When analysing the role of women throughout advertising in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it is undeniable that the housewife contributed to a great extent. Throughout the post war period, the notion of work was largely intertwined with gender. To escape the trauma of the War, gender roles encompassed a nostalgic view of pre-war Britain and thus relied on the notion of the strong male breadwinner and as a counterpart, the housewife.[1] This essay will explore the ways in which the image of the housewife was utilised throughout the advertising industry in the 1950’s and 1960’s. With particular reference to two videos from The Media Archive for Central England (MACE) and the BOB National archive, this essay will engage with clips from the period in order to understand how women were portrayed. The first is a promotional video for the Esiclene kitchen range.[2] The date of the video is not recorded on the archive, however on further investigation it is thought that the video is from the 1950’s.[3] The second is a promotional video for the Mercury oven released in 1958. The third is a clip taken from the Chanel 4 television show ‘It was Alright in the 60’s’ that discusses Terry Scott’s television show, ‘Scott on Birds’ from BBC2 in 1964.[4] By analysing each video this essay will aim to uncover the housewife in both advertising and entertainment. With the help of historians such as Gillain Murray, Stephen Brooke and Sean Nixon, and primary sources from the Daily Mail from the period, this essay will contextualise each video and argue that the role of the housewife was used heavily throughout advertising to appeal to an audience striving to realise the nostalgia of pre-war Britain.
Throughout the period of war in the early twentieth century, a confusion of gender roles has been identified by ample historians such as Helen Smith[5] and Stephen Brooke[6] and Joanna Bourke.[7] This was largely owed to a change in the industrial structure of Britain noted in Sally Alexanders article ‘Becoming a Woman in London in the 1920s and 1930s’ and argues that opportunities for women’s economic freedom were apparent throughout the war period.[8] An industrial transformation had been witnessed from the dependency on traditionally masculine industries such as ship building, coal mining and steel works that flourished during industrialisation, to a new reliance on plastic, glass and motor manufacturing, all of which offered women employment opportunities since they were a source of cheap labour.[9] The effects of this confusion of gender roles are undeniable throughout the 1950s and 1960s. After the trauma of the war and the unemployment experienced throughout the interwar period, nostalgia for Victorian Britain was integral in the reconstruction of family and gender roles. [10] The videos taken from both MACE and the BOB National archive demonstrate the male ‘Breadwinner’ and female ‘Housewife’ used throughout the advertising industry that tapped into a more general consensus. The Esiclene promotional video counters the image of the housewife using the domestic range with the male manufacturer reinforcing the nostalgia of Victorian gender identity.[11] Similarly, Terry Scott’s television show mocks women showing the housewife to be the perfect women that every man should end up with.[12] Thus, it is obvious from this that both regional and national television clung to this idea of ‘Housewife’ and ‘Breadwinner’.
One common aspect of each video is the appearance of the housewife. A consistency in the way the housewife is represented can be seen throughout each clip. The Esiclene promotional video opens with a cartoon image of multiple women holding hands wearing dresses and aprons.[13]
Thus this instantly establishes the tone of the video, suggesting that the image of the housewife will take precedent throughout the promotional video. The video then uses a traditional housewife well dressed, with neat hair, wearing an apron using the Esiclene kitchen range.[14] Thus, the introduction to the promotional video works to establish the Esiclene domestic range as a product that will be used by women. Similarly, the Mercury Oven promotional advert also introduces the video with images of housewives, again neatly presented and wearing an apron.[15]
Each of these representations of women work to support Sean Nixon’s argument of the consistency of housewife image:
‘Typically they were associated with the emblem of the housewifery role: an apron. The apron was always pristine and the presentation of the housewife usually saw her looking neat and well groomed, often wearing court shoes, occasionally heels, and sometimes a sting of pearls.’[16]
Thus, this seems to be true for each of the video’s analysed in this essay. The final video that represents Terry Scott’s television programme ‘Scott on Birds’, was not an advert for a particular product, however was a satirical sketch on women in general. Scott works his way through three types of women, the first a glamorous woman who he compares to a ‘Lamborghini’.[17] The second is a women wearing just a bikini, and the third woman that ‘most men end up with’ is a traditional housewife, again clad in an apron and neat dress.[18] Again, this is consistent with the appearance of each housewife in the regional promotional videos and also support Sean Nixon’s notions.
