1960s Back in Time for Dinner


1960s

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Meet the Robshaws - Brandon, Rochelle, Miranda, Ros and Fred.

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Let's go!

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For one summer, this food-loving family is embarking

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on an extraordinary time-travelling adventure to discover how

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a post-war revolution in what we eat,

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has transformed the way we live.

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That is just amazing. Look at them!

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Britain has gone from meagre rations to

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ready-meals at the touch of a button in just 50 years.

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Blip, blip, blip, blip, blip.

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But how has this changed our health, our homes...

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We've got a pull-out larder!

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..and our family dynamics?

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Can't do it any more.

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This is what would make a woman break.

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To find out, the Robshaws are going to shop,

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cook and eat their way through history.

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It's 1974! Whoa!

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I think that is enough sugar now though, darling.

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No, I only put hardly any on!

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Starting in 1950, their own home will be their time machine...

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Oh, my goodness!

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This carpet hurts my eyes. Who designed that?

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Someone who was colour-blind.

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Fast-forwarding them through a new year each day,

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as they experience, first hand, the culinary fads, fashions

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and gadgets of each age.

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Last time, the family lived through the austerity of the '50s.

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No!

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No, in the '50s, they had to just eat what was there. Try it.

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This week, they enter the 1960s space age...

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Oh, my goodness!

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Look, look, look at them! Have you seen 'em?

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..as they discover how our changing relationship with

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food has shaped all of our lives.

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Dog food.

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No, it's a poo ring!

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The food was pretty strange. It was still pretty British.

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It's '62, come on, can we not get some flavour?

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It's the second phase of our time-travel adventure

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and the Robshaws' functional '50s house has been transformed

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into a comfortable 1960s home,

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full of mod-cons that speak to Britain's booming economy.

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The kitchen has even expanded to reflect the average family

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home of the era.

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Food historian, Polly Russell, and I, are back to see what the

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'60s holds in store for the Robshaws.

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No, we've come to the wrong house.

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This is it and isn't it an improvement?

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This is not a place that you'd mind spending time in.

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No, as long as you didn't have a problem with baby blue.

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It's just not such a cell, with just a sort of different use of space.

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Yeah, that's right.

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It's all been organised to be much more ergonomic.

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Just look at the number of journey's she's making.

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Scientists actually mapped how far women walked

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when they were preparing food.

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Look out! The milk's boiling!

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There, not bad, was it?

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Not bad? It was dreadful.

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I counted 20 journeys.

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And the kitchen is fitted, isn't it?

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It is fitted and the design of this kitchen is supposed to be

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helping the woman and making her life much more easy.

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New plastic surfaces and utensils make keeping kitchens clean

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much easier and there are advances in other areas too.

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There's a significant increase in the amount of food that's

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-available...

-Oh, is there?

-So have a look in the cupboard.

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-Quite a lot more processed branded food.

-Uh-huh.

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So, lots of, sort of, tinned beef and pasta and beans and an awful

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lot of meals which can just be opened from a can and served.

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Yeah, you're right.

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This is the era of technology coming into the kitchen to save labour.

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You've got an electric kettle and an electric toaster, even a

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great ham-fisted clutzy old bloke can make toast in a thing like that.

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Yeah, I'm not sure how much he would make toast, cos, obviously,

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it's better if you can get someone else to do it for you.

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And what's Rochelle going to do with all this free time?

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Well, although she's got the gadgets,

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although she's got the convenience food, she's still spending

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seven to nine hours a day cleaning and cooking and making sure

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the kitchen keeps looking as perfect and pristine as it does now.

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After her 1950s experience, kitchen drudgery will come as no surprise to

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Rochelle, who worked 11 hours a day to feed and look after her family.

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15-year-old Ros and big sister, Miranda, were expected to

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follow in their mum's footsteps.

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And university lecturer, Brandon became a classic '50s dad,

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waited on at every meal.

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Now it's time for the Robshaws to step into the '60s.

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I want to see what happens next,

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I want to see how the role might expand.

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I'm really looking forward to having more interesting foods,

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having a little bit more freedom.

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I'm looking forward to the '60s.

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I'm hoping that I'll have a chance to be in the kitchen.

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For six weeks, the Robshaws are swapping their modern

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diet for the food of the past.

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This time they're eating strictly '60s style,

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with every day bringing a new year and a new experience.

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Whoa!

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It looks like I'm dead and stuffed!

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We've got a TV. Wow! Oh, gosh, that's just like the one I had.

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Ah, we've got some singles, as well.

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Oh, The Beatles.

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Singles were small.

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It does feel lounge-y, doesn't it?

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-That's cos it's a...

-Lounge!

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Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness!

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This is just brilliant!

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It's so much brighter than the '50s, isn't it?

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And it's fitted, it's fitted.

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All these surfaces are very shiny, aren't they? Shiny and new.

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In fact, it's hurting my eyes a bit.

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Oh, isn't that clever, a hand-held blender than we've got here.

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-Wow!

-Ooh!

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There's considerably more in there than in the '50s.

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That is the food cupboard of a more affluent society.

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What I'm looking for and what I can't see, is the fridge.

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So I'm still quite surprised that it's 1960

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and there isn't a fridge, not even a tiny, tiny fridge.

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Wey-hey. Welcome to the '60s.

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And you all look amazing. I've never seen so much polyester in one place.

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It is, sort of, fairly scary

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if you get too close to this new toaster, you might melt.

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What do you think's going be best about the '60s?

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More sweets.

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More sweets, that's true. And there'll be more sugar.

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That's a fairly key thing, you can probably get chocolate bars

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and various kinds of sweets.

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And as you know, I've got your manual here and it's going to be

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all about the national food survey and what people were really eating.

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Each year, from 1940 to 2000, thousands of families

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recorded every meal they ate over the course of a week

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for the national food survey, providing an extraordinary

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window into Britain's changing eating habits.

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The survey will guide the Robshaws through their 1960s diet.

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So what sort of meals are you expecting?

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Well I'd kind of hoped as the '60s goes on, we might get some

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more adventurous kind of foods, you know, like foreign foods.

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And what about you?

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More flavour, cos really the only flavour in the

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'50s was like salt and pepper. That's not really a flavour.

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It's not that exciting yet.

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It's gammon and Brussels sprouts and stewing steak and potatoes

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and sort of, you know, fairly straightforward ingredients.

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Quite a lot of cooking.

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It's about making your kitchen the lair of a domestic goddess.

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Do you think you're up to that?

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Well, I'll give it my best shot.

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Like 70% of married women in 1960, Rochelle will be a full-time

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housewife, while Brandon's kitchen duties are limited to tea making.

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It's really nice you're making me a cup of tea, Brandon.

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Well, that's all right, darling.

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I've waited ten years.

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Well, everything comes to her who waits.

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It's time to cook dinner and Rochelle and Miranda

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are lifting the menu straight out of the national food survey.

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OK, this is a family.

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Mum, 32, dad, 41, daughter, 13,

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daughter, 11, son, nine, and a daughter of seven.

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In Bradford north in 1960.

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Tea, corned beef hash, rice pudding, tea, milk and sugar.

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Why doesn't it open? Why doesn't it...?

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I'm not giving up.

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This is the modern world now, isn't it? Oh!

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Right, this time, I have this.

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No tin is safe now.

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Don't need this stupid key.

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Right, we're just having vegetables.

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Tinned meat was cheap and with food prices much higher than

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they are today, it was a 1960s family staple.

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The national food survey shows that families spent 28% of their

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weekly income on food, compared to as little as 12% today.

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-God, it looks actually horrible.

-Yeah.

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Rice pudding was a big thing of my childhood.

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I do think it's a good way to use up milk before it, sort of, goes off.

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But I don't know if mum did it cos we didn't have a fridge,

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I don't know.

