The 1950s was the decade of the Queen’s Coronation and

the Festival of Britain; of family shops and pea-souper smogs;

listening to the wireless and watching the box; when money

was counted in pounds, shillings and pence. It was when

children walked to school; postmen wore uniforms with

peaked hats; orange juice was free for schoolchildren; milk and

bread were delivered by milkmen and bakers every morning; chimney sweeps rode bikes with their brushes and poles balanced on their shoulders; and most people still preferred smooth shiny toilet paper to the new absorbent type.

 

The Second World War that ended in 1945 left Britain in a period of austerity. Yet, born of the relief of the war ending, there was a spirit of hope for the future and new beginnings, from which grew a climate that was a comforting mix of the traditional past blended with exciting glimpses of an exhilarating future. All this and more is what this book is about.