I tried to live like a 1950’s housewife for a week

I love trying out new things (as you have probably guessed by now) but what about trying some old things? Yes, I’m talking about going back to the 1950’s and trying my hand at how they done things back then.

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Normally when I do these things, I break it up into different sections, but this one is going to be a bit different because there is so much info to go with it. Now, onwards!

What does a 1950’s housewife do all day?

The day of a 1950’s housewife is jam-packed. To prove my point, I found a list of things from different sites that have a schedule. On one hand, it looks like a lot, but on the other hand, it doesn’t seem that bad.

# Throwback the covers.
# Open up the blinds and windows.
# Freshen up (not get washed, just freshen up for starting your day).
# Make and serve breakfast. This does not mean making a cooked breakfast every day, cereal was perfectly fine for breakfast. It was more the weekends that families have cooked breakfast.
# Clean up breakfast.
# Complete a 10-minute exercise regime.
# Shower, do hair and makeup, get dressed.
# Gather a basket for tidying. As the rooms of the home are tackled, pick up items that aren’t where they belong and place them in a basket and redistribute them where they should be as you enter a new room.
# Straighten up the living and dining room, including picking up potential clutter, light dusting, fluffing and straightening the pillows, and watering plants or flowers.
# Make the beds. Remember you threw back the covers earlier? This was to air the beds of sweat, you aren’t supposed to make the beds straight away.
# Tidy the bedroom and this includes light dusting.
# Hang up any clothes that may be about or ensure dirty ones are in the dirty washing basket.
# Do a light tidy of the bathroom including removing and replacing used towels, refilling toilet paper and soap (if needed) and cleaning the sink and basin area including soap dishes, and cleaning the toilet.
# Review the menu for the current day and the next and compare it to what’s currently available in the home. Make note of anything that needs to be prepared ahead of time or marketing (shopping) that needs to get done.
# Begin long-advance preparations for dinner (such as making dessert).
# Wipe down kitchen work surfaces and inside the fridge.
# Dispose of garbage.
# Rinse dishcloths and hang to dry.
# Sweep or mop the kitchen floor
# Handle errands that might take you out of the home (such as marketing, volunteering, going to the post office, getting an item fixed, etc), bookkeeping, correspondence, or indulge in a hobby.
# If returning from the grocery store, wash vegetables, wrap them and put them away. Place rest of groceries or purchases in their proper place
# Have a quick lunch.
# Start advance food conditioning like crisping vegetables or thawing frozen foods.
# Handle weekly chore for the day.
# Set the table for dinner.
# Arrange the living room for evening enjoyment (such as “the Mister’s” newspaper, book, and cigarettes).
# Do a quick sweep of the floors and ensure entrance ways are clear.
# Prepare a special dish for dinner.
# Freshen up before the husband returns from work. Consider changing into something more festive if your day dress is plain.
# Set out a tray with equipment for making cocktails, should “the Mister” want to serve drinks before dinner.
# Greet husband “gayly”.
# Serve dinner.
# Clear table and wash dishes.
# Pour boiling water down the sink to ensure pipes are flushed.
# If necessary, pack the husband’s lunch for the next day. Set aside a lunch tray in the refrigerator for yourself if having leftovers.
# Set the table for breakfast.
# Ensure breakfast foods are available and do any make-ahead preparations for it.

The once-a-week chores to tackle are something else. They are basically a deep clean of a particular room. It’s stuff like:
# Use metal polish on bathroom fixtures.
# Clean and disinfect all kitchen appliances.
# Scald and disinfect bread boxes and garbage pails and bins.
# Replace flowers with fresh bouquets.
Also, laundry should be done at least twice a week (including bedding) and floors should be mopped/vacuumed on a similar schedule.

There is also a recommendation in there to try to squeeze a nap in the afternoon although I don’t know when you will get the time to fit it in.

Cooking

Cooking is not my strong point but I was going to try and do something. Every day, there is supposed to be a homecooked meal (made from scratch) on the table at night. I was tempted to test out some 1950’s recipes but they didn’t look too good to my pregnant eyes. So, I decided to make some basic meals using meat and vegetables rather than put things in jelly. I did make dessert jelly to serve after dinner, but not savoury jelly.

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Clothing And Makeup

You may remember my previous experiment of trying to get up early and complete my beauty routine before school. I honestly feel like that experiment was a trial run for this week. Being a 1950’s housewife was about glamour, doing the school run in your pj’s is not an option! I have plenty of cute dresses, but I don’t have anything that will go round me at the minute. So, I just made the best out of what I had.

Etiquette, Parenting and Social Stuff

I’m going to say this now, I did not bother with part of the experiment, and I have my reasons. First of all, a lot of things have changed since the 1950’s. Now, we don’t smoke when we are pregnant, we don’t hit our kids, and we can vote. The only thing I did bother with is smiling more and not swearing.

What was the plan?

See that big list at the beginning? Yeah, I was planning to try and stick to that as much as possible. Let’s face it, there is a lot to do in the day. Plus, I still have my own work to do. I was planning to fit my work in around the schedule or do some when it came to “indulge in a hobby”, which is around number 20 on the list. This….this was going to be a challenge and a half.

How did it go?

I was actually surprised by how well this went. There was a few different views on how much cleaning a 1950’s housewife would have done in the day, but it seemed to be a case of keep going until the house is spotless. Because I had tried the daily to-do list a few weeks ago, this wasn’t such a shock to me but there was still a lot to be done.

Will I try to keep this going?

Absolutely! The house became a much calmer place because we were all more organised. The kids really enjoyed having a dessert every night after dinner, even though it was just jelly and ice-cream for a few nights. I also felt better because I had stuff planned out and I wasn’t rushing about at the last night doing stuff. I did struggle with getting my own work done at the beginning of the week, but as the house got cleaner and more organised, the more time I had for getting work done.

Have you ever tried anything like this? Let me know what you think in the comments section.