Transcript Historical background to 1930`s and 1950`s

Historical Background
1930’s and 1950’s
Created by L McCarry
Historical background to 30’s and 50’s
• This presentation is to give you some basic information
on the time that two of the main plays you will study are
set.
• These are only ‘starter’ notes as you will explore these
time periods in more detail in your ‘Research task.’
• It is important to have a knowledge of life in the 30’s –
the setting of Men Should Weep and in the 50’s – the
setting of ‘The Steamie.’
• This will help you to fully and accurately justify any
points you will make when writing essays.
Created by L McCarry
The 1930’s
• Lloyd George introduced the old age pension in 1908 it was
5 shillings a week at 70 years old.
• He taxed the rich to pay for this and had to battle to get his
budget through the House of Lords.
• There was a world economic crisis in 1931. This followed
the American slump in 1929 (the stock market crashed.)
These crises followed on from payments due in the
aftermath of World War One. As a trading nation Britain
was very dependant on trade abroad and was hit hard by
the international financial squeeze. Wages and
unemployment benefit were cut.
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The 1930’s
• Life in the thirties was a grim struggle for the long term
unemployed. For those in work it was actually alright
because there was deflation, as opposed inflation (prices
went down instead of up.)
• It was not possible to be properly housed and fed on
unemployment benefit.
• In a typical (long unemployed) family, the family had
nothing but bread, margarine and tea, with condensed
milk, for breakfast and dinner. They would go to bed early
so as not to feel as hungry.
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The 1930’s
• Men Should Weep paints a fairly typical picture of its time;
slum housing, overcrowding and the spread of disease.
• Most families lived in very cramped conditions with whole
families living in one room – ‘single end’ or a ‘room and a
kitchen.’ Maggie has a ‘two room and a kitchen,’ which was
still cramped for the ten people living there.
• Two adults and three small children would sleep in one ‘setin bed’ (that is fixed in the bed recess or alcove,) and
perhaps another two or three on a mattress on the floor or a
pull out bed under the set-in bed. Under the bed was usually
a trunk to keep clothes in.
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The 1930’s
• Heating and cooking was done on a ‘range,’ fuelled by coal.
• There would also be a sink with cold water only. In order to
bathe water had to be boiled up on the ‘range’ and a tin
bath filled. That happened once a week!
• Water was easily contaminated, carrying diseases.
• Washing was done in the communal wash- house (an
outbuilding in the back court or the yard) or by visiting a
Steamie.
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The 1930’s
• Toilets were communal – one on each landing which could be
shared by as many as forty people.
• Some shared out door privies.
• With so many people there was no privacy. Living, sleeping,
cooking, eating, washing and dressing all had to be done in one
room.
• The overcrowding meant that disease was easily spread. The
biggest killer was Tuberculosis. Little could be done to treat T.B,
most people were sent to a Sanatorium in the country in the hope
that the fresh air would help. Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria and Polio
were also common. One of the most common sights was a child
with Rickets – bowly legs – caused by a lack of Vitamin D.
Created by L McCarry
The 1930’s
•
There were open sewers in the middle of the street and rubbish was left piling up.
•
The rivers and air were polluted with waste from factories and houses.
•
Large families were the norm. Women did not have access to contraception and
were constantly tired having to cope with pregnancy, rearing children and the
constant struggle to keep the house clean and the family fed.
•
Doctors had to be paid for and so a doctor wasn’t called unless you were very ill.
Charitable institutions would take in a sick child, but often no contact was allowed
with the child’s parents. Many families put ‘surplus’ children up for adoption or
into homes and orphanages.
•
Clothes were usually hand-me-downs. The ‘Parish’ would issue clothes to the very
needy and these were always marked as Parish clothes.
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The 1950’s
Created by L McCarry
The 1950’s
• Britain was still trying to recover from the effects of World War
Two. The only investment taking place in the war years was on arms
and defence installations, nothing on housing, health and
education. The country still bore the scars of war.
• There was still food rationing at the start of the decade and petrol
rationing until 1950.
• During the War (as had been the case in WW1) women were given
jobs usually done by men, but after the war the women returned to
their more ‘domesticated’ roles.
• There was a huge post-war baby boom, which would increase the
demand for health, education and housing.
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The 1950’s
• New homes were badly needed due to overcrowding. A third of British
households, at the time of the 1951 census, did not have a proper
bathroom and one in twenty households did not even have running water.
• There was a public expectation that housing conditions would improve
particularly for the working classes. Post-war the policy began of housing
people in huge housing schemes. In the 1940’s work began in Barlanark. A
development at Drumchapel was originally planned in 1939, but because
of the outbreak of WW2, work did not begin until 1951.
• It was planned that Drumchapel would be a ‘self-contained township of
ultimately 30,000 persons’ a small town within the city boundary. It would
have its own town centre, day-to-day shops among the houses and
complete communal services and amenities, such as Churches, Schools,
Baths and Libraries.
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The 1950’s
• A Labour government were in power from 1945 (end of the war)
until 1951. Conservative were then in power for 13 years.
• There was full employment; in fact there was a shortage of workers
to fill jobs. This led to large-scale immigration to Britain.
• There was a political agreement that housing was a priority, so
people could look forward to a steady income and new housing. It
was a decade of huge change – it saw the spread of the car and
television.
• At the start of the 1950s, most people travelled by public transport.
Car ownership was nothing like it is now. Steel shortages affected
overall production of cars and a higher proportion of cars had to be
sold abroad to help bring money into the country.
Created by L McCarry
Historical background to the 30’s and 50’s
On the next slide is a group
task. This will help you to
take a social issue and
research this in the time
setting of the plays.
Created by L McCarry
Historical background to the 30’s and 50’s
Tasks
• In groups you will each be given a social issue; you should research
as much as you can about this issue in the 30’s AND 50’s and
prepare an interesting presentation for your peers.
• You need to include notes on the social issue and use images to
help your peers to understand life in the 30’s and 50’s. You may also
want to highlight if the social issue has changed or improved over
that time period.
• You should also link to the play, to start to make connections
between the social issue and how it affects the characters in The
Steamie and Men Should Weep.
Created by L McCarry
Historical background to the 30’s and 50’s
Tasks
The choice of social issues are:
1. Housing and Living conditions
2. Community and Disintegration
3. Work and Unemployment
4. The Depression/Poverty
5. Health
6. The role of women and the role of men in society
7. Education
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by L McCarry
Good Luck!
Created by L McCarry