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Maybe that's why a fridge means such a lot to me.

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Oh, that looks nice and colourful.

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It does, it smells good.

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This was made by a woman in Bradford.

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I like the vegetables, but I don't like the meat.

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-What, you don't like this lovely corned beef?

-No.

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You could actually have this in the '50s. Yeah.

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It's kind of the same.

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There's been so sudden dramatic change.

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Same dinner, different dinner time.

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In the '50s, most people had taken their main meal at midday, but

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in the '60s, more families shifted this meal to the early evening.

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That is another important social change, isn't it?

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The fact that now, in the '60s we're all sitting eating together.

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You're not, kind of, eating, behind my back like you did in the '50s.

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I didn't eat behind your back.

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I feel impressed with my new kitchen, I think it looks modern.

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But I'm still in it.

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I'd be more impressed with my kitchen if I wasn't in it.

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To be honest, maybe it was good you being in the kitchen for longer,

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because you can learn how to open the cans.

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The first meal we've had was pretty '50s, which you expect

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because it didn't just change overnight,

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but I hope that there'll be a much wider range of foods soon.

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It's a new day which means a new year for the Robshaws.

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So I've got one or two things here to make breakfast

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-a bit more exciting.

-Tony, the tiger!

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Coco Pops 1961, that appeared.

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Do you want to have a butchers at the Coco Pops which comes with

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-an exciting toy?

-I just want that toy.

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Yeah, go on, you try and find it. The toy's not actually in there.

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You only need to collect 15 tokens, which, in your case,

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it'll be about 1985 by the time we get to the toy.

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The reason that people started eating these things,

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was because advertisers cottoned on, at that stage,

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that the person to go for was the kids. You know, you lot.

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Hush, hush, what can you hear? You can't hear...

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By targeting children directly, '60s cereal ads were playing a new

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marketing game - pester power.

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Rice Krispies, they're saying,

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"We're fresh and we're crisp and we're nice Rice Krispies."

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In the national food survey, there's strong evidence that people

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were eating cereal for supper quite a lot, which is just sort of

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what you do with a new food, that you've got to eat it all the time.

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-Can we do that?

-No.

-Why not?

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-Yeah, dad, why not?

-You're being stern 1950s dad.

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Yeah, I'm being a bit austere.

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Britain's cereal consumption soared by 47% over the decade,

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along with children's sugar intake.

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-That's enough, Fred.

-He's having a second bowl.

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Are you eating because you're hungry,

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as people had done for the whole of human history up to this point,

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or are you eating because this stuff is being sold to you hard

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-with cartoon characters and lots of sugar?

-Second one.

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So it's not just sugary cereal that people got at breakfast.

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They got a new kind of bread.

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This is squishy, white, sliced bread made by the Chorleywood process.

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In 1961, baking scientists at Chorleywood, Hertfordshire,

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redesigned the humble loaf.

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By adding extra yeast, fat and additives

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and kneading the dough in high speed mixers, they slashed traditional

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production times and created soft loaves that stayed fresh for days.

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An instant hit, today, 80% of British bread,

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brown and white, is made using the Chorleywood process.

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You can imagine someone, you know, arriving home in 1962,

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opening it up, wow, it's already sliced, it's really squishy,

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it's really sweet, easy to put in the toaster.

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It does look modern.

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It's the sort of bread you'd take into space.

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Yes. If I was taking a sandwich into space, yeah.

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-Which they had to!

-Through the helmet, like that.

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-So, do you want to eat some?

-Yeah.

-Go on, tuck in.

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The thing about this bread, though, it does make good toast, doesn't it?

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How do you feel about the end of your daily walk to the baker's shop?

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What am I replacing it with? What am I doing?

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Cleaning. Yeah, maybe I'm doing more cleaning.

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But there's no housework today.

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I've arranged for Brandon and Rochelle to dine out at a restaurant

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for the first time since their time-travelling adventure began.

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What do you think of the motor, then?

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-I think it's lovely, Brandon.

-It's beautiful, yeah.

-Yeah.

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Before the 1960s, eating out usually meant a simple meal at a pub

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or a fish and chip shop.

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High quality restaurants were few.

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The 1961 Good Food Guide listed only 70 outside London.

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But with a third of households now car owners and families enjoying

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more disposable income, Britain's dining out habits were changing.

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Hello!

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Brandon's sister, Glynis, and her partner, Matt,

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are sharing this foray into fine dining 1961 style at,

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of all places, Newport Pagnell service station.

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And welcome to glamorous dining 1961.

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Hello, shall we go through?

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Polly will be their hostess with the mostest.

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Back in 1961 when motorways were only three-years-old,

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service stations were chic destinations,

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complete with silver service restaurants.

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So were you surprised being dropped off here, Rochelle?

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Yeah, I was.

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I mean, I could imagine going to, like, a Little Chef,

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but I didn't, sort of, like equate that with a fine dining experience.

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Well, in 1961, this was somewhere to come in your car on your modern

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motorway to, sort of, display that you're part of the modern world.

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This is the 1961 Newport Pagnell version of wine,

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which disappointingly for you is non-alcoholic,

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because service stations were not given licenses by local

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authorities even though there were no drink-drive laws at the time.

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So this would have been disappointing for people

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coming out to dine here when they would have been used to

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getting tanked up before having a nice drive.

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-Enjoy the wine.

-Thank you. Cheers everybody.

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-Cheers.

-Cheers, guys.

-Cheers, thanks, Brandon.

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That's your meal, probably the best meal you've ever

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had in a service station, I should think. Enjoy your meal.

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-Lovely, thank you.

-Thank you.

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The last time I got taken to a service station,

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I got an Eccles cake.

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-So this is better?

-This is better.

-Vastly superior.

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It does feel quite a, sort of, grand experience.

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I'm really enjoying it.

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Well, it was a rare treat I would have thought.

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But it's meat with two veg. People are going out to, sort of,

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eat familiar food that they could have had at home.

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It's acceptable to the British palate, isn't it?

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It's not challenging.

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-But it was very nice, wasn't it?

-It's lovely.

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Fine dining continued to increase in popularity throughout the '60s

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and by 1969, the number of fancy restaurants listed in the

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Good Food Guide had nearly quadrupled.

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What do you think?

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-Well, is this the sort of thing you'd now expect at home?

-Well, yeah.

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In an ideal world, yeah this is where I'm setting the bar.

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Just got back from the service station for a meal

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and it struck me that it must be like people going up

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the shard these days and having a fantastic experience there.

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It must have felt so modern.

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It's a new year and I'm sending the Robshaws the kitchen

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appliance of their dreams, courtesy of a chef who remembers

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the day in 1962, when this gadget changed his family's life.

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-Hello.

-Oh, wow!

-You must be Brandon!

-Yes, I am.

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-You look great!

-Thanks very much.

-I'm Dave.

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-Are you Dave the hairy biker?

-Yeah!

-Welcome, come in.

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Yeah, can't wait to see your kitchen.

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-Hello! Rochelle?

-Yes, it is.

-Dave.

-Hi, Dave.

-Pleased to meet you.

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-Hi.

-This must be Miranda? Hello, Dave, pleased to meet you.

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-Gosh, this is a complete time capsule, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:18:550:18:58

It certainly is, yes.

0:18:580:19:00

-Oh, show us your pantry.

-Oh, excuse me!

0:19:000:19:03

Funnily enough, it doesn't bring back too many memories

0:19:050:19:08

because I grew up in a two-up, two-down,

0:19:080:19:10

so my kitchen in 1962 was a bit primitive compared to this one.

0:19:100:19:14

I was five-years-old and there was an event that happened

0:19:140:19:17

that changed all our lives and I think, you know,

0:19:170:19:19

we can do a bit more updating in this kitchen.

0:19:190:19:21

Do you want to go and get Rosalind and Fred?

