Air-conditioning wasn’t a new invention in the 1930s, but neither was it democratised – that wouldn’t happen for another 20 years. Employers soon realised its benefits in improving worker productivity and offices were increasingly fitted with A/C units like this one from the ’30s.
This wooden desk would have been an unaffordable luxury for the majority of people costing one-and-a-half week's wages. But despite the Great Depression, things weren’t all bad – those looking to purchase property could expect to pay around three times their annual salary rather than the 10 times it is today.
A crisper drawer doesn’t seem like anything to write home about, but it was a brand-new invention 90-odd years ago. The discovery that increasing humidity helped keep produce fresher for longer transformed food storage in the ’30s. Complete with a hydrator and a free salad recipe book, this fridge would have been very desirable.
Walt Disney developed the character of Mickey Mouse in 1928 and enjoyed almost overnight success. By the mid-1930s, the ‘Golden Age of Animation’ had begun and a whole host of Disney-inspired products, including this night light, could be found in shops around the world.
Promising to ‘delight the bride of a day or a decade’, this Edicraft speed toaster sports an iconic winged design and an automatic opening mechanism to prevent scorched fingers. Designed by prolific inventor, Thomas Edison, this toaster was a must-have appliance in the 1930s.
Founded in Switzerland in 1923, Neolux is still going strong almost a century later. This elegant ad urges consumers to write to the manufacturers should they encounter ‘the slightest difficulty’ in finding a supplier. What outstanding customer service!
These days we’re accustomed to flat-screen TVs with vibrant screens, but this wasn’t always the case. Back in the ’40s, Belmont television sets were revolutionary, manufacturing TVs with ‘pictures the whole family can see’. Was there one of these sets in your grandparents' home?
First introduced in 1926, Camay soap has stood the test of time and is still sold today. Standing out from its colourful competitors, this pure white soap was an essential addition to many 1940s households.
The economic impact of the Second World War meant washing machines like this would have been a luxury far out of the reach of most families, and possibly a home feature that your grandparents would have craved. When production was suspended in the US during the war years, appliance manufacturers took the opportunity to develop automatic models that would revolutionise household chores in years to come.
Designed to be both practical and luxurious, these Agatine rubber floor tiles were a big hit in the 1950s. Available in 16 glittering finishes, the flooring matched perfectly with glamorous mid-century furniture. Did your house have tiles like this?
Following the catastrophic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, a New York Times journalist branded the 1950s the beginning of ‘The Atomic Age’. To counter the potential risks posed by nuclear warheads, construction companies began marketing ‘blast-resistant houses’ such as this one.
The Bell System dominated the telephone industry for over a century, employing more than one million people by the time it was dissolved in the 1980s. In an era of free texts and calls included in mobile phone packages, these 1950s call rates seem extortionate. Did you have a landline telephone like this one?
Did anyone ever carry a television around with them? Probably not. Were these portable TVs a hit? Absolutely. While it was unlikely many people caught up with the news on the go, these handled television sets gave families the opportunity to watch TV anywhere in the home.
Tasked with developing several camouflage shades and supplying the Allied Forces with thousands of gallons of white paint, WalPaMur (a shortening of The Wall Paper Manufacturers' Company) played a key role in the Second World War. When regular production resumed in the 1950s, the company continued to grow and innovate, and today it's known a Crown Paints. They used beautiful artwork designed by Ronald Lampitt to promote their brands, pitching themselves as the go-to paint company for the high-end decorator.
Talk about a retro living room! Wild carpets were all the rage in the 1960s, and Stoddard Glenmore offered a wide range of them to satisfy many tastes for louder patterns. This design may not be the easiest on the eyes but it definitely helps to disguise any dirt or dust. Did your home have a statement carpet like this in the ’60s?
Electric fires initially became popular in the 1950s. Fireplaces were hard to clean and expensive to fuel, so many homeowners bricked them up and replaced them with an electric fire like this. Despite their efficacy, these heaters weren’t particularly child-friendly and were gradually replaced with safer models.
Extension cables finally gave people the freedom to walk and talk at the same time. Available in a range of colours, these Bell telephones were very popular in the 1960s.
A glossy floor was a must-have for any well-kept home in the 1960s. For floors so sparkly clean you could see your reflection in them, this Pelaw wax-and-silicone polish was an indispensable household product.
