Lisa's Nostalgia Cafe--The 1950s Home


links The House That Levitt Built Seattle Modern The 1950s At Home Frank Lloyd Wright On The Web	-----	outdoor features stone facades sidewalks redwood exteriors attached garages swimming pools patios curbs back yards Click here to see more outdoor views of 1950s homes!
home trends Before the late 1940s, garages were not very common, and attached garages were even harder to find. In the new postwar subdivisions, tract homes were built on tiny lots, and the attached garage became popular for practical reasons. By 1950, 45 percent of all new homes had an attached garage or carport. The space-age Googie decor that was becoming popular in restaurants and hotels could also be found in homes. Toned-down Googie influences included upswept roofs, large windows, starburst wall clocks and pastel colors.		home heating central heating By the 1950s, over half of all homes had central heating. There were two types of central heating: forced-air systems (furnaces) and radiator systems. Furnaces were becoming the popular choice for new homes. Hot water and steam radiators were used in older homes and apartment buildings. fuel types In the old days, most furnaces and boilers were powered by coal. In the 1950s, coal was being replaced by fuel oil and natural gas. The age and location of your home usually determined the type of fuel you used. Gas was used in newer homes, large towns and cities. Fuel oil was used in smaller towns, rural areas and in older homes that were converted from coal-burning systems. fuel oil Fuel oil was delivered regularly by DX, Standard Oil, Sinclair, Cities Service, Phillips 66, Mobilgas and Mobiloil trucks. It was kept in a storage tank in the yard or basement. natural gas In the 1950s, the number of homes heated by gas was increasing. There were actually two types of natural gas: manufactured coal gas and real natural gas piped directly from the ground. Before the 1950s, most gas-heated homes used manufactured gas. The interstate pipelines were completed during this decade, which allowed real natural gas to be effectively distributed to large areas. From this point on, real natural gas was the dominant fuel. local heating Some homes still did not have central heating, especially those in the country. Stoves and oil burners were used for the downstairs living areas, while the upstairs bedrooms were usually unheated.


suburbs & the good life Each type of suburb is named after the method of transportation that connects it to the city. The 1800s gave us railroad and streetcar suburbs, and the 1920s gave us early automobile suburbs. The postwar climate of the late 1940s and 1950s gave us the fourth type of suburb: the freeway suburb. In the late 1940s, a housing shortage forced developers to search the open countryside for vacant land. Gradually, farm fields gave way to paved streets, cul-de-sacs, small lawns and sidewalks. Cookie-cutter tract homes, ranch homes and split-level homes were designed with growing families in mind. These new subdivisions were miles away from downtown, and were connected to the city by the new freeways and expressways. There were no trees, and all the tract houses looked the same, but no one seemed to mind. The suburbs symbolized everything good that the modern world had to offer. the subdivisions... Levittown: An Ideal American Suburb Long Island History: Levittown At Fifty Early Years Of Marlton Hills On Long Island, Levittown was the first major suburb of the postwar era		In the 1950s, society had returned to a peacetime existence...but something was different! There were more families, thanks to the baby boom* The general population was attaining a higher level of education, thanks in part to the G.I. Bill,* which made it possible for war veterans to go to college The G.I. Bill also insured mortgage lenders against loss, which made it easier for veterans to purchase homes The prospering economy allowed people to buy more luxury goods As a result, young families with an eye to the future started to move out of the crowded cities, and the suburban experience became a way of life.


television People weren't sure how to include the television in their interior decorating plans.... ....was it an appliance, like the radio or refrigerator? ....or was it furniture, like a table or chair? To solve this dilemma, many early sets had doors that could be closed when the unit wasn't on, making it both functional and attractive.	-----
---- -------		in the living room wood paneling sofas with spindle legs big starburst wall clocks boomerang-shaped coffee tables console hi-fi systems flocked wallpaper wrought-iron accents Eames furniture Eames Furniture Mid-Centurian's Back To The Fifties Room High-fidelity sound! Visit my Technology page to learn more about record players, radios and TVs in the 1950s! Click here to see more living rooms and rec-rooms from the 1950s!
------- ------- -------		in the bedroom clock-radios bedside telephones matching bedroom sets
better living through electricity Just like mom!		washers & dryers refrigerators & freezers vacuum cleaners dishwashers electric ranges Electric washing machines with wringers had been around in various forms since the 1900s. Beginning in the 1930s, you could buy a separate extracting machine with a spin cycle to replace the wringer. The first fully automatic washers combining wash, rinse and spin cycles came out in the 1940s. Sales of automatic washers first surpassed wringer washers in 1953. In the 1950s, new models adopted their current appearance and featured timers and push-button controls for different fabrics and colors. The first combination washer-dryer units also came out during this decade. History Of Washing Machines Vintage Vacuum Cleaner Museum Oh honey, is this for me? --Electrolux vacuum cleaner, 1954
-- Earl Silas Tupper invented Tupperware in the early 1940s and started selling it in retail stores in 1946. He found that his products sold better when they were demonstrated in the home, so in 1951 he began selling Tupperware exclusively at home-based parties. Tupperware History History Of Sunbeam Mixmasters		in the kitchen Sunbeam Mixmasters Waring blenders Oster blenders Betty Crocker cookbooks large enameled roasters Kensington ware Dutch doors Melmac dinnerware Duncan Hines (the man, not the brownies!) became famous in the 1930s when he wrote his first restaurant guidebook for travelers, Adventures In Good Eating. By the 1950s, he was publishing recipe books and lending his name to a line of packaged foods.


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