0:19:210:19:24

Yeah, will do, OK. Fred! Ros!

0:19:240:19:27

Look, Fred, look who's here.

0:19:270:19:29

Well, have I got a surprise for you lot.

0:19:290:19:32

Go on, cover your eyes up!

0:19:320:19:34

-Ta-da!

-Oh!

-Oh, wow.

0:19:350:19:37

-Isn't it lovely?

-Oh, my goodness me.

0:19:390:19:41

-That's nice.

-That's so cool.

0:19:410:19:45

-Cheese.

-Oh, look at that.

0:19:450:19:48

It's really going to revolutionise my life.

0:19:480:19:51

Well, you're part of the lucky few, because in 1962 there was only

0:19:510:19:54

one household in three had a refrigerator.

0:19:540:19:57

I'll tell you what though, this looks over to you, Brandon,

0:19:570:20:00

-being the man of the house.

-I think this is a job for the man, isn't it?

0:20:000:20:03

Rochelle, do you want to come with me and we'll discuss

0:20:030:20:05

-the art of cold cookery.

-Oh, yes, please.

0:20:050:20:07

And we'll leave Brandon to wrestle with this.

0:20:070:20:11

-Get your bike revved up.

-See you later.

0:20:110:20:14

All right, have fun.

0:20:140:20:15

So, now we've got to work out how to get that in there.

0:20:150:20:19

Will it, actually...

0:20:210:20:23

It won't actually... Will it fit?

0:20:230:20:27

It's fine there.

0:20:270:20:28

Rochelle's fridge comes with its very own cookbook,

0:20:280:20:31

a guide to making the most of this exciting new appliance.

0:20:310:20:35

What do you fancy choosing?

0:20:360:20:37

Well, I quite like the idea of the garland of peas,

0:20:370:20:40

cos I like the idea of a garland of peas, and the lamb in mint jelly.

0:20:400:20:46

There's green food colouring in that,

0:20:460:20:48

so it's going to look a pretty psychedelic table.

0:20:480:20:50

Right, so it's all going to be a green menu.

0:20:500:20:53

-Look at that.

-It's a bit of a clash.

0:20:530:20:55

It's like Kew Gardens, innit?

0:20:550:20:57

Right, we need... So shall we do everything as per the recipes

0:20:570:21:00

-and just see what...?

-Yes.

0:21:000:21:03

I'll get the lamb and chop it up.

0:21:030:21:05

That's it. Shall I drain it?

0:21:070:21:09

Oh, yes, please. Oh, they're funny looking peas, aren't they?

0:21:090:21:11

Tinned peas. They'll go in then.

0:21:110:21:13

Peas go in ring.

0:21:140:21:16

How many would this have fed? Oh, oh!

0:21:160:21:20

Let's just all pour the peas down the hole. Hold on.

0:21:200:21:25

Both of tonight's dishes involve gelatine,

0:21:250:21:27

a setting agent that's quite hard to use without a fridge.

0:21:270:21:31

Put it under the freezer where it's colder,

0:21:310:21:33

my mother used to always say.

0:21:330:21:35

Oh, it is cold, yeah.

0:21:350:21:37

Rochelle, you're going to love this device.

0:21:370:21:39

Now it's the '60s,

0:21:390:21:41

now all you've got to do is sit around for three hours while it sets.

0:21:410:21:44

-How do you feel?

-Well, I think to myself, what will I do?

0:21:440:21:47

What will I do in that time?

0:21:470:21:48

Perhaps I'll read a magazine or perhaps I'll crochet myself

0:21:480:21:51

a jumper or something.

0:21:510:21:52

So, maybe, the fridge is what brought women's liberation?

0:21:520:21:56

You get a fridge and then you burn your bra!

0:21:560:21:58

That's it. In the fridge, it would take a long time...

0:21:580:22:01

Well, the pop man used to come once a week

0:22:030:22:05

and now you've got a fridge, your pop will never be warm.

0:22:050:22:09

How cool's that?

0:22:100:22:12

-Cheers, guys.

-Cheers.

0:22:120:22:14

Ew!

0:22:240:22:26

Maybe it'll taste nicer than it looks.

0:22:290:22:32

We used to make lollies out of this in the new fridge.

0:22:320:22:37

-Whoa!

-Urgh!

0:22:370:22:41

-What is that, Rochelle?

-Dog food?

0:22:410:22:44

-No.

-What is appearing?!

0:22:440:22:46

- Smells like dog food. - It's a pea ring.

0:22:480:22:50

Actually smells like dog food.

0:22:500:22:51

And what's that?

0:22:510:22:53

This is from the cookbook.

0:22:530:22:55

It's show-off food, it's food with a bit of pizzazz.

0:22:550:22:57

- Oh, my God, that's weird. - Look at that.

0:22:570:23:00

-That's fantastic.

-So you could never eat this

0:23:000:23:02

-before you had a refrigerator.

-That's true.

0:23:020:23:04

-We'll be able to eat this all the time now.

-Yeah.

0:23:040:23:07

-It's tasty.

-I'm not a fan of the jelly, though.

0:23:070:23:10

Like, at all.

0:23:100:23:13

I would certainly eat it again,

0:23:130:23:14

but it's probably quite a lot of effort to prepare, isn't it?

0:23:140:23:17

Surprisingly not. It's absolutely no effort whatsoever.

0:23:170:23:22

Even though the food was pretty strange,

0:23:220:23:25

it was still pretty British.

0:23:250:23:28

Mint, maybe some lemon, you know, it wasn't

0:23:280:23:30

very exotic and I think my palate does want a change.

0:23:300:23:35

It's '62, come on, can we not get some flavour?!

0:23:350:23:37

# When the moon hits your eye

0:23:450:23:47

# Like a big pizza pie that's amore... #

0:23:470:23:51

Ros, what does it say for 1963 national food surveys?

0:23:510:23:55

Oh, that's so cool. Spaghetti bolognese.

0:23:550:23:58

Ooh, fantastic.

0:23:580:24:00

I guess it's our first foreign dish, isn't it?

0:24:000:24:02

It doesn't feel foreign, though.

0:24:020:24:04

Now it just feels kind of normal, but then it would have been exotic.

0:24:040:24:08

An upsurge in package holidays to the Mediterranean, kick-started

0:24:080:24:12

Britain's appetite for foreign cuisine.

0:24:120:24:14

By 1963, over 3.5 million people were heading

0:24:160:24:19

south annually for sun, fun and a whiff of exotic food.

0:24:190:24:22

# When the stars make you drool

0:24:220:24:25

# Just like a pasta e fasuli that's amore... #

0:24:250:24:27

Back home, Elizabeth David's classic book on Mediterranean food

0:24:270:24:30

inspired adventurous cooks to recreate these flavours.

0:24:300:24:34

1950, that was first published.

0:24:350:24:37

In the '50s, it would have been out of my league to, sort of, make

0:24:370:24:41

this kind of food.

0:24:410:24:42

I don't think I would have had access to the ingredients.

0:24:420:24:47

By 1964, all David's books were available in paperback

0:24:470:24:50

and the ingredients were becoming more accessible too,

0:24:500:24:53

although keen housewives still had to be resourceful.

0:24:530:24:56

Olive oil was commonly used to treat earache

0:24:570:25:00

and most easily found at a chemists.

0:25:000:25:03

And buying Parmesan cheese

0:25:030:25:04

and garlic meant a trip to an Italian deli.

0:25:040:25:07

It's interesting to be making something that's not British

0:25:100:25:13

and the fact that, you know, I'd have to go into, like, Soho or

0:25:130:25:19

the west end to actually get hold of the ingredients, would be

0:25:190:25:24

a really, really big, you know, thing to be doing.

0:25:240:25:27

Today, it's Miranda who's venturing into Soho.

