The House the 50s Built

Episode 1 (1x1)

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In a cheerful and informative first episode, Walker focuses on the kitchen and the labour-saving devices that brought huge improvements to women’s lives. A lady from the WI demonstrates the boring horrors of wash day to Walker as he ineptly drags wet shirts through a mangle. “I felt like chains had been lifted,” she says of the arrival of the glorious twin-tub. The fridge, replacing the stinky larder, meant housewives no longer had to spend ten hours a week shopping and all the time saved could be put to good use. Says Fay Weldon, “There was time to agitate, time to think, time to become a feminist.”