A small step forward for feminism, this Halcyon paint advert proudly proclaims that there is no longer any need to ‘wait for the man of the house’ to do the painting. Though the model’s choice of attire seems a little impractical for DIY, we can only assume it’s because Halcyon makes painting so easy!
You might still see one of these in your grandmother's kitchen. Though aluminium is generally shunned these days in favour of cast iron or stainless steel, the material was popular in the ’60s as a relatively inexpensive option. Designed to take the elbow grease out of cooking, these MIRRO-MATIC appliances were ideal for saving time and money.
Combining a radio and a record player, radiograms reached peak popularity in the 1950s and ’60s. Despite being gradually phased out in favour of hi-fi systems, models like this Ballerina one were still available well into the ’70s.
This Berger Magicote paint advert embodies the decade’s fondness for pastoral imagery and natural hues. Brown and green were the 'it' colours of the 1970s, bedecking many a living or dining room. What colour scheme did your family choose?
Considered by many to be the Golden Age of speakers, the 1970s was all about sound quality. The emergence of transistors in the previous decade enabled the production of more powerful speakers with crisp, undistorted sound. Were you lucky enough to have a pair of Altecs at home?
Forget about oysters or figs and get your soulmate a wooden chest – what could be more romantic? Combine it with a fur rug, a pair of wine glasses and a single teacup and you’re sure to woo your loved one; at least, that’s what this Lane advert claims.
This 1980s advert from the Solid Fuel Advisory Service is mind-blowing for all sorts of reasons, not least the fantastic 80s decor and brooding 'man of the house' staring out the window and thinking about how he's going to heat the place, presumably. The advert's claim to be the fuel of the future has not come to pass, and the sale of bags of coal is now banned in some countries including the UK.
“You can do it when you B&Q it,” was the rallying cry of the home improvement company back in the day. Taken from a 1985 newspaper, this busy kitchen ad extolls the virtues of the brand’s self-assembly kitchens. Up to 60% off? That’s not a bad deal.
Though it was sadly dissolved in 2015, the much-loved British department store Woolworths had its heyday back in the ’80s – the only place where you could buy both Pick ’n’ Mix confectionary and a lawnmower. Though 'Woollies' may be no more, we can all still appreciate its commitment to taking ‘the moan out of mowing’.
While City Mattress is still going strong today, this advert probably wouldn’t have such a positive reception in 2020. The backdrop also invites the question of where exactly the scantily clad model is reclining. Has she taken up residence in the Sahara Desert? We’ll never know.
Ah, the novelty phone: a staple prop for many a 1980s movie and one of the retro homewares guaranteed to fill you with nostalgia. From the classic hamburger phone to the quirky banana model, there was a wealth of different designs to choose from. Did your teenage bedroom rock a telephone like this back in the ’80s?
Founded in Tokyo in 1946, Sony dominated the electronics sector throughout the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Published in 1986, this advert publicises the Sony Access System, a home theatre complex that combined a 27-inch television with a turntable, CD player and speakers. What more could you possibly want in your living room?
In the early 1990s, soft, creamy hues and dainty florals were very much in vogue. Designed by the Johnson Brothers, the Eternal Beau kitchenware range was a bestseller for years and no retro kitchen would be complete without a dash of its trailing pattern. With everything from tin openers to spice racks printed with the same elegant motif, what’s not to love?
IKEA opened its first store in the United Kingdom in 1987 and quickly dominated the ready-to-assemble furniture market. Combining compelling visuals with witty copy, its adverts in the 1990s were more provocative than before or since. This one, which claimed its beds were extremely robust, became notorious at the time.
In the days before Google, you could rely on your trusty Brother Kitchen Assistant to look up recipes in the blink of an eye. Combining a monitor and a printer, this gadget was the perfect gift for those who preferred not to clutter up their kitchen with cookbooks.
The 1990s saw a clear shift from text to image-based advertising. Gone was the long-form copy, replaced by striking images and catchy taglines; a textbook example is this 1991 advert for Comfort fabric softener. It was a pre-cat meme era!
In the world where boxy beige monitors where the norm, Apple did something amazing – it made computers cool. Introduced to the market in 1998, the iMac sported a semi-transparent design available in a range of vibrant colours. Smart and aesthetically pleasing, it quickly became the home computer of choice for any hip household.
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