0:25:320:25:35

In 1963, the majority of teenage girls left school at 15

0:25:390:25:43

and in a golden age of nearly full employment,

0:25:430:25:46

most walked straight into full-time jobs.

0:25:460:25:48

17-year-old Miranda is about to start a shift at one

0:25:510:25:53

of Britain's new, hip '60s hang-outs, an Italian coffee bar.

0:25:530:25:58

Black Americano.

0:25:580:26:00

There are two different generations going on at the moment.

0:26:000:26:03

There's my mum who's still in the kitchen,

0:26:030:26:05

then there's her daughter, me, and I have much more freedom.

0:26:050:26:11

'60s teenagers had money too.

0:26:130:26:15

A massive 70% of their wages was disposable income,

0:26:150:26:19

more than at any time before or since, which they spent

0:26:190:26:23

freely on music, fashion and going out, creating a new youth culture.

0:26:230:26:28

This is yours, this is mine, shall we?

0:26:280:26:31

-Urgh!

-Mmm, what do you think of that?

0:26:330:26:36

-The first time drinking espresso?

-It's really horrible.

0:26:360:26:39

-Really? Oh, my God!

-OMG!

0:26:390:26:43

You've had coffee before?

0:26:430:26:45

Yeah, I've had coffee but it's really strong.

0:26:450:26:48

-Well, that's why it's espresso.

-OMG!

0:26:480:26:50

OK, cafe latte, small takeaway.

0:26:500:26:52

Even to me, having been born in the '90s,

0:26:520:26:55

that cup of coffee was like nothing I've ever tasted.

0:26:550:26:57

I was like, whoa!

0:26:570:26:58

That's probably what latched people onto it,

0:26:580:27:01

cos it's such a different flavour.

0:27:010:27:03

Back home, Rochelle's also stirring up a pot full of foreign flavour.

0:27:030:27:09

She's following in the footsteps of one of the national food

0:27:090:27:12

survey's more adventurous cooks,

0:27:120:27:14

a 48-year-old mother of two from the posh London suburb of Twickenham.

0:27:140:27:19

Supper - spaghetti bolognese, home-made cake, tea, milk and sugar.

0:27:200:27:26

There is now the sort of range of flavours that I'm using which

0:27:260:27:30

I haven't been using, sort of, before.

0:27:300:27:32

Like particularly the garlic and the basil and the olive oil

0:27:320:27:35

and the spaghetti, of course, and the Parmesan.

0:27:350:27:37

Actually, half of it.

0:27:370:27:39

Ooh! Bolognese!

0:27:390:27:40

-Oh, wow.

-Got to say that looks...

0:27:400:27:42

It's spaghetti! Is it spaghetti bolognese?

0:27:420:27:45

-Yes,

-it is. I'm just so excited.

-Are you?

-I really am.

0:27:450:27:48

But wait a minute, Fred, wait till we've...

0:27:480:27:50

We've got to wait. But, honestly, my mouth is watering.

0:27:500:27:53

-Can we start?

-Can we start?

0:27:530:27:54

I hope it's nice.

0:27:540:27:56

It's lovely.

0:27:560:27:58

Do you think it's lovely, because it's the first meal

0:27:580:28:01

we've had that tastes different?

0:28:010:28:03

Yeah. Olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese.

0:28:030:28:05

-And spaghetti.

-Lovely rich flavours, aren't they?

0:28:050:28:08

-Yeah.

-And they're flavours we haven't had.

-Yeah.

0:28:080:28:11

-For the last 12 years.

-Yes.

0:28:110:28:13

I can see why this became a typical British family favourite.

0:28:130:28:17

That's how good it is, people are actually scraping the dish.

0:28:170:28:20

I can imagine just eating boring food and then to suddenly have that,

0:28:200:28:24

must have been amazing, it must have been a taste revolution.

0:28:240:28:28

And I think from here on in, is the start of more interesting foods.

0:28:280:28:33

I feel like the '60s have really begun and it does feel like a big

0:28:330:28:36

shift from the early '60s and the '50s now.

0:28:360:28:39

Another day, another year.

0:28:450:28:48

Time for the revolution in what we ate

0:28:480:28:49

and where it came from, to really get going.

0:28:490:28:52

Until 1964, food suppliers controlled the price of their goods,

0:28:540:28:58

so wherever you shopped, the cost of food was broadly the same.

0:28:580:29:02

But the Resale Prices Act passed in this year, abolished

0:29:050:29:08

the suppliers' control and price wars began.

0:29:080:29:10

This gave real advantage to big buyers, ie supermarkets.

0:29:120:29:16

They were able to drive down prices.

0:29:160:29:18

It meant that small buyers,

0:29:180:29:20

individual retailers could not compete.

0:29:200:29:23

Prior to 1964, supermarkets were thin on the ground

0:29:230:29:26

and Rochelle has used only small local shops.

0:29:260:29:29

Until now.

0:29:310:29:32

-Hi.

-Great to see you.

-Yeah, you too.

0:29:340:29:38

Welcome to shopping 1960s style, a completely new experience.

0:29:380:29:44

-I've got a shopping list.

-Yes, at the minute, it's small,

0:29:440:29:47

but it might grow as I walk round the aisles.

0:29:470:29:49

Yeah, you'll be tempted by all the new products. OK?

0:29:490:29:52

Better take a wire basket.

0:29:520:29:53

There's just so much to look at, isn't there?

0:29:560:29:59

Isn't there just so much to look at.

0:29:590:30:01

It's absolutely extraordinary.

0:30:010:30:03

Given Rochelle's experience in the '50s, I think

0:30:040:30:07

she's going to enjoy being able to make her own choices,

0:30:070:30:11

having the freedom to take what she wants.

0:30:110:30:14

Does this feel really different?

0:30:140:30:15

Well, yeah, because when I went to the local shops

0:30:150:30:18

and asked for whatever you wanted and they'd bring it to you,

0:30:180:30:21

but this way, I am actually choosing what I want myself.

0:30:210:30:25

There's so much choice. Yay!

0:30:250:30:27

No, you're being silly now.

0:30:280:30:30

-That's silly.

-I'm going to stock up.

0:30:300:30:32

I'm guessing we're going to be able to keep about 1% of this.

0:30:320:30:35

And already I'm feeling tempted by other items that

0:30:350:30:39

I might not have bought.

0:30:390:30:40

So that means things like this.

0:30:400:30:43

I think, oh, maybe I'll buy that as well since I'm here.

0:30:430:30:46

Does this bring back any memories of going shopping when you were a kid?

0:30:470:30:51

-Well, I remember going to the first big supermarket with my mum.

-Do you?

0:30:510:30:55

-Yeah, I do.

-It must have looked really dazzling

0:30:550:30:57

-the fact that you weren't used to it.

-Yeah.

0:30:570:31:00

If you've just been going to a corner shop where you know

0:31:000:31:02

the person inside the shop and they're saying, you know,

0:31:020:31:05

"This is what I've got for you today, Mrs Robshaw,"

0:31:050:31:07

or, you know, "This is your usual."

0:31:070:31:11

And then suddenly there's nobody to give you your usual.

0:31:110:31:15

Usual is it? In the back room?

0:31:170:31:21

Tesco and Sainsbury's were at the forefront of Britain's 1960s

0:31:230:31:27

self-service boom, when numbers of supermarket stores shot up from

0:31:270:31:31

fewer than 600 to nearly 3,500 by the end of the decade.

0:31:310:31:34

At the same time, a fifth of independent grocers closed,

0:31:370:31:41

unable to compete with the choice

0:31:410:31:43

and prices on offer in the supermarket aisles.

0:31:430:31:46

-Hey, look what I've found. Frozen chicken.

-Wow.

0:31:470:31:51

Look at that, that's the first time we've had it in this experience.

