0:00:06 > 0:00:09The shadow of World War II loomed long.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11There was a desperate need to rebuild
0:00:11 > 0:00:13bomb-damaged towns and cities
0:00:13 > 0:00:14because, above all,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18people wanted a safe place to live and to bring up their families.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23In the 1950s, the government was under pressure to build new homes
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and started an ambitious building programme.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30The time to look forward had come at last,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and the British wanted everything around them
0:00:32 > 0:00:35to reflect that sense of optimism.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44Into the nation's living rooms and kitchens came bright new materials,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47man-made fabrics and laboursaving devices.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51For the post-war generation of homeowners,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54domesticity had never been more comfortable.
0:00:56 > 0:00:57But there were problems.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Some of the new products and innovations
0:01:01 > 0:01:04they welcomed into the home were killers.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07With the aid of modern science,
0:01:07 > 0:01:12I'm going to search out these hidden assassins and reveal them.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14It is unbelievable.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Just by burning that flame, we're going to produce a deadly gas?
0:01:17 > 0:01:18Yes, we are.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23The post-war home was the most dangerous place you could be.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Welcome to Hidden Killers Of The Post-War Home.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45'It's a two-storey, three-bedroom £4,300 house,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47'built in the modern manner.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49'Doors slide or fold,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51'there's underfloor electrical heating
0:01:51 > 0:01:53'and many other bright ideas as well.'
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Gosh, isn't this wonderful?
0:02:11 > 0:02:15It looks so familiar, it reminds me of the houses of my grandparents.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17So exuberant and optimistic.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22At the time, it must have felt like living in the height of modernity.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Little did they know how dangerous it really was.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35This was the age of boom and affluent revival,
0:02:35 > 0:02:36especially for the middle classes,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40who made up some 15 to 20 million of the population.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42They were richer than they had ever been before
0:02:42 > 0:02:44and they were spending more than they ever had before.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Macmillan was right in 1957 when he said they'd never had it so good.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55What could be safer than a modern home?
0:03:00 > 0:03:03I'm going upstairs to find our first hidden killer...
0:03:03 > 0:03:05to the child's bedroom.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Children now had rooms of their own and all sorts of newfangled toys
0:03:13 > 0:03:15that were designed to be educational
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and to prepare them for their future careers.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21So the girls had electric irons and ovens
0:03:21 > 0:03:25and the boys had model aircraft and train sets and...
0:03:26 > 0:03:27..chemistry sets.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Although the odd girl did creep in.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Look, there's me.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Yeah, I had the chemistry set.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38It came as a Christmas present,
0:03:38 > 0:03:43and it was only literally an hour before I'd blown it up.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17Chemistry sets throughout the years
0:04:17 > 0:04:21have reflected many changes in science and society,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and never more so than after the Second World War.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Young would-be chemists,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30inspired by the apocalyptic images in the comics of the day
0:04:30 > 0:04:34and their soldier fathers, could not resist experimenting,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36with terrifying consequences.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50EXPLOSION
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Well, this is the chemistry set.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58I took my vintage chemistry set to Joy Ledger
0:04:58 > 0:05:00at the Bristol Science Centre
0:05:00 > 0:05:03to find out just how dangerous this box really was.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06So, what's most alarming about it, I suppose?
0:05:06 > 0:05:11Copper sulphate would definitely have a hazard warning on it today.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13The test tubes are so flimsy.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17They really are. You wouldn't use anything like this
0:05:17 > 0:05:19in a lab at school these days.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22These heated with a Bunsen burner wouldn't last very long,
0:05:22 > 0:05:23they'd melt very quickly.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25- Bunsen burner?- Yes.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Gosh, it's tiny.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29And this would go...
0:05:30 > 0:05:32- ..where? Into there?- Presumably.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34- Gas supply.- The gas supply.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36It is unbelievable that they could actually have...
0:05:36 > 0:05:39And there must be some sort of tap that turns the gas on and off.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41So you've got the full force of the gas coming in
0:05:41 > 0:05:43that would feed the whole cooker
0:05:43 > 0:05:47- just going through that little flame.- Oh, my goodness.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50We decide to read the instruction booklet - always a good idea.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Only...
0:05:51 > 0:05:52There is absolutely no diagrams at all
0:05:52 > 0:05:54and actually I think it says up here that,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56"You will see there are no diagrams
0:05:56 > 0:05:59"so that you can be more liberal with your experiment.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02"You can change the apparatus as you feel."
0:06:02 > 0:06:06I'm just staggered at the lack of instructions.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08The idea of quantities, concentrations,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12there's no indication of how much solution to add to each one,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15no mention of how to dispose of the chemicals at the end.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17It's just frightening.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21And there is absolutely no mention of parental supervision.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Still, at least they are clear
0:06:23 > 0:06:27about what to do if your chemistry kit-loving chum has a problem.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31It actually says here, "If the clothing of the person is on fire,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33"pull the person down to the floor
0:06:33 > 0:06:36"or strike them sharply behind the knees so they fall."
0:06:36 > 0:06:37SHE LAUGHS
0:06:37 > 0:06:40"Cover them with any materials you might have to hand,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44"with rugs, cloth or carpet, etc." And then it says,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47"You will have used your scientific knowledge in the noblest way.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49"You will have applied science to the service of Man,"
0:06:49 > 0:06:52with capital letters, "and probably saved life."
0:06:52 > 0:06:55And it says underneath, "Science is never evil,
0:06:55 > 0:06:56"except when wrongly used by Man."
