Think you do enough housework?

Think you do enough housework?  Think that it takes up too much of your time?  I know I do! Spare a thought then, for those housewives in the late 40’s and early 50’s.  It was very different in those days.

During my wanderings around “Tinternet” (as some of my children used to say), I came across an article relating to a book that was published in 1949 called  “ How to run your home without help” by Kay Smallshaw.  It was apparently written to tell the newly servant less housewife what to do!

The book has been republished by Persephone books who publish a treasure trove of books relating to social history.

I was able to read a few excerpts and was astounded at the way the housework took up the entire day.  Read on to see what I mean.......

The generally accepted, and most satisfactory plan, is to divide the day's work into three main parts.
1. DAILY TIDYING UP AND QUICK CLEANING.

This includes bed-making, dusting, sweeping and putting straight the rooms, making the bathroom and lavatory presentable, and also the front porch, hall and stairs. It may take anything from an hour to two or more, according to the size of the home, the number of people in it, and the general tidiness of all concerned.

2. SHOPPING, FOOD PREPARATION AND CLEARING AWAY.

Breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner have to be planned, shopped for, cooked or otherwise produced, and then cleared away again. Three to four hours a day are a fair average to spend."
(Remember that this was still the time of post war rationing and they didn’t tend to have fridges and freezers either so shopping was a daily activity. Most people didn’t have cars so they would have had to walk to thelocal shops.)
3. THE WEEKLY SPECIAL WORK.

Monday it's laundry day, Tuesday turning out the bedrooms, Wednesday the sitting room gets done, and so on right through the week. Every day, except perhaps Sunday, has its appointed task.  You can earmark two or three hours for this."

And here is some more:

"...You must devote one morning a week at least to the washing you daren't entrust to the laundry.
One day you must concentrate on cooking to the exclusion of all else.  Saturday morning you want to be as free as possible, so that you are clear by lunchtime when your husband comes home. Sunday is reserved too. That means there are three days only when you can make house cleaning your main concern.
So you must divide up what has to be done over the three days.

Where shall we begin?... as a starting point, let's say sitting rooms one day, bedrooms the next, hall, stairs, passages, bathroom and lavatory the third. The kitchen can probably be left until Friday, after the baking is done....try to do adjacent rooms at one time, and to work in a light job with a heavier one. Once you've decided on a plan, stick to it!"

So, are you as amazed as me?  I will try not to moan about the housework anymore!  Thank goodness for all our modern conveniences. Imagine trying to clean your carpets without your Hoover.  Imagine having to wash everything by hand.  For those of you that never iron, imagine what it was like to iron everything.  I can tell you about that as I still do!  We have it easy today.