0:31:510:31:54

It is.

0:31:540:31:55

Supermarkets didn't just supply the demand, sometimes they created it

0:31:550:31:59

by making once unattainable foods, affordable for all.

0:31:590:32:02

Not many years ago the chicken was an expensive

0:32:040:32:07

luxury for special occasions only.

0:32:070:32:10

But today, it's an easily available

0:32:100:32:12

and comparatively cheap food ready to be popped into the oven.

0:32:120:32:15

Chicken became an everyday item in the '60s after Sainsbury's

0:32:170:32:21

engaged a handful of poultry suppliers to transform

0:32:210:32:24

small-scale British chicken farming into a massive industry.

0:32:240:32:28

I'm meeting John Maunder, one of the original suppliers

0:32:310:32:34

challenged by Sainsbury's to up production.

0:32:340:32:38

The introduction to volume production of chicken was

0:32:380:32:42

an American idea brought over to this country by Sainsbury directors.

0:32:420:32:48

They saw the opportunity of a pre-packaged product

0:32:480:32:53

such as a whole chicken, as being something that would

0:32:530:32:56

fit in to this new style of supermarket, self-service store.

0:32:560:33:00

And they led you to believe that as many chickens as you could

0:33:000:33:03

-produce, they could sell?

-Yes.

0:33:030:33:04

The concept was, that if we produced it in large enough quantities,

0:33:040:33:08

we could reduce the unit price.

0:33:080:33:09

If we reduced the unit price, then people would be able to

0:33:090:33:13

afford it and if they could afford it, they would buy more of it.

0:33:130:33:16

And it was true, of course, because no sooner had

0:33:160:33:19

we offered these affordable chicken, the demand grew.

0:33:190:33:26

The new cheap chicken cost a third less and sales leapt from

0:33:260:33:29

ten million chickens a year to 150 million in the space of a decade.

0:33:290:33:33

And our love affair with chicken has continued to grow.

0:33:360:33:39

Today, Britons eat around 800 million annually,

0:33:390:33:42

accounting for more than half our total meat consumption.

0:33:420:33:46

Closer to home, there was another source

0:33:480:33:50

of culinary inspiration - television,

0:33:500:33:54

as millions tuned into watch Fanny Cradock take the nation's

0:33:540:33:58

cooking skills in hand.

0:33:580:33:59

Jenny, do you know how to cook chips?

0:34:030:34:05

Oh, yes, you just prepare the chips and fry them in boiling fat.

0:34:050:34:09

-It's entertaining, isn't it?

-Yes, it's like '60s Nigella.

-Yeah.

0:34:100:34:14

You must have an increased amount of leisure in order to, sort of,

0:34:140:34:18

sit and watch this.

0:34:180:34:19

Later in the series, her husband, Johnnie, used to appear

0:34:190:34:22

and he used to be like her, sort of, kitchen helper,

0:34:220:34:25

but she just kind of like bossed him about.

0:34:250:34:28

Where are my egg whites?

0:34:280:34:29

-Tried looking?

-Well, since you're here,

0:34:300:34:32

will you pour them into the bowl for me, please?

0:34:320:34:35

Right.

0:34:350:34:36

Now vanish.

0:34:370:34:39

And so on with the lot.

0:34:400:34:42

Bossy, but much-loved, Fanny was Britain's first TV celebrity chef.

0:34:420:34:47

TV chefs are able to, sort of, get in this gap in the market

0:34:480:34:53

because everyone's got a little bit more food and more

0:34:530:34:56

labour-saving gadgets and they're like, "Oh what can I do with it?"

0:34:560:34:59

And now there's this gap and TV chefs can come in and be like,

0:34:590:35:02

"Yes, I can show you how."

0:35:020:35:04

Since the start of this experiment in 1950,

0:35:110:35:13

the Robshaws have been locked into the stereotypical roles of the past.

0:35:130:35:18

Dad brings home the bacon...

0:35:180:35:19

..and mum cooks it.

0:35:210:35:22

But a big screen icon was sowing the seeds of change.

0:35:250:35:28

In 1965, Michael Caine played spy

0:35:300:35:32

and gourmet Harry Palmer in the hit film, The Ipcress File.

0:35:320:35:36

In Palmer's hands, food was the ultimate tool of seduction,

0:35:380:35:42

which helped entice men into the kitchen.

0:35:420:35:44

I'm here to initiate Brandon into the joys of the culinary arts.

0:35:460:35:49

This is a moment where we're going to have a slight

0:35:510:35:54

revolution and things.

0:35:540:35:55

So, this is going to be your first crack at cooking something.

0:35:550:36:00

Brilliant. I feel absolutely delighted.

0:36:000:36:02

I'm really looking forward to cooking.

0:36:020:36:03

You're going to make a two-course meal for Rochelle,

0:36:030:36:06

who's going to disappear and do something feminine.

0:36:060:36:10

Oh! Oh, good luck in the kitchen...

0:36:100:36:12

-Thanks very much.

-..with your gadget.

-Thank you.

0:36:120:36:15

Excellent.

0:36:150:36:18

In their modern lives, Brandon regularly cooks family meals,

0:36:180:36:22

but tonight's menu is very much dinner a deux.

0:36:220:36:24

Blended vegetable soup. Chicken in a creamy sauce. Fresh asparagus.

0:36:260:36:32

Potatoes, white wine.

0:36:320:36:35

OK, so have a chop of that.

0:36:350:36:36

There's no directions on, you know, how to chop it up, so...

0:36:360:36:41

You're not going to even peel the onion?

0:36:410:36:43

What do you suppose your father would have been

0:36:430:36:45

doing in the kitchen in 1965?

0:36:450:36:46

Oh, my dad couldn't do anything in the kitchen.

0:36:460:36:48

I think he made coffee sometimes.

0:36:480:36:51

He couldn't cook, he wasn't happy at all cooking,

0:36:510:36:54

so he never got into that.

0:36:540:36:55

He didn't know modern scientific things like peeling an onion?

0:36:550:36:58

-No, this isn't working as well as it...

-No, no, it's fine.

0:36:580:37:01

So, listen, all these clearly defined roles that we've got in

0:37:010:37:04

the '60s, has it been affecting your marriage in any way?

0:37:040:37:07

No. No, I don't think it has.

0:37:070:37:09

The only thing, I think, that it has affected, you know,

0:37:090:37:12

Rochelle has been saying that she does actually need to spend

0:37:120:37:15

less time in the kitchen now.

0:37:150:37:16

So she's becoming dissatisfied as a result of things improving?

0:37:160:37:19

In a sense, I think she is.

0:37:190:37:21

I think she's just thinking, well, I've got all this time

0:37:210:37:23

on my hands, I could do something, you know, more interesting.

0:37:230:37:26

Rochelle, what would you like me to do to your hair today?

0:37:260:37:29

Well, I think I probably would like to go high.

0:37:290:37:34

Yeah, I just... As high as you can get it.

0:37:340:37:37

-Right. Like Dusty high?

-Dusty, high, yeah, yeah.

-OK.

0:37:370:37:42

In the '50s, women's magazines had focused on dispensing

0:37:420:37:45

housekeeping advice.

0:37:450:37:47

Now beauty tips were just as important.

0:37:470:37:49

Between 1959 and 1966, the value of Britain's beauty market

0:37:520:37:56

soared by 165% and many women used the housekeeping time

0:37:560:38:00

they were saving, to make regular trips to the hairdresser.

0:38:000:38:04

Roles and stuff are changing,

0:38:050:38:07

like in the '50s you wouldn't have just been sitting in a salon

0:38:070:38:09

having your hair done and you're doing that now.

0:38:090:38:12

She's getting her hair done, she's not working.

0:38:120:38:14

-No, she's getting her hair done.

-Yeah.

0:38:140:38:16

It's just having leisure time.

