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World War Two 1940's House Somewhere in England

Living Room

Gramophone records were the primary medium used for commercial music reproduction for most of the 20th century. They replaced the phonograph cylinder as the most popular recording medium in the 1900s.

78 rpm record  refers to revolutions per minute of the gramophone records.

1940's gas mask

babies high chair

 

Bedrooms

Singer sewing machine

1940's toys

Lotto

commode

1940's Hoover

Kitchen

 

Sifta Table Salt

Glace Angelica

Baking Powder

Hovis

Dublin Stout

Lovell's Mintoes

National Dried Milk

A posser was historically a tool used for possing or mixing laundry while hand washing it.

As hand washing has been replaced by electric & mechanical washing machines have become almost universally popular the words & implements have fallen into disuse.

Possers come in various forms, there is usually a vertical pole with a handle bar at the top but the base can be conical, with three (or more) legs or sometimes a flat disk.

Ration Book Holder

Colman's Starch

Bensons Toffee De Mint

Don't Bump Luminous Black Out Badges

 

Rationing

Food, clothing, petrol, leather and other such items were rationed. Access to luxuries was severely restricted, though there was also a significant black market. Families also grew victory gardens, and small home vegetable gardens, to supply themselves with food. Many things were conserved to turn into weapons later, such as fat for nitroglycerin production.
 

Evacuation

From very early in the war it was thought that the major cities of Britain, especially London, would come under air attack, which did happen. Some children were sent to Canada. Millions of children and some mothers were evacuated from London and other major cities when the war began, but they often filtered back. When the bombing began in September 1940 they evacuated again. The discovery of the poor health and hygiene of evacuees was a shock to Britons, and helped prepare the way for the Beveridge Plan. [7] Children were only evacuated if their parents agreed but in some cases they didn't have a choice. The children were only allowed to take a few things with them including a gas mask, books, money, clothes, ration book and some small toys.

Outside

Anderson shelter

The Anderson shelter was designed in 1938 by William Paterson and Oscar Carl (Karl) Kerrison in response to a request from the Home Office. It was named after Sir John Anderson, then Lord Privy Seal with special responsibility for preparing air-raid precautions immediately prior to the outbreak of World War II, and it was he who then initiated the development of the shelter. After evaluation by Dr David Anderson, Bertram Lawrence Hurst, and Sir Henry Jupp, of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the design was released for production.

Anderson shelters were designed to accommodate up to six people. The main principle of protection was based on curved and straight galvanised corrugated steel panels. Six curved panels were bolted together at the top, so forming the main body of the shelter, three straight sheets on either side, and two more straight panels were fixed to each end, one containing the door — a total of fourteen panels. A small drainage sump was often incorporated in the floor to collect rainwater seeping into the shelter. The shelters were 6 ft (1.8 m) high, 4 ft 6 in (1.4 m) wide, and 6 ft 6 in (2 m) long. They were buried 4 ft (1.2 m) deep in the soil and then covered with a minimum of 15 in (0.4 m) of soil above the roof. The earth banks could be planted with vegetables and flowers, that at times could be quite an appealing sight and in this way would become the subject of competitions of the best-planted shelter among householders in the neighbourhood. The internal fitting out of the shelter was left to the owner and so there were wide variations in comfort.

Anderson shelters were issued free to all householders who earned less than £250 a year, and those with a higher income were charged £7. 150,000 shelters of this type were distributed from February 1939 to the outbreak of war. During the war a further 2.1 million were erected.

Because of the large number made and their robustness, many Anderson shelters still survive. Many were dug up after the war and converted into storage sheds for use in gardens and allotments.