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Many of the chemicals in chemistry sets were caustic,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06so they would burn the skin and irritate it,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08which of course would be particularly dangerous
0:07:08 > 0:07:11if it got into the eyes.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Part of the point of the chemistry sets was that they exploded.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18They wanted to make these explosions and the bright colours to impress
0:07:18 > 0:07:20friends and make it look like a magic trick.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25Explosions could burn, set the hair on fire, set their clothes on fire,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27damage the eyes, even blind a child.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32And of course, children wanted to share these with their friends
0:07:32 > 0:07:34and they'd think nothing of putting some of the chemicals
0:07:34 > 0:07:36in their pockets when they went out.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38And of course that could burn holes in the material
0:07:38 > 0:07:42and then in the skin, or even catch fire spontaneously.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Today, health and safety regulations are more stringent
0:08:16 > 0:08:18than they were in 1950s cinemas,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22so we are wearing goggles to do an experiment to illustrate
0:08:22 > 0:08:24how lethal this kit could be.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Right, now, in here we have the permanganate,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28which is the chemical we saw in the...
0:08:28 > 0:08:30the purple chemical that was in the kit.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Nerys Shah, our lab technician, is going to add glycerol -
0:08:34 > 0:08:37a clear, odourless liquid that might have been found
0:08:37 > 0:08:39in the home medicine cabinet
0:08:39 > 0:08:42as it was used to treat constipation and sore throats.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45What we're going to do is make a little pile
0:08:45 > 0:08:48of the potassium permanganate in the middle
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and then I am just going to pour a couple of drops
0:08:51 > 0:08:52of the glycerol on top.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01So it sort of looks like nothing is happening.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04- There we go.- Oh, wow.
0:09:06 > 0:09:07Oh, my goodness.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10It's not necessarily child's play.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13So it makes quite a lot of smoke and some beautiful purple flames.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- And quite a smell! - Yeah, a little bit of a smell.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Oh, my word. And that hesitation,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22that moment of it looking like nothing is going to happen,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24is the most dangerous thing of all, isn't it?
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Well, if I was a child, I'd have moved on to something else by then.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Nerys only used a small amount of potassium permanganate
0:09:31 > 0:09:33and a drop of glycerol.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Imagine if we'd been more liberal in the amounts we used.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Unsurprisingly, the American chemistry kits
0:10:08 > 0:10:10were even more spectacular.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14There was even an American chemistry set that included uranium dust
0:10:14 > 0:10:16and a mini-Geiger counter
0:10:16 > 0:10:18so that children could do experiments
0:10:18 > 0:10:20and measure the radiation.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27The company didn't stop making it because of the dangers of the dust,
0:10:27 > 0:10:28it just didn't sell very well.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Uranium really actually wasn't very exciting.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34It didn't explode and have puffs of smoke and nobody wanted to buy it.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Eventually, new laws came in
0:10:37 > 0:10:41which required the kits to be non-explosive and non-toxic.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44But it's worth remembering what the chemistry set manufacturers
0:10:44 > 0:10:45used to say -
0:10:45 > 0:10:49"Experimenter today, scientist tomorrow."
0:10:49 > 0:10:52I think the really interesting thing about chemistry sets,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54if you interview eminent scientists nowadays,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57many of them will actually say it was having a chemistry set
0:10:57 > 0:11:01as a child that sparked their interest in the science.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10I'm in search of our next hidden killer.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19The 1950s home had benefited
0:11:19 > 0:11:22from the technological developments of the war.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24There was a belief suffusing the age
0:11:24 > 0:11:27that science could transform everything.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29And it did.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32In the 1950s, there was a significant development
0:11:32 > 0:11:36in the understanding of the science of plastics and polymers.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39A Nobel Prize was awarded for
0:11:39 > 0:11:42advances in macromolecular chemistry.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Suddenly, all of these things that weren't possible before
0:11:46 > 0:11:47became possible.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Cheap, pliable, easily made.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55For better or worse, this was when our love affair with plastics began.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58So you have the hard and transparent plastic
0:11:58 > 0:12:00in the eyeholes of the gas masks,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03and then you have these flexible foam toys,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07and then you had so many other different plastic objects.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Plastics are made of polymers.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14The breakthrough was understanding
0:12:14 > 0:12:16that polymers are very large molecules.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20What's special about them is different types of polymers
0:12:20 > 0:12:24can make hard or soft, flexible or rigid forms,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28so they can be manufactured into a range of products,
0:12:28 > 0:12:29from furniture to clothing.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36These objects that would previously have been luxury items
0:12:36 > 0:12:39now began to be mass-produced objects
0:12:39 > 0:12:41and available to ordinary people.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44There was, I suppose, a democratisation.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48It just made things possible for the ordinary person.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52And they're looking forward to a brighter future
0:12:52 > 0:12:54and the future of plastics.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57One of the things plastics could make
0:12:57 > 0:13:00were comfortable new polyurethane sofas.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06The perfect setting for the 1950s family to relax with a cigarette.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08These were the days when smoking
0:13:08 > 0:13:11was part of the background of everyday life.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16A combination which would prove to be particularly problematic.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44So, Emma, we're not just hanging out in these lovely chairs in this yard
0:13:44 > 0:13:46for no reason. What are these about?
0:13:46 > 0:13:51These are an example of post-war 1950s-style furniture.
0:13:51 > 0:13:57In the post-war period we began to use polyurethane foams.