0:38:160:38:18

Yeah, leisure time to make herself look good for Dad.

0:38:180:38:21

Not to, sort of, go out and be her own woman.

0:38:210:38:24

Do you think, I mean, probably then, as now, that cooking's

0:38:240:38:28

different for men than it is for women?

0:38:280:38:30

Yes, I suppose so.

0:38:300:38:31

I think that when men cook, they're showing off and I think

0:38:310:38:35

when women cook, then they're not doing it to be impressive

0:38:350:38:37

they're just doing it to put a meal on the table.

0:38:370:38:39

-That will certainly have been true of then...

-Yeah.

0:38:390:38:41

The idea that the men...

0:38:410:38:42

I think, you know, that the man would cook some delicious,

0:38:420:38:45

sort of, chicken in a velvety sauce with a glass of wine

0:38:450:38:47

-and he's expecting something in return.

-That's right.

0:38:470:38:50

-I think we know what it is.

-I think we know what it is!

0:38:500:38:52

These styles were sometimes known as marriage-wreckers

0:38:540:38:57

because once you're in bed, you don't want to mess your hair up.

0:38:570:39:01

I wonder what Brandon will think of that

0:39:010:39:04

after he's cooked a nice dinner.

0:39:040:39:07

He won't cook again, will he?

0:39:070:39:09

I'll have another ten years in the kitchen

0:39:100:39:12

because I changed my hairstyle.

0:39:120:39:14

-OK, you ready to see it? It looks amazing.

-I'm ready.

0:39:170:39:20

-Look.

-Oh, my goodness me! That's absolutely fantastic!

0:39:200:39:25

Wow, no, I can understand why they're called marriage wreckers.

0:39:260:39:30

No-one's getting their hands on this.

0:39:300:39:32

Don't want to mess that up, yeah.

0:39:320:39:34

# The look of love... #

0:39:340:39:38

-So here's to your success in the kitchen.

-Cheers.

0:39:380:39:40

-Here's to your success in the hairdressers.

-Yeah.

0:39:400:39:42

Where'd you go, anyway?

0:39:420:39:44

Oh, I went to a little place round the corner.

0:39:440:39:46

How did you find the kitchen?

0:39:460:39:49

I actually found it hard work.

0:39:500:39:52

That cooker's not that easy to use, there's only two rings really

0:39:520:39:55

you can use and they just get super-hot.

0:39:550:39:57

I am actually really impressed with how you've dealt with all that,

0:39:570:40:01

just got on and cooked some great meals.

0:40:010:40:03

I think that's really what women do though, isn't it?

0:40:030:40:05

-That's what women do.

-They don't start complaining about the cooker.

0:40:050:40:08

You're right, whereas I've just spent ten minutes going on

0:40:080:40:11

and on about what I...

0:40:110:40:12

-I'm going to go and get the soup now.

-Right, OK.

0:40:120:40:15

Oh, I haven't taken this off yet.

0:40:150:40:17

POTS CRASH

0:40:220:40:24

Brandon! You all right?

0:40:240:40:27

Very, very nice to have a meal cooked for me for, sort of,

0:40:290:40:33

after what feels like it's been like a really, really long time.

0:40:330:40:36

-Do you want me to serve you?

-Yeah, please, yeah.

0:40:360:40:40

I've been feeling still quite pulled down by the kitchen

0:40:400:40:46

and getting my hair done and then coming back and somebody

0:40:460:40:50

actually doing something for you, did have this enormous lifting effect.

0:40:500:40:57

-Look at that.

-It's ages since I've had an After Eight.

0:40:570:41:00

So sophisticated, isn't it? Who knows what will happen after eight?

0:41:000:41:05

A new day and a new year.

0:41:130:41:14

It's 1966 and like 32 million people across the UK, the Robshaws

0:41:170:41:22

are getting ready to watch England play Germany in the World Cup final.

0:41:220:41:26

That looks good.

0:41:270:41:29

To help them celebrate the occasion, I've sent another

0:41:290:41:32

'60s food forged in the white heat of technology.

0:41:320:41:34

Ew, it's meat!

0:41:370:41:39

-Oh, my goodness, yes.

-Oh, my goodness!

0:41:390:41:43

These are Vesta meals.

0:41:430:41:44

These are dried meals that you can make in 20 minutes.

0:41:440:41:48

There's loads of 'em!

0:41:480:41:50

It's a totally new kind of food, isn't it?

0:41:500:41:52

This is the chef...

0:41:530:41:55

and cook the paella and it took him four hours.

0:41:550:41:58

Vesta meals used a technology first developed for army rations.

0:41:580:42:01

Food was freeze-dried into tiny pieces that only needed water

0:42:010:42:05

and heat to reconstitute.

0:42:050:42:07

This is the wife who cooked and served that wonderful Vesta

0:42:070:42:10

paella and she did it all in 20 minutes.

0:42:100:42:13

An instant meal and an instant hit.

0:42:130:42:16

In 1966, Sainsbury's alone sold nearly half a million boxes.

0:42:160:42:20

Look at that, that's our meal.

0:42:230:42:25

It's not cooking, it's opening and stirring.

0:42:250:42:27

Yeah.

0:42:270:42:29

Right. It's modern, it's clean, it's like...

0:42:290:42:31

It just seems fast, like a really fast transition.

0:42:310:42:35

-What's that?

-Oh.

0:42:350:42:37

And the type of food we were cooking and now suddenly we're doing this.

0:42:370:42:41

-It happened quite fast.

-That's Bobby Moore there.

0:42:410:42:44

There's two Bobbys?

0:42:440:42:46

Rochelle and Miranda are preparing beef curry and chicken chow mein

0:42:460:42:50

for six, as Fred's cousin, Joe, has joined them for the match.

0:42:500:42:55

For many British people, Vesta meals provided their first

0:42:550:42:59

taste of non-European food.

0:42:590:43:00

And look, that's how I remember it. Look at that!

0:43:040:43:07

Look at them!

0:43:090:43:11

-Look, look! Look at them, have you seen 'em?

-Yeah.

0:43:110:43:16

Look at it, seriously! That has just made my day.

0:43:160:43:20

Supposed to be convenience food, it's not very convenient for me.

0:43:200:43:23

It'd be more convenient for me to make a sandwich.

0:43:230:43:25

No, but the thing is, it's probably quicker than any food

0:43:250:43:29

they had then, even though it takes, like, half an hour.

0:43:290:43:32

I must say this is the longest 20 minutes I've ever sat through.

0:43:320:43:35

There's Bobby Moore, look.

0:43:350:43:36

How could we mess up a Vesta meal?

0:43:390:43:42

Look, that needs to be in a different pan, doesn't it?

0:43:420:43:45

I didn't realise it could be so complicated.

0:43:450:43:47

Well, the match will be over by the time this is served.

0:43:470:43:50

Looks quite nice though, doesn't it? Want to try a bit?

0:43:500:43:55

-Why not?

-I just don't.

-Why not?

-I just don't!

0:43:550:43:59

-Go on.

-No!

0:43:590:44:00

I bet you it's quite nice.

0:44:020:44:03

-Is it?

-No.

0:44:050:44:08

-Oh.

-Oh. Oh, wow.

-Thank you.

0:44:090:44:13

-It doesn't look as...

-Don't worry about that, just get it in here.

0:44:130:44:17

-What's...

-What have I got? Get off!

-Leave off!

0:44:170:44:20

We need to get Heidi out.

0:44:200:44:22

But it's not as nice as takeaway.

0:44:220:44:24

We didn't really have takeaways back in the '60s,

0:44:240:44:27

except for fish and chips.

0:44:270:44:29

Oh, look! What's that dog doin' in here?

0:44:290:44:32

< Miranda let the dog in.

0:44:340:44:35

What do you think of this meal?