The consistency of appearance of the housewife in each video shows the aspirations of housewifery established by the media. From these three video’s, we can gage an understanding of what constitutes the perfect housewife in the eyes of both regional advertising and national television. One important aspect to the representation of the perfect housewife was class. When analysing the representation of the housewife in each video, it is clear that the aspirational housewife has been represented by middle class women from their dress and the household facilities they are able to afford. The Esiclene clip illustrates a number of women, all of which make use of the image of middle –class, well dressed and economically affluent female unbound by need to work in industry.[19] The Mercury oven promotional video also utilises this image throughout. This chimes with Gillian Murray’s contention that the ideal housewife throughout advertising was represented by middle class women.[20] Thus, the expectations imposed upon on working-class women who could not necessarily afford these commodities had an undeniable effect. Working-class women filled their houses with ‘televisions, washing machines and fridges’ and sacrificed provisions such as ‘hot running water and an indoor toilet.’[21] Thus, there is a clear gap between the representation of housewives in advertising and the lived experience of women during the 1950s and 1960s.
A gap in the expectation of women and the lived experience of women can also be noted when turning to newspaper advertising. The Daily Mail for example makes use throughout its advertising in the 1950s and 1960s of the housewife image discussed previously. For example, an advert for ‘Quaker’ macaroni was published in the Daily Mail addressing housewives in 1950.[22] Again, the image of a housewife donning an apron, a dress and neatly presented is situated next to the advertising text showing a consistency with the videos analysed hitherto. When looking through the Daily Mail archives there is ample evidence of these types of advertising, reaching out to the housewife and utilising the stereotypes that have been discussed. However, this did not necessarily match up with the content of the paper and a gap can be seen regarding the experience of women in the fictional stories, and the expectations of women in the advertising section. One article entitles ‘Surely they’re the husband and wife of the year’ depicts the story of a husband and wife.[23] The story is of a mother whose husband supported and took on the domestic duties whilst she studied for her degree, and were thus being praised for the both the education of the wife and the domesticity of the husband it is clear from this article that the gender roles of the domestic mother and breadwinning father was not necessarily a reality.
Furthermore, Gillian Murray argues that the image of ‘Mrs Consumer’ was used throughout advertising and television to represent the peak of housewifery.[24] The economic independence of women was affected by the affluence in the post war boom as British exports rose by 77 per cent between the years 1946 and 1950.[25] Affluence in the post war period stretched over a period of 20 years, from 1950s to the 1970s and living standards dramatically increased during this period.[26] Due to the economic stability, the unemployment rate stayed at 2 percent throughout the period, allowing wages to rise and a mass improvement in the living standards of both the working and middle classes.[27] This resulted in a long boom in consumerism and ‘people were weary of hardship and deprivation, which for many families had lasted since 1919, and they were eager to take advantage of consumer pleasure’.[28] The desire to own consumer products, from domestic products such as washing machines, ovens, refrigerators and hoovers, to both male and female clothing.[29] New industries such as motor, class and plastic, all of which employed women, replaced old industries such as ship building, coal mining and steelworks.[30] Thus, as women now had the opportunity to engage in employment, this resulted in a new female economic independence. Shopping and consumerism was largely associated with women, and therefore the advertising industry relied on the image of ‘Mrs. Consumer’ to appeal to this stereotype.
Throughout advertising, an emphasis was put on the freedom that these consumer products would grant women. Adverts represented domestic products as a as tool of female emancipation, a break from the ties of domestic duties and the provider of an easier lifestyle. `In 1950 the Daily Mail published an article titled ‘Electricity makes life Easier.’[31] The advert uses an image of a woman’s leg next to an oven clad in heals, a dress and an apron.[32] The advert states:
‘Lashings of really hot water always available whenever you want it- what more could a housewife ask? Lots of things: a spotless electric cooker or any of the other labour saving appliances which make life worth living.’[33]
This advert demonstrates the pressure put on women to purchase these new consumer items and shows the expectation that women will perform domestic duties. Furthermore, this shows the appeal of female emancipation used by advertisers during this time period.
Similarly, both promotional videos for the Esiclene Domestic Range and the Mercury oven both use this idea of domestic freedom to sell their products. The Easiclene promotional video pitches their new domestic range as a conversion from ‘dingy Edwardian kitchens into Jewels of brightness and labour conservation.’[34] In addition, simply the name of the company, Easiclene, denotes the importance put on the ease and emancipation of domestic labour. Similarly, the Mercury oven promotional video also stresses the importance of ease of use their new product provides. A demonstration is shown to depict the ease of cleaning the hob. The male presenter spills sauce on the hob, and hands the woman a cloth who cleans the sauce with ease and says ‘just like a man’. [35] Thus, not only does this advert show the ease and convenience of the oven, it also displays traditional gender roles and places the woman in the kitchen cleaning the male presenters mess. Therefore, it is clear that both videos tap into the idea of labour saving devices to entice the female consumer, while preserving the essential elements of female subservience and their domestic role. However, Claire Langhamer offers a contrary views and argues that the labour saving domestic consumer products advertised, instead worked to achieve the opposite and raised the standards of household aesthetics.[36] Each domestic product became so desirable and had the effect of community competition for the best looking and cleanest house. Consequently, the advertising industry, instead of meeting the expectations they enforced, had the reverse effect to female emancipation.