0:13:57 > 0:14:03Polyurethane foams are semi-rigid foams that allow a level of comfort
0:14:03 > 0:14:06without being permanently compressed, without being very hard.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11And they allow for a number of different shapes and styles.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12So we needed this development
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- in order to have this kind of change in design?- Yes.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Yes, we did. Polyurethane foam sofas are much more comfortable
0:14:19 > 0:14:22than the early horsehair type
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and the hardback chairs that we used to have.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30So there was a big change at that point in time,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33but that big change came at a cost.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38That cost was realised by one unlucky couple.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Plastic itself, as a singular form it is flammable,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11but it's not overly flammable.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14You have to really hold a light under it to get it going.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16It's the additive that you put with the plastic
0:15:16 > 0:15:21to turn it into like a polystyrene, or into a foam for a mattress,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24or foam for your settee.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27So it was usually the additive that was put into it
0:15:27 > 0:15:29which was the flammable piece.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34That means that those foams
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and the materials that cover the chairs can be
0:15:37 > 0:15:40ignited by a cigarette or a match, if you were to drop one,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and then they can burn very quickly and very freely.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54However, it's not just the fact that these materials caught fire easily
0:15:54 > 0:15:56but how they burned that was the problem.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00The way that the polyurethane burns
0:16:00 > 0:16:03is actually in and of itself dangerous.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08So the foam forms a liquid and it runs down the material
0:16:08 > 0:16:12to form a pool underneath, and that pool becomes ignited.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15So you can have a flowing pool of burning liquid.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17It's almost like having a flammable liquid fire,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21like petrol, underneath your sofa. That's how bad it can be.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30But that wasn't the only issue.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40These substances can give off very toxic fumes.
0:16:41 > 0:16:47And, in fact, if you're in a room with foam that was burning,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49the cyanide gas that was given off
0:16:49 > 0:16:52would kill you long before the flames or the heat would.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04It wasn't only the new plastic furniture
0:17:04 > 0:17:06that could cause a problem.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Cheap and easy to wash plastic clothing
0:17:12 > 0:17:16caused a sensation when it burst into our wardrobes in the 1950s.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24Not dangerous in its own right, but in the post-war home environment
0:17:24 > 0:17:25it could be lethal.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42There will have been open fires,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45there may have been electric fires, probably without guards on them.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Some little one-bar fires didn't have guards at all for a while.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53So certainly there was a lot of different opportunities
0:17:53 > 0:17:55to get yourself burnt.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Synthetic clothing, for example,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13when it starts to burn, very dangerously, it melts.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17And so it's often the melting drops of plastic
0:18:17 > 0:18:21onto the skin that can cause really severe and deep burns.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30The January 1955 issue of Picture Post highlighted the dangers.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35There was a serious problem with youngsters,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37particularly little girls,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40in front of the fire wearing lovely frilly nighties,
0:18:40 > 0:18:41looking ever so sweet.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Trouble was, a spark might come out of the fire
0:18:44 > 0:18:47or they might lean a little bit too close and - whoosh! -
0:18:47 > 0:18:49the nylon nightie would just go up in flames,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53leaving horrendous burns or maybe even killing the child.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58300 children and old people died each year
0:18:58 > 0:19:01from burns due to flammable materials,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04which is something we would just not tolerate today.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09The Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents
0:19:09 > 0:19:11had a campaign to raise awareness.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14They'd noticed the significant difference
0:19:14 > 0:19:18in the number of incidents between boys and girls.
0:19:18 > 0:19:19They had a suggestion.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22We wanted people to go over to wear pyjamas,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25which were much neater and tidier around the body,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27and of course to guard the fire.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30In October 1954,
0:19:30 > 0:19:35an Act of Parliament decreed gas and electric fires must be manufactured
0:19:35 > 0:19:37with a secure guard.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43And while furniture today is protected by a fire retardant,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45there are no such rules for pyjamas.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Now I'm going to the living room to find our next hidden killer.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56One of the luxury items that made its way into the house
0:19:56 > 0:19:58in the early 1950s was the television.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02The Coronation in June 1953
0:20:02 > 0:20:06was one of the first events to challenge the supremacy of radio.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08It turned a fledgling service
0:20:08 > 0:20:11into the beginning of the mass medium it is today.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17By 1956, there was a television in every second house.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22It was designed to fit into the room like a piece of furniture,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25and the family gathered around it.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29It's a cosy scene, but one that sometimes had deadly consequences.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Some television models had not taken into account
0:21:06 > 0:21:11just how dangerous the combination of electrical wiring, wood,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14poor insulation and ventilation could be.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17The Home Secretary was forced to address the subject,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19and announced...
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Public enthusiasm, though, went from strength to strength.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38In 1959, ten million television licences were issued.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40The mass medium was here to stay.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48That's the TV sorted.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Our next hidden killer could be anywhere in the house.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Before the war, most people rented their homes.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03But during the 1950s, more people were able to buy
0:22:03 > 0:22:06as wages grew at a faster rate than house prices.
0:22:08 > 0:22:09Many were in need of modernisation.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15And it was almost impossible to get hold of tradesmen
0:22:15 > 0:22:18because most were tied up with reconstructing war-torn Britain.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23The only option was to do it yourself,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and so an epidemic of home improvement gripped the nation.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31This was really the DIY generation.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Dulux paint went on sale from 1953.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Black & Decker started selling to the general public in 1954,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41and Practical Householder magazine went on sale from October 1955.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47For the happy householder with time and money on their hands
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and new materials and technologies at their fingertips,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52domestic utopia was within reach.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56The public were increasingly being exposed
0:22:56 > 0:22:58to all these wonderful things
0:22:58 > 0:23:01through new magazines and the magic of television.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04It was encouraged, as a family, to get involved.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06It was like going for a walk in a park.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09You know, we'll redecorate the bathroom, or the lounge,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13or we'll cut this door, or we'll knock this down.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16You were encouraged as a family to do it, as a family event.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21And why not? The family that DIYs together stays together.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25This is the first edition of Practical Householder
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and if we take a look at an index,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30we'll see the range of things
0:23:30 > 0:23:33people could be doing at home by themselves.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38So you've got paper hanging, making rugs, concrete paths and floors.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40So there's an enormous range.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Building your own bungalow.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45- That is incredible.- They're pretty ambitious, aren't they?
0:23:45 > 0:23:46Goodness me.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50They certainly were. People believed
0:23:50 > 0:23:52they could instil new life into their homes
0:23:52 > 0:23:56without professional help for a fraction of the price.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59But they were seemingly oblivious to the perils.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08The doyen of DIY, Barry Bucknell, was after all a reassuring presence.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13His television programmes on doing it yourself attracted
0:24:13 > 0:24:16at their peak over seven million viewers.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20He had the best TV show on in the 1950s, most watched.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24He was getting something in the region of 35,000 letters a week.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26He had six or eight secretaries working for him,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30just going through the envelopes. That is phenomenal.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32I don't know whether you've got a problem like this,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34a rather ugly old panel door.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36It's one that can be solved.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Quite simply, you can make it look like this.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42You know, he was almost like a hero then.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46To get people into DIY, get up, get going, change your house,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49get the light in, get the colour on the walls
0:24:49 > 0:24:51and board up your staircase and paint it,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54or pull that Victorian fireplace out and board it up.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Cover that Victorian door up with plywood and paint it
0:24:57 > 0:25:02and transform your house to that one that you might have seen advertised,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04that brand-new one.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07It's looking, already, very much smoother.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13But he later became known to some as "Bodger" Bucknell.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16They saw his desire to strip out what he called "clutter"
0:25:16 > 0:25:19as the wilful destruction of original features.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24So he was the driving force behind DIY,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27but also, he caused great problems.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30I heard stories that they reckon he destroyed more houses
0:25:30 > 0:25:34than the Luftwaffe because of his changes,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37his radical changes that he wanted to do in homes.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39And that, I think, has certainly
0:25:39 > 0:25:41changed the appearance of the door, but...
0:25:41 > 0:25:44But Barry was a professional. He knew what he was doing.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46His disciples, however,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49didn't necessarily have the experience or the skills.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54Lots of them feature DIY happening high up on ladders.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58- Oh, gosh, yes. - These look incredibly precarious.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00This man is holding something very heavy.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03So it's all a bit of a disaster waiting to happen, isn't it?
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Although the magazines don't address health and safety,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08I think they must definitely,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11definitely have been aware of the dangers.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15So this is a comic strip that appears in a lot of them.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20And you can see he's on a set of ladders, painting,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22but then manages to fall through.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24GLASS SHATTERS
0:26:46 > 0:26:49But everyone knows that ladders can be treacherous.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53What they didn't know was that some of these products were toxic.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Asbestos was used around the house and garage...
0:26:57 > 0:27:00..with lasting and hideous consequences.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04New, extra-strong adhesives could be harmful if inhaled.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08This contact adhesive was pretty nasty stuff.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11I remember using it as a young apprentice.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12First time I used it,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14I think I spent most of the day
0:27:14 > 0:27:16floating about a foot off the floor.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19The next day, I spent most of the time drinking water
0:27:19 > 0:27:21and trying to get my throat to calm down
0:27:21 > 0:27:23and my nostrils to calm down,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26because I had burnt all the inside of my nostrils and my throat.
0:27:26 > 0:27:27It was horrendous stuff.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Manufacturers, realising the public's interest,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34produced a range of power tools for the DIY enthusiast.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39A potentially huge market compared to the professional trade.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Electric drills were on sale for £5,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46available to buy in monthly instalments
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and advertised as "The Family Favourite".
0:27:51 > 0:27:54The king of power tools was, indeed, "a must for your home".
0:27:56 > 0:27:58But these boy toys could be dangerous.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22They were selling power pools which professionals were used to using
0:28:22 > 0:28:25but that you, as a DIY expert, has no training in whatsoever
0:28:25 > 0:28:27but were expected to use.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Not all power tools used the safety features we know today.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37If you're cutting something
0:28:37 > 0:28:39and, perhaps, you've gone into your own leg
0:28:39 > 0:28:42or you've cut your fingers or whatever you've done,
0:28:42 > 0:28:43it doesn't automatically cut off.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46You've got to look for the switch to turn it off.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50The longer you're looking for it, the more damage it's doing to you.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Nothing, it seemed, was out of bounds for the do-it-yourselfers.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26Perhaps installing your own electric towel rail
0:29:26 > 0:29:29should not have been on the DIY list
0:29:29 > 0:29:30of jobs to do in the home.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33It was a bit of a problem
0:29:33 > 0:29:37because people were not necessarily very familiar with wiring,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40so you would get problems with things badly wired.
0:29:40 > 0:29:41Plugs badly screwed in
0:29:41 > 0:29:44so that there were bits of wire hanging out of the bottom
0:29:44 > 0:29:46and they weren't properly held
0:29:46 > 0:29:49so they would work free and then they could short or catch fire.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52So there were some problems with electrocution and fire.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06The public were advised,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09when it came to electrics, don't do it yourself,
0:30:09 > 0:30:10use a professional.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14They were a lot smarter in those days.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17I can't imagine any electrician turning up looking like that now.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20I think I'd probably wonder if he was an electrician if he did.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25But our passion for DIY has never waned.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Our desire to restore and revitalise marches on,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30thanks to bank holidays, and Barry.
0:30:32 > 0:30:33Thanks, Barry.
0:30:40 > 0:30:41I'm going to the kitchen now
0:30:41 > 0:30:45to find out how one apparently innocuous item of food
0:30:45 > 0:30:48caused mayhem in the post-war home.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52The kitchen became so important in this age
0:30:52 > 0:30:55because it moved from being a private space into a public one.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58It became a place to entertain guests
0:30:58 > 0:30:59and so attention was paid
0:30:59 > 0:31:02to what this previously hidden room looked like
0:31:02 > 0:31:05and, of course, it was the woman's place in the home.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10In October 1955, in Woman's Own, it described the kitchen as
0:31:10 > 0:31:13"the heart and centre of the meaning of home,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15"the place where, day after day,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18"you make with your hands the gifts of love."
0:31:20 > 0:31:2614 years of food rationing finally came to an end on July 4th 1954,
0:31:26 > 0:31:29when restrictions on meat and bacon were lifted.
0:31:32 > 0:31:33Not surprisingly,
0:31:33 > 0:31:37life in the kitchen suddenly became a whole lot more fun
0:31:37 > 0:31:39and gifts of love abounded.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43It means, of course, that people are able to get more foodstuffs,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46a wider range of things, and they're able, freely,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49to go out and buy as much as they want.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52So they can really indulge, if you like,
0:31:52 > 0:31:54on buying as much butter as they want to,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58after having really, sort of, had to live by their ration books
0:31:58 > 0:32:01for a very long time.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05People were excited about the new possibilities with food,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07and into this gap came cookery writers.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Writers like Elizabeth David and Marguerite Patten
0:32:12 > 0:32:14infused food with passion.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19Tastes were changing, quite literally,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22and demand for meat, in particular, went through the roof.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27The ideal for the British family is to have a roast Sunday joint
0:32:27 > 0:32:30of beef or, possibly, lamb.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35But what happens after 1955 or so is that, you know, gradually
0:32:35 > 0:32:38chicken is brought into the British diet to a much greater extent.
0:32:38 > 0:32:43Livestock like cattle could simply not be reared quickly enough
0:32:43 > 0:32:45in the numbers needed to satisfy demand.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Chickens, however, could.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54Chickens had accounted for only 1% of British meat consumption in 1950.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59But now its moment had arrived,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02thanks to a revolution in modern British agriculture.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Intensive rearing and factory farming were introduced
0:33:06 > 0:33:10and the resulting cheap chicken meat transformed the British diet.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15So, in 1954,
0:33:15 > 0:33:16five million table chickens
0:33:16 > 0:33:19were available for consumption in this country
0:33:19 > 0:33:22and by 1959, it's 75 million.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28Feeding an extra 70 million birds was a colossal undertaking,
0:33:28 > 0:33:30and one that could only be achieved
0:33:30 > 0:33:32by importing grain from other countries.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Problem solved, then. Wasn't it?
0:33:35 > 0:33:40In the process of feeding birds and, indeed, livestock,
0:33:40 > 0:33:46we are also bringing in imported artificial feeds like ground meat,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49and these come carrying already a bacterial load.
0:33:50 > 0:33:56So what you see is that these birds and indeed livestock
0:33:56 > 0:34:00are being fed salmonella-contaminated food.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05So the chickens were affected by what they were eating.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10And the intensive conditions in which they were kept,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13processed, and packaged aggravated the matter.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18And then they landed in the post-war kitchen,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21bred, dead and ready to be roasted.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38Why was this?
0:34:40 > 0:34:44The post-war period is the time at which domestic service
0:34:44 > 0:34:47really disappears from middle-class homes,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50so middle-class women sometimes feel rather hard done by
0:34:50 > 0:34:53because they're having to fend for themselves
0:34:53 > 0:34:57and do most of the household work and labour for themselves.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59And, of course, this might create more problems
0:34:59 > 0:35:01in the kitchen because, of course,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04they would have been obliged to take primary responsibility
0:35:04 > 0:35:07for cooking and feeding the family, which they may have found difficult
0:35:07 > 0:35:09if they'd been brought up in a home
0:35:09 > 0:35:12where all that work had been done by servants.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15The housewife plays a cardinal role in this story,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18partly because she is the person who handles
0:35:18 > 0:35:20the chicken in the house.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24The hapless housewife - 'twas ever thus -
0:35:24 > 0:35:27tasked with putting food in the mouths of her family,
0:35:27 > 0:35:29not realising that tonight's supper
0:35:29 > 0:35:31is already a heaving mass of bacteria,
0:35:31 > 0:35:34then inadvertently upped the ante even further.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42Well into the '50s, you can still buy chicken...
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Sometimes they are what's called "New York dressed",
0:35:44 > 0:35:47which means they've got all their guts left in intact.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50They quite often come still with heads attached
0:35:50 > 0:35:54and the housewife would expect to deal with that at home.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56She might, or might not, wash the chicken when she gets it home
0:35:56 > 0:35:59and she might well not wash her own hands
0:35:59 > 0:36:01once she'd finished handling the bird.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05And, as such, she was accidentally spreading
0:36:05 > 0:36:07this hidden killer throughout the home.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14I've come to Matthew Avison's laboratory
0:36:14 > 0:36:17to find out what the post-war chicken-cooking housewife
0:36:17 > 0:36:18didn't know about salmonella.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23Because salmonella is too deadly to use in this experiment,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Matthew has contaminated some chicken with a similar,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29though, thankfully for me, less lethal bacteria.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35I'm going to show four different ways of cleaning my hands
0:36:35 > 0:36:37after handling the chicken
0:36:37 > 0:36:41so we can demonstrate just how pernicious this bacteria was.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45So, what I want you to do is just touch the chicken,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48and then we're going to make an imprint of your fingers
0:36:48 > 0:36:52- on this indicator plate.- OK.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56The first time, I don't clean my hands at all.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59Then I'll just lift the lid
0:36:59 > 0:37:01and you just put your fingers onto the surface.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05After the second time of handling the chicken,
0:37:05 > 0:37:07I wipe my hands with a paper towel.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10Not sure this will do the trick.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12It makes it feel less slimy, but actually, practically...
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Yes, so when you are touching the meat it feels slimy,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18but that's not actually the bacteria, that's just the meat.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20You don't feel the bacteria.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22After the third time of touching the chicken,
0:37:22 > 0:37:24I wash my hands in lovely, clean water.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31And, lastly, I touch the chicken
0:37:31 > 0:37:33then wash thoroughly with soap and water.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40It actually takes a huge number of bacteria to infect somebody,
0:37:40 > 0:37:42particularly if you're healthy -
0:37:42 > 0:37:45between about a million and a billion bacteria.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48But you can't see them and so the food that you're eating
0:37:48 > 0:37:51may look, smell, and taste completely normal.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57OK, Matthew, let's see some results, then.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00OK, so these are some plates that have been incubated overnight
0:38:00 > 0:38:02and this is the first one.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04So this is with the unwashed hands.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06So this is just after touching the bacteria.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08The darker colours are the bacteria.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10There are so many bacteria on here
0:38:10 > 0:38:13you can't see individual colonies, individual spots.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15There are literally thousands and thousands
0:38:15 > 0:38:16of bacteria on each finger.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18After rinsing your hands under the tap, though,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22that's just simply the act of washing the bacteria down the sink.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24We're not killing the bacteria at all.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26You're actually making some significant strides
0:38:26 > 0:38:28to reduce the numbers.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32There is still quite a few bacteria, but you can see individual colonies.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35The biggest difference of all, though, comes from using soap,
0:38:35 > 0:38:36which doesn't kill the bacteria.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39What soap does is it just improves the ability of us
0:38:39 > 0:38:42to wash away the bacteria from our skin.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44So there are still some bacteria.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48Matthew estimates that simply wiping your hands
0:38:48 > 0:38:52reduces the level of contamination by maybe ten times,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55while washing your hands with soap reduces contamination
0:38:55 > 0:38:58by probably 100,000 times.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04So, in short, if they brought meat into the house that had been
0:39:04 > 0:39:06contaminated in this way and did anything with it
0:39:06 > 0:39:09and then didn't wash their hands really thoroughly,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12it could get everywhere.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14Yes, absolutely. Not only into your mouth,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17but also onto the other food that you're preparing,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20onto the surfaces around you, your utensils.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23- Onto your children? - Onto your children. Absolutely.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30If somebody eats salmonella-infected food,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33between a day and two days after eating it
0:39:33 > 0:39:35you'll start to develop symptoms,
0:39:35 > 0:39:37and those are likely to be things like diarrhoea,
0:39:37 > 0:39:40abdominal pain and cramps, and, possibly, vomiting.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Most people who develop salmonella food poisoning
0:39:45 > 0:39:48would recover within five to seven days.
0:39:48 > 0:39:49It would be unpleasant,
0:39:49 > 0:39:52but they wouldn't need any particular treatment.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55But if you're particularly young, so babies and young children,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59or old, or if your immune system is suppressed for any other reason -
0:39:59 > 0:40:02perhaps you've got cancer or some other disease -
0:40:02 > 0:40:05then you're much more susceptible to really severe infection.
0:40:05 > 0:40:06And in that case,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09it's possible that the bacterium could get into the bloodstream
0:40:09 > 0:40:11and then spread around the body
0:40:11 > 0:40:14and then it could affect other areas, such as the brain,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17and cause meningitis, which could be fatal,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20or septicaemia, a blood poisoning.
0:40:22 > 0:40:27Today, 60 years later, intensive farming conditions have improved
0:40:27 > 0:40:30and successive public health campaigns have resulted in
0:40:30 > 0:40:33a better understanding of food hygiene in the home.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39There's no reason why you should be at risk
0:40:39 > 0:40:42from this particular hidden killer nowadays.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44Is there?
0:40:53 > 0:40:57I'm off to find our next hidden killer, in the bathroom.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10Amazingly, in 1950, half of all homes had no indoor bathroom.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13So one of the pivotal changes of this decade
0:41:13 > 0:41:16was the introduction of this luxurious new room.
0:41:17 > 0:41:18For the first time,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22people of all classes were able to have an indoor bathroom,
0:41:22 > 0:41:25and a surge of interest in bathroom furnishings
0:41:25 > 0:41:28reflected this rapidly expanding market.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31This new attitude was summarised
0:41:31 > 0:41:33in House And Garden magazine at the time.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Bathing became an enjoyable experience,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47and one to be taken in pleasant,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50rather than Spartan, surroundings.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53It was a far cry from the old tin bath in front of the fire.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59But why was it not all that it seemed?
0:41:59 > 0:42:01In order to understand this,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05we have to go outside the home and look at an unrelated killer.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08Air pollution was responsible for an unforgettable event
0:42:08 > 0:42:09in the early '50s,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13which led to a major change in how our homes were heated.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16We've always had environmental pollution
0:42:16 > 0:42:20but it particularly became important in December of 1952,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23when we had the Great Smog in London.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26It was said that you couldn't see your feet
0:42:26 > 0:42:29because the smoke was so thick
0:42:29 > 0:42:32and it would have been not like the sort of fog that we all understand.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36It would have been a thick, yellowy-brown, smelly,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39horrible sort of fog.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41It would make it very difficult for you to breathe,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44and the egg smell is from sulphur dioxide,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48which would combine with water to form sulphuric acid.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52The rise in deaths was greater
0:42:52 > 0:42:56than in the worst week of the cholera epidemic in 1866.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03Records show that about 4,000 people died from the smog,
0:43:03 > 0:43:07although more recently calculations made that up to 12,000.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12And about 100,000 became ill because of it.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16This nightmarish episode produced more civilian casualties in Britain
0:43:16 > 0:43:20than any single event of the entire Second World War
0:43:20 > 0:43:23and was the catalyst for replacing coal fires in the home.
0:43:23 > 0:43:24And here's the rub.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26It had been a very cold winter
0:43:26 > 0:43:28and there was lots of snow on the ground,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32and so people were burning coal in their homes to try to keep warm.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34But the weather conditions at the time
0:43:34 > 0:43:36meant that there was an anticyclone,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39and that pushed air back down towards the Earth
0:43:39 > 0:43:42and so the smoke was trapped.
0:43:42 > 0:43:43Legislation was introduced
0:43:43 > 0:43:46to prevent the murderous coal fumes and...
0:43:57 > 0:44:00As homes became less reliant on coal fires,
0:44:00 > 0:44:02gas appliances were introduced
0:44:02 > 0:44:05and into the bathroom came gas boilers and heaters.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12In the early 1950s, they brought it into the bathroom
0:44:12 > 0:44:15to produce hot water for your bath.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17It was a self-contained boiler.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20Turn the little tap on and it would empty into your bath
0:44:20 > 0:44:22and, obviously, jump in and enjoy it.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24What could be more pleasurable?