0:44:380:44:41

I think the chow mein works better.

0:44:410:44:42

This beef curry is actually a little bit dry and powdery.

0:44:420:44:45

Are you disappointed?

0:44:450:44:47

I am disappointed, actually. Was it fun to cook?

0:44:470:44:50

Well, it took up a lot of pans, actually.

0:44:500:44:52

It doesn't look like an instant meal.

0:44:520:44:54

-It certainly wasn't instant in time.

-Exactly.

0:44:540:44:57

Missed half the match.

0:44:570:44:58

What? They've scored?

0:45:000:45:02

Did that ball cross the line? They've given the goal.

0:45:020:45:05

From my angle, I could see that that didn't go in.

0:45:050:45:08

< Mum can see round the TV!

0:45:080:45:10

I'm sitting on the side and I can see that, that didn't go in.

0:45:110:45:17

It makes a change to be eating in front of the telly, though.

0:45:170:45:21

Don't you think it's a bit casual?

0:45:210:45:22

Just cos we've got used to sitting and eating round the table.

0:45:220:45:25

Now people aren't even listening to me when I talk.

0:45:250:45:28

What is more important, the World Cup,

0:45:280:45:30

a Vesta meal or what I'm about to say?

0:45:300:45:33

I just don't see how watching the World Cup final and eating,

0:45:330:45:37

how can that not be good?

0:45:370:45:39

Yeah, some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over!

0:45:390:45:42

It is now.

0:45:420:45:43

And he just scored at exactly the right moment.

0:45:430:45:46

Oh, my God. That's just amazing.

0:45:460:45:48

So that means they won fair and square after all.

0:45:480:45:51

Yeah, cos they got an extra goal that was legitimate.

0:45:510:45:53

Oh, I am pleased.

0:45:530:45:55

Honestly! I really feel quite relieved.

0:45:590:46:01

Increasingly, people were also enjoying international flavours

0:46:060:46:09

when they ate out.

0:46:090:46:10

Chinese restaurants designed their menus for the British palate,

0:46:120:46:16

offering omelette and chips alongside chop suey.

0:46:160:46:19

And they were the '60s runaway hit.

0:46:210:46:24

By the end of the decade, there were nearly 4,000 restaurants

0:46:240:46:26

nationwide, compared with only 300 just over a decade earlier.

0:46:260:46:31

Mmm. Mmm, mmm.

0:46:310:46:34

We went to a Chinese restaurant which was really fun.

0:46:360:46:39

The food was nice, great colours and different shapes

0:46:390:46:43

and completely different from what we'd been having.

0:46:430:46:46

The change within 15, 16 years, is enormous.

0:46:460:46:51

The sense of the foreign, which was completely

0:46:510:46:56

absent from the food of the '50s.

0:46:560:46:59

Can you hear that?

0:47:090:47:11

-They're doing it.

-A bit.

-They're doing it.

0:47:120:47:16

TELEPHONE RINGS

0:47:160:47:17

Hello? Yeah, hi.

0:47:170:47:21

Bye.

0:47:210:47:22

What was the message?

0:47:250:47:26

It was a message from Giles. You'll never guess. Want to guess?

0:47:270:47:31

-OK, I'm moving out.

-Leave it out!

-I am.

0:47:310:47:34

-No, you're not.

-I am!

-You're not!

0:47:340:47:39

Where are you going? I feel like crying.

0:47:390:47:41

How can you just tell us this over the table?!

0:47:410:47:44

What have we done to make you want to go?

0:47:440:47:47

We're not good enough for you?

0:47:470:47:48

You're just going to pack a bag and like walk out?

0:47:490:47:53

You're not pregnant are you?

0:47:530:47:55

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

0:47:550:47:58

By the late '60s, the social and sexual rule book was being torn up

0:47:590:48:03

and many young people were leading lives unimaginable to their parents.

0:48:030:48:08

This, ladies and gentlemen, is London.

0:48:080:48:11

Swinging London it's been called,

0:48:110:48:12

though some people might find a different adjective.

0:48:120:48:16

Magazines encouraged women as young as 16 to leave home

0:48:160:48:20

and live independently and landlords happily split large

0:48:200:48:23

houses into bedsits to accommodate them.

0:48:230:48:25

Ros has come to help Miranda settle into her new bedsit.

0:48:280:48:31

-Oh, it's really nice.

-It's so nice.

0:48:310:48:36

-Ah, this is so cool.

-It's lovely.

0:48:360:48:39

-Oh, is this the cooker?

-Cool!

-Oh, my God, that looks dangerous.

0:48:390:48:43

You can make fried eggs. Oh, look at this.

0:48:430:48:47

That's good.

0:48:480:48:50

Oh, I've just moved in and you've already started destroying it.

0:48:500:48:56

I know how to put it back up, don't worry.

0:48:560:48:58

Well, you do it then.

0:48:580:49:00

-Where are you going to put the milk?

-I have no idea.

0:49:000:49:04

Maybe we just put it out the window.

0:49:040:49:06

You don't put milk out the window!

0:49:060:49:08

-I reckon it's better off out there than in here.

-No, it's not.

0:49:080:49:12

You're stupid and I don't care if you get milk poisoning.

0:49:120:49:15

So, what do you want to make tonight?

0:49:150:49:19

If the shops are shut, we can only use the stuff we've got

0:49:190:49:22

and we haven't got very much.

0:49:220:49:25

With no more than a single ring to cook on,

0:49:260:49:29

life in a '60s bedsit didn't always swing.

0:49:290:49:31

I've arranged for Katharine Whitehorn,

0:49:320:49:35

author of bestselling '60s bedsit survival guide,

0:49:350:49:38

Kitchen In The Corner, to share some tips.

0:49:380:49:40

There was no question of having a fridge anywhere near, you

0:49:400:49:44

had to keep the milk more or less cool out on the windowsill, which

0:49:440:49:49

was all right, unless it got knocked over by a pigeon or something.

0:49:490:49:52

I don't know whether you're thinking of doing much

0:49:520:49:54

-cooking in your bedsitter?

-Yeah, we are really.

0:49:540:49:57

We were going to have some people over for dinner tonight,

0:49:570:50:00

but we don't know what to cook.

0:50:000:50:01

What kind of food do you like cooking?

0:50:010:50:04

Or perhaps I should say, like eating best?

0:50:040:50:06

In our bag of things, we've got a lot of vegetables.

0:50:060:50:10

-Oh, that's terrific.

-Yeah.

0:50:100:50:12

You could make a ratatouille out of that.

0:50:120:50:14

You cook everything together in one pot.

0:50:140:50:16

Did you find that because there weren't as many takeaways,

0:50:160:50:20

that you were forced to do more cooking?

0:50:200:50:23

Mostly, if you wanted to eat you had to cook it,

0:50:230:50:25

however badly you did it.

0:50:250:50:27

And everybody is going to be so amazingly impressed that

0:50:270:50:30

you've managed to cook them anything at all, that, if it isn't quite

0:50:300:50:33

as marvellous as if they'd taken you to the Ritz, it doesn't matter.

0:50:330:50:38

-Two onions.

-Yeah.

0:50:380:50:39

Two pimentos.

0:50:390:50:41

The girls are following Katharine's recipe for one-pot ratatouille,

0:50:410:50:45

a nod to Britain's growing confidence with foreign food

0:50:450:50:48

which doesn't create much washing up.

0:50:480:50:51

What I'm not really too keen on, is the fact that we're

0:50:510:50:54

cooking in my bedroom.

0:50:540:50:56

I don't like that idea and in future, I really don't think I'll

0:50:560:50:58

cook, sort of, onions and garlic as an evening meal.

0:50:580:51:03

Or even at all, because why would you want that in

0:51:030:51:07

-where you're about to sleep?

-I know.

