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The 1940s House ExhibitionThe 1940s House exhibition at the Imperial War Museum features a detailed re-creation of 17 Braemar Gardens, West Wickam, Kent, the suburban semi-detached wartime home which stars in the Channel 4 series, The 1940s House.
Taking eight weeks to build on site and three weeks to paint and furnish, the house is equipped in authentic wartime fashion, from blackout blinds to a ration-book larder. The two-storey house comprises of a living room, dining rooms, kitchen, three bedrooms, bathroom and WC. Outside in the garden is the Dig for Victory vegetable patch and Anderson Shelter.
Most of the furniture dates from the 1920s and 1930s as this would have been typical of the kind found in houses of this time. Shortages of timber in the war led the British Government to introduce a range of basic domestic furniture called Standard Emergency Furniture. Aimed initially at people whose furniture had been destroyed in an air raid, or by newly-weds setting up home for the first time, demand for the furniture increased. Under the direction of Hugh Dalton, the President of the Board of Trade, and Gordon Russell, a noted furniture designer, the Utility Furniture Advisory Committee was established, and took control of the design and supply of furniture in Britain. In January 1943, the first Utility furniture catalogue was published and this showed a range of simple, well-made but basic domestic furniture in room sets. Available on ration only, and with no other choice available, the scheme was a success, and was applied to other areas including bedding, textiles and domestic pottery. Utility furniture and fabric was distinguished by the CC41 mark, and the only items in the house which carry the CC41 Utility mark are the two day bases in the main bedroom.
In the late 1940s new ranges of Utility furniture were introduced. These were far more adventurous, but with the government no longer able to impose its own concept of taste, they were not very successful. In 1953 the Utility Scheme came to an end. To complete the picture are associated displays about life on the home front, along with a re-creation of part of a wartime grocer’s shop. The 1940s House Exhibition Admission: £5.50
Location: Imperial War Museum Open: Daily 10am-6pm
Web: www.iwm.org.uk
(Imperial War Museum) |