0:44:24 > 0:44:27But there's a problem when you bring a gas boiler
0:44:27 > 0:44:29into a small, enclosed space.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50To burn one cubic metre of gas,
0:44:50 > 0:44:54you need around ten cubic metres of fresh air full of oxygen.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58The problem occurs when you haven't got enough oxygen.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00So if you're in a cramped place,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03the windows are sealed to try and keep the heat in,
0:45:03 > 0:45:06then the gas will burn to form carbon monoxide
0:45:06 > 0:45:08and this is very toxic.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete burning of fossil fuels.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18It is dangerous when the boiler is insufficiently sealed
0:45:18 > 0:45:21and the toxic gases are allowed back into the room
0:45:21 > 0:45:24rather than exhausted to the atmosphere.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27You were in that nice new shiny fitted bathroom.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30You'd got your door shut, your window shut to keep the drafts out,
0:45:30 > 0:45:34and you're just sitting there absorbing all this carbon monoxide.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37You think you're getting nice and relaxed because of the hot water,
0:45:37 > 0:45:39and it's not, it's the carbon monoxide
0:45:39 > 0:45:41which is slowly putting you to sleep.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44Forensics fire expert Emma Wilson
0:45:44 > 0:45:47has designed an experiment to show me
0:45:47 > 0:45:49just how quickly this silent, deadly gas
0:45:49 > 0:45:53can be produced in a sealed environment.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55She will use butane gas in a sealed tank
0:45:55 > 0:45:58to simulate a bathroom with a gas boiler in it.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00In the corner of the tank,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03there's a modern-day carbon monoxide detector alarm
0:46:03 > 0:46:05that we use in our homes today.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09Now, if you will help me pop this on the top
0:46:09 > 0:46:13so that we can seal the gas in.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17- As if we're closing the door on our bathroom?- Exactly.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19OK. I can do that.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26Just by burning that flame in a sealed environment,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28we're going to produce a deadly gas.
0:46:28 > 0:46:33Yes, we are. As the combustion of the gas becomes less efficient
0:46:33 > 0:46:35because there's less oxygen,
0:46:35 > 0:46:37we produce more and more carbon monoxide.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44When gas burns normally, two oxygen molecules attach to it,
0:46:44 > 0:46:46making carbon dioxide.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48When there is less oxygen available,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52the gas can only attach to one molecule, making carbon monoxide,
0:46:52 > 0:46:54a toxic gas.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56In addition, the steam from the hot bath
0:46:56 > 0:47:01interferes with the ability of the flame to burn correctly.
0:47:01 > 0:47:02And in a sealed room,
0:47:02 > 0:47:04once the oxygen is used up, it is not replaced.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10It took just three minutes for the carbon monoxide detector alarm
0:47:10 > 0:47:12to be activated. BEEPING
0:47:12 > 0:47:15The sealed tank is now full of poisonous gas.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20That's the detector sounding to let us know that carbon monoxide
0:47:20 > 0:47:23in that compartment is now at a dangerous level.
0:47:23 > 0:47:24Right, so, nowadays,
0:47:24 > 0:47:27you can put in a detector and you can know about it.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30- Yes.- And it's pretty...shrieking.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33But apart from the sound that's telling us it's there,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37we haven't got any smell, we haven't got any obvious signs of it.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39No. None.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Gosh, so you could be sitting there in that bath, in your lovely bath,
0:47:43 > 0:47:46and you shut the doors and windows, you're having time to yourself,
0:47:46 > 0:47:47your boiler's going,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50and it's producing this gas that can make you sick
0:47:50 > 0:47:51- and could kill you.- Yes.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57I'm slightly blown away by the fact that it's just completely invisible.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15When it's inhaled, our haemoglobin,
0:48:15 > 0:48:19which is the substance in the blood that carries oxygen from our lungs
0:48:19 > 0:48:22to all of our tissues where it's needed,
0:48:22 > 0:48:24the affinity for carbon monoxide
0:48:24 > 0:48:29is over 200 times more than the affinity for oxygen,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32which is what that haemoglobin should be carrying.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35So it means if there is carbon monoxide
0:48:35 > 0:48:38in the air that you breathe in, it will bind to the haemoglobin.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41When that haemoglobin passes round to the tissues,
0:48:41 > 0:48:43it doesn't release any oxygen present
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and it doesn't release the carbon monoxide,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49and so your tissues start to be starved of oxygen.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53And it's really like suffocating the body from the inside.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57It was colourless, tasteless, and odourless.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00The absolute definition of a hidden killer.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06At low doses, carbon monoxide can cause headaches, flu-like symptoms,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08confusion and dizziness.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11But if you have a lot of carbon monoxide,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13it can be rapidly fatal and stop the heart
0:49:13 > 0:49:16because your entire body is starved of oxygen.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44Over the decades gas appliances have improved,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47and it is understood that if they are incorrectly installed
0:49:47 > 0:49:51or not regularly serviced there can be fatal consequences.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58Still today, legislation only governs landlords.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01Homeowners themselves are responsible
0:50:01 > 0:50:04for keeping their houses safe from this toxic gas.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08Gas safe regulations cover the installation
0:50:08 > 0:50:10of boilers in bathrooms,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12but even so, there are still around
0:50:12 > 0:50:154,000 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning
0:50:15 > 0:50:18and 40 deaths every year in Britain.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21My school friend was one of them.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30My final hidden killer can be found all over the house,
0:50:30 > 0:50:33but I'm going in search of the kitchen variety,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36into the heart of the woman's domain.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39We have seen how men and their power tools came a cropper,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42now we see how the newly on-tap electricity
0:50:42 > 0:50:46brought considerable danger into the shiny world of appliances.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48The magazines are full of adverts
0:50:48 > 0:50:53showing women breezily vacuuming their houses in high heels.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56One article is even entitled
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Cinderella Would Have Stayed At Home If Her Fairy Godmother
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Had First Conjured Up All This Kitchen Equipment.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04After the Second World War,
0:51:04 > 0:51:08the main technology that people have in their kitchens is the gas cooker.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13But we start to get the fridge,
0:51:13 > 0:51:16we get the vacuum cleaner coming in,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19also washing machines and eventually freezers.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24And these technologies really do make quite a difference
0:51:24 > 0:51:26to women's everyday lives.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Electrical gadgets had previously been expensive luxuries.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33Now there was an explosion of new affordable brands,
0:51:33 > 0:51:37all marketed as taking the drudgery out of housework.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40This is an article by Jane Storey,
0:51:40 > 0:51:42titled What Electric Living Means To A Woman.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45And she says, "For people like myself who have a full-time job
0:51:45 > 0:51:48"plus a home and family to look after,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52"such laboursaving automatic service is a tremendous boon."
