After the austerity of the war years, Canadians wanted everything to be big, shiny and electric.
After the austerity of the war years, Canadians wanted everything to be big, shiny and electric.
CBC Life ·
First of all, look at this pink electric juicer. In the 1940s, you could barely get oranges. In the '50s you can juice them with the power of electricity. And make it pink. Because why wouldn't you make your juicer pink? But also, check out this bread box. Doesn't it look like it should have fins on it? (Dale Wilcox/DWP)
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It was a decade where everything was electric, automatic, and weirdly large.
On the second episode of Back in Time for Dinner, the Campus family's actual home is transformed into a home from the prosperous 1950s.
Check out some of the newfangled gadgets below:
Tupperware not only used cutting edge plastics technology to keep food fresh, the direct-sales model also gave middle class Canadian moms a socially acceptable way to make money. (3Bird Media )
In the 1950s, the goal seemed to be to have a machine to do almost anything, including open your cans. (3Bird Media )
Televisions in the 1950s were pieces of furniture in their own right, with small screens — at least by today's standards — encased in massive cabinets. (Dale Wilcox/DWP)
Take a look at that shiny silver object to the right of the stove. That's right friends. It's an automatic toaster. The wartime ritual of burning your bread because you didn't time your toasting correctly is a thing of the past. (Dale Wilcox/DWP)
Kitchen appliances like this stand mixer were a huge change from the hand-cranked drudgery of the 1940s. They also looked really cool. (Dale Wilcox/DWP)
OK, so not everything was electric and automatic in the '50s. This is how Battleship used to be played. Somehow it seems less fun than the modern version of the game. (3Bird Media)
See what the Campuses think of life in the 1950s in the series Back In Time For Dinner (Thursdays at 8 p.m. / 8:30 NT on CBC).
