have strict demarcations in our roles. I do all the cleaning, ironing, washing and cooking, and Martin puts up shelves and looks after the car. He’s the breadwinner and I create a lovely – and loving – environment for him.”
Debbie Cleulow, 1940s Housewife
“I make sure our home is immaculate, there is dinner on the table, and I look pretty to welcome my husband home. Today’s society is all rush, rush, rush, whereas I like to take my time. I never leave the house without lipstick on, and I also like to help neighbours – collecting their pensions and doing shopping for them, just as women in the 1950s would do. Some women I meet ask me if I feel patronised by being a housewife and spending my time caring for Kevin, but I never would. At work, he gets teased because he’s the only one with home-made cakes and even home-made jam in his sandwiches. But I often wonder if his colleagues aren’t slightly jealous that he has a wife who devotes herself to his happiness. How many men these days can really say that?”
Joanne Massey, 1950s Housewife
I can imagine some of my friends just throwing their hands up in horror at these women and the statements they make ~ but I definitely connect with what they’re saying. Like Diane, I have to go out to work part-time to make ends meet, and there’s nothing wrong with that, after all, it was in the 30s that women started to show their mettle as far as working was concerned, for the war effort. But the thing that attracts me the most to the old-fashioned life is the fact that manners, courtesy and values were an accepted part of society in a way that doesn’t exist today. The home was seen as a place of value and a job worthy of respect, whereas now Mums are encouraged to go out to work instead of raising their own children. Life was also less consumer-oriented and more make-do-and-mend ~ and we have definitely lost some of those skills in the 21st century. If it’s broke we don’t fix it, we chuck it away and but a new one!
I admit openly that I am at my happiest when in my home and kitchen, doing the housework, baking cakes, making meals for the family. I would love to be able to furnish my home in the style of the 1940s, but unfortunately, it’s very costly to do so and I just don’t have the resources! But I am fortunate in that I don’t live in a modernised house ~ our kitchen has 1950s built in units, and we have a 30s and a 50s fireplace in the front room and living room respectively. Plus, after recently stripping the bathroom wallpaper, we found original 30s art deco style paintwork underneath, in 2 lovely shades of green, which we will recreate, with black and white tiling when we finish decorating!
My favourite evenings are those spent sat in front of the fire, with no tv, just the radio to listen to, reading a book or writing a letter while my husband reads the paper. If I could just close my eyes and wake up in the 1940s house, I’d think I’d gone to heaven!
But that aside, there is a negative side to all of this (phew, I hear you say with relief!) If you read the whole article, it becomes apparent that some of these ladies are using their lifestyle as an escape from reality, or to create a fantasy world. Neither is there any mention of children. It feels like they have created a kind of sterile vacuum in which to hide from 21st century life, and there is an aura of pretence about it. Whatever our favourite era, it is possible to look back at it through rose-tinted glasses, forgetting about the austerities, shortages and the fact that women then really had no choice but to follow this lifestyle, and opportunities and education were limited for them. Perhaps these ladies enjoy their lives so much because they are living them out in the 21st century, where freedom of choice is everything!
I believe it is possible to take the best of these times, but still be aware that God wants us to be firmly planted in the real world, however horrible and threatening that may be. It doesn’t mean that we have to “blend in”, in fact we are called to stand out from the world, to be different, but never-the-less to engage with it. It would be truly lovely to have a 1930s home to return to in the evenings, and to relax in at weekends, but I cannot pretend that this is how it really is. Life isn’t a game, it’s often a harsh reality, and God wants to use me in it!
Still…from time to time, I can close my eyes and dream…and while you’re at it, take a peek at the Time Warp Wives website
Oh, and here’s a peek at some of my house:
