4.1

Question 1

how did real income improve?

Answer 1

• living standards improved between the wars largely, as prices (esp. for food) fell faster than wages
• real cost of living fell by >1/3, 1920-38
• increase in contraception meant smaller families so money went further

Question 2

how was real income limited?

Answer 2

• severe depression in 1921
• wages fell for the poorest in society until ‘34
• many families had to get by on <£5 a week

Question 3

how were health + diet improved?

Answer 3

• Jay Winter 1986 book argues war was ‘the occasion of a completely unanticipated improvement in the life of the civilian population’
• decline in alcohol consumption
• rationing promoted a healthier diet
• study in 1936 - avg diet was better than before 1914
• by 1922, infant mortality had halved from 1900 levels
• more survived to 65 y/o

Question 4

how were health + diet limited?

Answer 4

• large variation in nutritional standards between diff classes
• life expectancy beyond 65 was limited
• large variations remained between different regions = varied levels of support + care

Question 5

how were regional variations improved?

Answer 5

• UAB (Unemployment Assistance Board) in 1937

Question 6

how were regional variations limited?

Answer 6

• parts of the country heavily reliant on traditional industries (like coal, textiles) fares less well than those with a larger service industry (Durham + S Wales suffered, London thrived in the ’30s)
• more efficient German + American steel production undercut British domestic sales due to retention of free trade until 1922
• Great Depression led to further demand for ships, steel, coal + textiles
• unemployment rose to 3 mil, 1932-33
• 1944 Beveridge calculated 85% of all long-term unemployment was in the N
• regional variations in the ‘means test’ persisted until UAB

Question 7

how was consumption improved?

Answer 7

• rapid electrification of the country so the number of electricity consumers increased from 730k (1920) to 9 mil (1938)

Question 8

how was consumption limited?

Answer 8

• use of electricity varied in the SE, more was used than in the N
• families on lower incomes could not take part in growth in consumerism until purchase prices had fallen to an affordable level/wages had risen (w/c struggled to afford radios, irons + vacuums)
• even w growth of hire purchase, ownership of electric fridges + cookers remained a m/c phenomenon in interwar period

Question 9

how many houses were destroyed due to WW2?

Answer 9

2/7

Question 10

how many Essential Work Orders did the gov issue in WW2?

Answer 10

8.5 mil

Question 11

how many men were called up by 1945 to fight in the war?

Answer 11

5.5 mil

Question 12

how many children were evacuated in WW2?

Answer 12

> 1,000

Question 13

how many males aged 14-64 registered for war service in WW2?

Answer 13

15 mil

Question 14

what was ‘Dig for Victory’?

Answer 14

Ministry of Food encouraged people to convert their gardens + public parks into allotments + provided recipes to make the most of vegetables

Question 15

when was the Council for the Encouragement of Music + the Arts formed and why?

Answer 15

1940 as life was drab

Question 16

when was In Which We Serve released?

Answer 16

1942

Question 17

in 1946, how much of consumer expenditure was controlled by rationing?

Answer 17

almost 1/4

Question 18

when was bread rationed and why was this important?

Answer 18

1946-48
it wasn’t rationed during the war

Question 19

when was rationing finally abandoned?

Answer 19

1954

Question 20

who called the period between the 1950s + early 1970s the ‘golden era’ of Western capitalism?

Answer 20

Hobsbawn

Question 21

what did real disposable income grow by in the 1950s, ’60s + ’70s?

Answer 21

1950s - 30%
1960s - 22%
1970s - 30%

Question 22

what was home ownership like in 1950 compared to 1970?

Answer 22

1950 - 29%
1970 - >50%

Question 23

what was car ownership like in 1950 compared to 1970?

Answer 23

1950 - 16%
1970 - 52%

Question 24

what did Macmillan boast about in 1957?

Answer 24

‘most of our people have never had it so good’

Question 25

what did James Obelkevich say about Britain?

Answer 25

it became a ‘consumer society’ without becoming a consumerist in outlook

Question 26

when was the first supermarket opened + where?

Answer 26

1947
St Albans

Question 27

what did the opening of Sainsbury’s mark?

Answer 27

a permanent start of the supermarket era

Question 28

when was a Sainsbury’s opened in Croydon?

Answer 28

1950s

Question 29

how many supermarkets were there in 1959 compared to 1971?

Answer 29

1959 - 286
1971 - >3.5k

Question 30

when was the 1st out-of-town supermarket opened in Nottingham?

Answer 30

1964

Question 31

why was the opening of out-of-town supermarkets important?

Answer 31

• led to closures of 60k local grocers
• a loss of range of local stores
• a greater standardisation with supermarkets

Question 32

what did the 1974 Consumer Credit Act do?

Answer 32

paved the way for an explosion of consumer borrowing in the ’80s + ’90s

Question 33

when were credit cards first used in Britain?

Answer 33

1966

Question 34

what were gas sales and electricity sales like in 1951-70?

Answer 34

gas sales more than doubled
electricity sales quadrupled

Question 35

when did almost every house have a TV by?

Answer 35

1970

Question 36

how many men used deodorant before and after 1957?

Answer 36

before - hardly any men
after - >1/2

Question 37

why was it impossible to tell a young woman’s class from her dress in the mid-60s?

Answer 37

new fashions like ‘the Look’

Question 38

what did Twiggy say about Mary Quant and Biba?

Answer 38

Mary Quant was for rich girls
Biba was for anyone