Old Money

[stuey]

Yesterday, I was looking through a December, 1956 issue of "Practical Householder", an English DIY magazine. (I thought that the term DIY was sort of new, but they used it back then.). Anyway, there were a few ads in it for build your own concrete garages. One was priced at 50 pounds. Could anyone tell me what, approximately, 50 1956 GBP would be worth today?

[Jeza]

£1,144.71p

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html

[stuey]

Thanks, Jeza. By the way, the magazine cost 1'3. I wonder what the "average" weekly wage was back then and how it would relate to 50 pounds.

[Jeza]

About £15 Stuey.

[scorpiojo]

https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100315071014AA4sFWm

[tamborine]

1958 farm accounts here show drover @ 15shillings pw. Today he would earn £300+ pw.
Drover had wife & 4kids, unpaid help in tied cottage.

[stuey]

OK, thanks. While I was looking at these ads I was thinking that it was strange to have so many for DIY garages as there really weren't that many cars around in 1956. Well that's what I remember as a kid living in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

[stuey]

Here is a page of ads from the magazine: http://i61.tinypic.com/2wcm9kz.jpg

[stuey]

And here, ladies and gentlemen, is a glance into the living room of the average English family gathering around the cheerful hearth on the morning of December 25th, 1956. What is that expression on the face of the little lady of the house?

[stuey]

Ouch, forgot the link: http://i57.tinypic.com/rigcwl.jpg

[jourdain2]

Mixed emotions, I think, considering she is holding what looks to be an early knitting machine. On one hand she can produce garments more quickly, on the other she will be expected to make more!

[stuey]

So that's what it is: a knitting machine. And the master of the house is saying to the son that they can together make a set of drawers in which to plop these numerous knitted garments:)

[Obiter]

Excuse me, but what kind of woman wears high heels in her own home? Also, why the apron on her skirt but not the upper part?

[stuey]

Obiter, according to these magazines, the little lady of the house wore high heels and flary frocks whilst standing upon a ladder!:)

[albaqwerty]

in the 50's the lady of the house wore makeup and looked glamorous as she kissed farewell to the man of the house as he departed for the onerous task of working in an office.
(no-one worked in factories in those magazines)

The pinny depended on whether she was baking or cooking :-)

[Obiter]

The only thing missing from the picture to make it authentic 50s is that Daddy doesn't have a pipe in his mouth.

[stuey]

Believe me, there are lots of pipes and ties around. Anyway, proper ladder climbing: http://i57.tinypic.com/1zedtkz.jpg

[jourdain2]

The 'pinny' is a 'Tea Apron' (we made them in school in needlework lessons after we had made the more practical 'bib' apron). Tea aprons were often very fancy bits of work, which showed your skill. It was Christmas in the picture, so she was wearing her best - but, yes, you were supposed to dress up for welcoming the man of the house back from work and serving his dinner. I was a little girl then - it took a long time to change the stereotype!

[jourdain2]

Should have added, re. ladders, that women did not commonly wear trousers. I remember my mum going to get a pair made by a tailor in the late '50's; she consulted earnestly with my dad before being so bold as to wear 'trews' - jodhpurs were a different thing. Me, it's rare that I wear a skirt.

[boxtops]

See how the Dad in the advert is wearing a suit and tie even on Christmas day. That's how it was - I remember 1956 - there was no such thing as leisurewear as we know it now.

[boxtops]

This is such a gem about a woman's place in that era...... pfft, several points would get very short shrift these days!!! http://www.snopes.com/history/document/goodwife.asp