From the sources analysed throughout this essay, it is clear that both regional advertising, and the national media relied on the image of the housewife during the 1950s and 1960s. By conforming to the perception of women’s work and creating a specific aesthetic appearance of the housewife, the advertising industry reinforced the nostalgia of Victorian gender roles. Three important themes have been picked out and were all consistent elements throughout regional advertising and were also recognised on a more national level: 1) the middle class representation of the housewife, 2) the association of women and domesticity, 3) the gap between public and media expectations and the lived experience of women in the 1950s and 1960s. The consumer culture that has been noted throughout this essay played a large role in the perception of women throughout advertising and this was facilitated by the economic structure of post war Britain. As women were engaged in work, they became economically independent and spending power allowed them to consume luxury items. However, the advertising industry did work to polarise those who could not afford these commodities. As shown in this study, the power of television and advertising in this period must not be underestimated as working class women often sacrificed necessities for what would be considered luxuries, showing the strength that the housewife image held. Therefore, overall, the image of the housewife contributed to advertising vastly throughout the 1950s and 1960s and was consistent from regional promotional advertising, to national satirical entertainment and finally, national newspaper advertising.
[1]Stephen Brooke, ‘Gender and working class identity in Britain during the 1950s.’ Journal of Social History 34, no. 4 (2001), 776.
[2] Easiclene of Wolverhampton, ‘Something to Sing about’, unknown date, Media Archrive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137369102
[3] Creda Promotional Video, ‘Mercury’, first broadcast 1958, Media Archive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137372575
[4] Channel 4, ‘Alright in the 1960’s’, first broadcast 21 September 2015, BOB National Archive, http://bobnational.net/record/314280
[5] Helen Smith, ‘Love, Sex, Work and Friendship: Northern, Working-Class Men and Sexuality in the First Half of the Twentieth Century.’ In Love and Romance in Britain, 1918–1970, pp. 61-80. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015.
[6]Joanna Bourke, Working class cultures in Britain, 1890-1960: gender, class, and ethnicity. (Psychology Press, 1994) 776.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Sally Alexander, ‘Becoming a Woman in London in the 1920s and 1930s.’ Metropolis—London. Histories and Representations since (1800), 203.
[9] Ina Zweigiger-Bargielowska, Women in Twentieth-Century Britain: Social, Cultural and Political Change (Routledge, 2014) 168.
[10] Stephen Brooke, ‘Gender and t Working Class Identity in Britian’ , 775
[11] Easiclene of Wolverhampton, ‘Something to Sing about’, unknown date, Media Archrive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137369102
[12] Channel 4, ‘Alright in the 1960’s’, first broadcast 21 September 2015, BOB National Archive, http://bobnational.net/record/314280
[13] Esicle Easiclene of Wolverhampton, ‘Something to Sing about’, unknown date, Media Archrive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137369102 ne video, 00.1 – 00.25.
[14]Easiclene of Wolverhampton, ‘Something to Sing about’, unknown date, Media Archrive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137369102.
[15] Creda Promotional Video, ‘Mercury’, first broadcast 1958, Media Archive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137372575
[16] Sean Nixon, Hard sell : advertising, affluence and transatlantic relations, find page number, 130.
[17] Channel 4, ‘Alright in the 1960’s’, first broadcast 21 September 2015, BOB National Archive, http://bobnational.net/record/314280
[18] Channel 4, ‘Alright in the 1960’s’, first broadcast 21 September 2015, BOB National Archive, http://bobnational.net/record/314280
[19] Easiclene of Wolverhampton, ‘Something to Sing about’, unknown date, Media Archrive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137369102
[20] Gillian Murray, ‘Regional News and the Mid-Twentieth-Century ‘Housewife’: Exploring the Legacy of Afternoon Television in Midlands News Programmes in the 1950s and 1960s.’ Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies 9, no. 2 (2014)
[21] Murray, ‘Regional News’, 60.