0:51:070:51:10

It just seems so dangerous to have this little, like, fire thing here.

0:51:100:51:14

If you were a teenager in the '60s, it would be something very

0:51:150:51:19

desirable, to do the whole bedsit thing.

0:51:190:51:22

I feel much more independent than I did in the '50s.

0:51:220:51:25

There's a massive difference, it's like two different lives.

0:51:250:51:29

For me, I don't think this has been a terrifically good decade.

0:51:310:51:36

The world feels that it is changing very, very fast

0:51:370:51:42

and not for people of my generation.

0:51:420:51:46

I think as a woman in the '60s in middle age,

0:51:470:51:51

it does feel like a very defunct position to be in.

0:51:510:51:54

-So cool.

-So what's cooking?

-It's ratatouille.

0:52:020:52:06

Cool! Awesome.

0:52:060:52:08

Yeah, and I'm actually really proud of us

0:52:080:52:11

because we cooked it in that, on that, with that.

0:52:110:52:18

I'm just curious to know, though, how many people would have actually

0:52:180:52:23

-bothered to make a ratatouille in their bedsit.

-It's nice.

0:52:230:52:26

-It is nice, actually.

-Is this the bread?

0:52:260:52:29

-Yes.

-That's cool packaging. Urgh, it's mouldy!

0:52:290:52:32

-Did you know it was mouldy?

-No!

0:52:340:52:37

You're a terrible host.

0:52:370:52:39

I've had it since 1962, so, to be honest, it kept pretty well.

0:52:400:52:45

The family are seeing the swinging '60s out in style with a

0:52:590:53:02

party celebrating Britain's growing hunger for all things foreign.

0:53:020:53:06

It's in honour of an event celebrating European harmony that

0:53:080:53:12

began only 11 years after World War II,

0:53:120:53:14

the Eurovision Song Contest.

0:53:140:53:16

And in 1969, British hopes are pinned on Lulu

0:53:180:53:21

and her Boom Bang A Bang.

0:53:210:53:23

-Hello Robshaws, hi.

-Hi, Giles.

0:53:250:53:27

Nice to see you, I'm glad the '60s have changed hugely

0:53:270:53:30

-the role of the women in the home.

-As you can see, yep.

0:53:300:53:32

Your hair is having an exciting time.

0:53:320:53:34

My hair is really having a great time, yeah.

0:53:340:53:37

I'm keeping the lacquer business in business, yeah.

0:53:370:53:39

-So you're coming to the Eurovision party?

-I'll come to the party.

0:53:390:53:42

I'll drink whatever fancy foreign cocktails you're making

0:53:420:53:45

-and have a sniff, at least, of the canapes.

-Can I get a cocktail?

0:53:450:53:48

Yes, you can have lots and lots of alcohol,

0:53:480:53:51

cos in 1969, there was a special exemption for ten-year-old boys.

0:53:510:53:54

-Wa-hey!

-Can't wait.

0:53:540:53:58

Every Eurovision buffet dish comes from a popular cookbook of the day.

0:53:590:54:03

Everything in the '60s moved very fast.

0:54:060:54:09

It moved fast when we were living it, compared to the '50s

0:54:090:54:12

and I think that's just because there's a lot more to do.

0:54:120:54:16

-Hello.

-Hi. Hi, Polly.

-How are you?

-All right, thank you.

0:54:190:54:23

Getting ready for a party?

0:54:230:54:24

Yes and you've arrived just in the nick of time.

0:54:240:54:27

-We have got, it's a, like, Europe theme.

-Right.

0:54:310:54:35

So for Spain, we have, like, devilled eggs

0:54:350:54:37

which is just eggs with mayonnaise in, I think.

0:54:370:54:41

So what's the authentic Spanish ingredient that you put in it?

0:54:410:54:44

-Paprika.

-Anything else?

-Nothing else.

0:54:440:54:46

So have you started to see in the '60s,

0:54:460:54:48

more influence of foreign food?

0:54:480:54:51

Yeah, went out for a Chinese, a couple of years ago.

0:54:510:54:54

And we had spaghetti bolognese, that was really nice.

0:54:560:55:01

Even though we'd only been living in the '50s

0:55:010:55:03

and '60s for not very long, all the change,

0:55:030:55:05

it felt exciting, it was just nice to just have new flavours.

0:55:050:55:10

Isn't that a cheerful sound?

0:55:100:55:11

-Hello.

-Hello!

-Oh, hello.

0:55:140:55:15

-Oh, my!

-So how was the decade for you?

0:55:230:55:26

Yeah, I think after the greyness of the '50s,

0:55:260:55:29

it just felt like everything had kind of sprung to life.

0:55:290:55:31

We're becoming more Europeanised.

0:55:310:55:34

I do feel just a general, sort of, broadening of horizons,

0:55:340:55:36

which is good.

0:55:360:55:37

And what about Fred? I mean, how's he coping?

0:55:370:55:40

I think he found the '60s easier than the '50s.

0:55:400:55:42

He's always been energetic, perhaps a bit hyper

0:55:420:55:44

and he was probably more so in the '60s.

0:55:440:55:48

Now I don't know whether that was because the clothes themselves

0:55:480:55:51

were sort of more informal and casual or whether it was the food.

0:55:510:55:54

There's a lot more sugar in his diet.

0:55:540:55:56

The 1960s saw the beginning of Britain's love affair with sugar.

0:55:570:56:02

The National Food Survey reveals that our consumption

0:56:020:56:05

of biscuits, cakes and pastries soared and we sprinkled

0:56:050:56:08

nearly half a kilo of sugar on our food and drinks every week.

0:56:080:56:11

And how's it been for you generally, the '60s, Rochelle? Can you tell me?

0:56:120:56:16

I've personally found the '60s really hard.

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Whereas the '50s was about labour and about working,

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here in the '60s, you've got these gadgets, you've got the free time

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and you don't quite know what you're going to be doing with the free time.

0:56:260:56:31

So, it's felt a very, sort of, uncomfortable decade for me.

0:56:310:56:35

# Boom bang-a-bang bang

0:56:350:56:37

# Boom bang-a-bang bang I love you... #

0:56:370:56:42

OK, look this is the results.

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That's us!

0:56:500:56:52

I think Lulu's won!

0:56:550:56:58

Hooray, get in.

0:56:580:57:00

Ah, she's so cute!

0:57:020:57:04

So how do you think the '60s have been for the Robshaws?

0:57:060:57:08

Well, surprisingly, I think it's been great for the kids

0:57:080:57:12

and for Brandon, but really not great at all for Rochelle.

0:57:120:57:15

Why not? She's got a beehive, she's got flowery dresses.

0:57:150:57:18

What more could a woman ask?

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I think she's feeling trapped and depressed and slightly oppressed.

0:57:190:57:22

You think it's actually grinding her down really, real Rochelle?

0:57:220:57:25

I think it is, actually, and I just think she feels a bit sidelined.

0:57:250:57:29

The biggest defining feature of the '60s for me, has been

0:57:290:57:33

the generational gap.

0:57:330:57:35

Because I really did feel like I was living a different

0:57:350:57:39

life to the one my mum was.

0:57:390:57:40

However glamorous she looked,

0:57:400:57:42

she was still in the kitchen cooking and that was her job.

0:57:420:57:45

This is the time for the young.

0:57:470:57:50

It's like kicking off everything that went before, it's a

0:57:500:57:53

totally different feel...

0:57:530:57:55

That anything is possible, except me getting out the kitchen.

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Next time, the Robshaws groove into the 1970s.

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-Oh.

-Oh.

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I'm not really sure what it tastes like.

0:58:190:58:22

Where does the flour come out of? Oh!

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Got flour that comes out of heads, pickled onions with faces.

0:58:250:58:30

It's like the whole kitchen is mocking me.

0:58:300:58:32

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