0:51:54 > 0:51:57If you think about the domestic labour involved, for example,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59in the weekly washing day.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02If you've got, say, a family with a large number of children
0:52:02 > 0:52:06and you have to wash all of their clothes and dry them by hand,
0:52:06 > 0:52:08you can imagine just how much difference
0:52:08 > 0:52:10something like a washing machine
0:52:10 > 0:52:12really would have made to women's lives.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17So this booklet talks about what your Monday to Friday routine
0:52:17 > 0:52:18of cleaning should be.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Oh, gosh! That's quite a heavy workload.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23Here we've got "vacuum all carpets.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26"A thorough once-a-week clean with your Hoover
0:52:26 > 0:52:27"will clear away any embedded grit".
0:52:27 > 0:52:29Yes, that's on Wednesdays
0:52:29 > 0:52:32after you've cleaned all the floors and polished where necessary.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35So actually it is a four-week schedule, isn't it?
0:52:35 > 0:52:39- For the housewife who is also going out to work, of course.- Yes.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41But these laboursaving devices,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44welcomed with open arms by the housewife,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47sometimes resulted in undesirable consequences.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Unscrupulous manufacturers produced goods that were shoddily made,
0:53:08 > 0:53:10badly designed, even downright dangerous.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13Things like kettles.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Somebody came up with a wonderful idea of making a kettle.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20You plug the lead in, when it got to a certain temperature,
0:53:20 > 0:53:22it spat the electric lead out.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27Now, I don't think you need to be a scientist to work this out.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29There's not that many kettle points in the kitchen.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32There's obviously one straight by the side of the sink.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35You're doing your dishes, your kettle's plugged in,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39it shoots the power supply straight out, lands in the sink.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47People often didn't really understand electricity,
0:53:47 > 0:53:48or their appliances,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51which led to some horrendous accidents.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13The trouble is, people don't bother to read the instructions,
0:54:13 > 0:54:15so often they think, "This doesn't work properly,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18"I'll stick a knife in and have a poke about."
0:54:18 > 0:54:20People were electrocuted through toasters,
0:54:20 > 0:54:24or toasters caught fire because they probably didn't use them
0:54:24 > 0:54:25as they'd been instructed,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28if they'd ever bothered to read the instructions.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32The Courier newspaper in Dundee consulted a local electrician
0:54:32 > 0:54:35as to the safest way of handling appliances.
0:54:35 > 0:54:36He told them...
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Another solution came from the Electrical Association For Women,
0:54:54 > 0:54:56who urged that girls should be educated.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13Education would surely help,
0:55:13 > 0:55:17but some products were overused and poorly maintained.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19They would have dodgy connections,
0:55:19 > 0:55:21they might spark a bit when you used them.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26But, you know, "It'll be all right.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28"I'll get one next week, or when payday comes."
0:55:28 > 0:55:33But obviously you really did need to keep them maintained and changed
0:55:33 > 0:55:38and make sure that you only buy them from a proper electrical retailer.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40There could be a high price to pay if you didn't.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08The Electrical Trade Union reported that...
0:56:20 > 0:56:22In October 1954, in a debate
0:56:22 > 0:56:24in the House of Lords on safety in the home,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27Lord Crook complained of the constant sale
0:56:27 > 0:56:29of very cheap electrical goods,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32the use of which is not always understood by the purchaser.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Lord Mancroft, though, felt the government had done what it could,
0:56:38 > 0:56:42and that the final responsibility rests with the individual,
0:56:42 > 0:56:44the person in the home.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48Consumers, though, had had enough.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51They decided that they needed more information
0:56:51 > 0:56:54in order to look after their own interests.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57"Which?" magazine was set up in 1957
0:56:57 > 0:57:01to provide an independent review of products for consumers.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03By the time this one was published in 1959,
0:57:03 > 0:57:07the Consumers' Association which produced it had 150,000 members.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11And this represents a sense that nowadays it wasn't enough
0:57:11 > 0:57:13to trust manufacturers' claims.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16Not everything could be taken at face value,
0:57:16 > 0:57:19and consumers needed someone on their side.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26Consumer power had its roots in the post-war era and continues today.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32The post-war years were a period of affluence,
0:57:32 > 0:57:36euphoria and optimism that led to unprecedented experimentation
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and development in science and technology.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43And the home was the crucible of the changes.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45Such innovation made great breakthroughs
0:57:45 > 0:57:47in the lives of the post-war generation,
0:57:47 > 0:57:51but also brought profound and invisible dangers.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54As consumers became more aware and began to stand up for themselves,
0:57:54 > 0:57:57manufacturers were increasingly called to account,
0:57:57 > 0:58:01but such was the faith in science to solve the problems of the future
0:58:01 > 0:58:05that many of the killers remained undetected for decades.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09At least we've identified them today,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12but who knows what we've missed?