[22] “Multiple Display Advertising Items.” Daily Mail [London, England] 15 Feb. 1950: 2. Daily Mail Historical Archive. Web. 6 May 2016. http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/dmha/newspaperRetrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateAscend&tabID=T003&prodId=DMHA&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R2&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=5&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28tx%2CNone%2C10%29Housewife+%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28gs%2CNone%2C13%29%22Advertising%22%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28da%2CNone%2C23%2901%2F01%2F1950+-+12%2F21%2F1970%24&retrieveFormat=MULTIPAGE_DOCUMENT&userGroupName=ulh&inPS=true&contentSet=LTO&&docId=&docLevel=FASCIMILE&workId=&relevancePageBatch=EE1864620553&contentSet=DMHA&callistoContentSet=DMHA&docPage=article&hilite=y
[23] Rhona Churchill, ‘Surely they’re the husband and wife of the year?’ Daily Mail (London, England), Saturday, June 26, 1965
[24] Murray, ‘Regional News’.
[25]Stanford E Lehmberg, Thomas William Heyck. The Peoples of the British Isles: A New History. (Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1992) 224.
[26] Ibid, 225.
[27] Ibid, 225.
[28] Ibid, 225.
[29] Ibid, 225.
[30] Ina Zweigiger-Bargielowska, Women in Twentieth-Century Britain: Social, Cultural and Political Change (Routledge, 2014) 168.
[31] Unknown Author, ‘Electricity makes life Easier’, Daily Mail (London, England), Saturday, August 12, 1950; pg. 2; Issue 16921.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Easiclene of Wolverhampton, ‘Something to Sing about’, unknown date, Media Archrive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137369102
[35] Creda Promotional Video, ‘Mercury’, first broadcast 1958, Media Archive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137372575
[36] Claire Langhamer, ‘The meanings of home in postwar Britain.’ Journal of Contemporary History 40, no. 2 (2005), 358.
Bibliography
Brooke, Stephen. ‘Gender and working class identity in Britain during the 1950s.’ Journal of Social History 34, no. 4 (2001): 773-795.
Bourke, Joanna. Working class cultures in Britain, 1890-1960: gender, class, and ethnicity. Psychology Press, 1994
Smith, Helen. ‘Love, Sex, Work and Friendship: Northern, Working-Class Men and Sexuality in the First Half of the Twentieth Century.’ In Love and Romance in Britain, 1918–1970, pp. 61-80. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015.
Ina Zweigiger-Bargielowska, Women in Twentieth-Century Britain: Social, Cultural and Political Change (Routledge, 2014) 168.
Sean Nixon, Hard sell : advertising, affluence and transatlantic relations, find page number, 130.
Murray, Gillian. ‘Regional News and the Mid-Twentieth-Century ‘Housewife’: Exploring the Legacy of Afternoon Television in Midlands News Programmes in the 1950s and 1960s.’ Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies 9, no. 2 (2014): 54-73.
Lehmberg, Stanford E, and Thomas William Heyck. The Peoples of the British Isles: A New History. Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1992.
Langhamer, Claire. ‘The meanings of home in postwar Britain.’ Journal of Contemporary History 40, no. 2 (2005): 341-362.
Primary Sources
Unknown Author, ‘Electricity makes life Easier’, Daily Mail (London, England), Saturday, August 12, 1950; pg. 2; Issue 16921.
Rhona Churchill, ‘Surely they’re the husband and wife of the year?’ Daily Mail (London, England), Saturday, June 26, 1965
“Multiple Display Advertising Items.” Daily Mail [London, England] 15 Feb. 1950: 2. Daily Mail Historical Archive. Web. 6 May 2016. http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/dmha/newspaperRetrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateAscend&tabID=T003&prodId=DMHA&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R2&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=5&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28tx%2CNone%2C10%29Housewife+%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28gs%2CNone%2C13%29%22Advertising%22%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28da%2CNone%2C23%2901%2F01%2F1950+-+12%2F21%2F1970%24&retrieveFormat=MULTIPAGE_DOCUMENT&userGroupName=ulh&inPS=true&contentSet=LTO&&docId=&docLevel=FASCIMILE&workId=&relevancePageBatch=EE1864620553&contentSet=DMHA&callistoContentSet=DMHA&docPage=article&hilite=y
Easiclene of Wolverhampton, ‘Something to Sing about’, unknown date, Media Archrive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137369102
Creda Promotional Video, ‘Mercury’, first broadcast 1958, Media Archive for Central England, University of Lincoln, https://vimeo.com/album/3537349/video/137372575
Channel 4, ‘Alright in the 1960’s’, first broadcast 21 September 2015, BOB National Archive, http://bobnational.net/record/314280
Teaching with MACE 