1930s Further Back in Time for Dinner


1930s

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Meet the Robshaws - Brandon, Rochelle,

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Miranda, Ros and Fred.

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They've been back in time before...

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..and experienced the transformation in our diets

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from the 1950s to the 1990s.

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That is just amazing. Look at them!

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Now they're travelling further back in time -

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to the first half of the 20th century,

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to discover how changes in the food we ate...

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Oh, my good God! Is it brains?

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..the way it was served, and how it was cooked...

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-Yes, I'm cooking the pudding in the soup.

-Why?

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..helped change the course of history.

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Starting in the 1900s...

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-Oh, my goodness!

-THEY LAUGH

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..this Victorian house will be their time machine...

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What is that? It looks like a giant hand grenade.

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..fast forwarding them through a new year each day.

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1941, everyone.

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From strict etiquette...

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I might practice my bowing.

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THEY LAUGH

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..to new fads and flavours.

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-Oh!

-It's not THAT bad.

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ALL: Dad!

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From far too much...

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I think I've got the meat sweats.

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..to not enough...

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It doesn't look like a fried egg.

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-Oh! No!

-Can you eat that?

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No.

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..as they discover how a revolution in our eight eating habits

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helped create the modern family.

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Last time, the Robshaws raced through the Roaring Twenties.

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Go forward.

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Oh, God. I just wish Debbie was here.

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Now, it's the 1930s.

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A decade of opportunity...

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Let me see if I can hear them snap, crackle and pop.

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..that was stopped in its tracks.

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That looks like something out of a nightmare.

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The Robshaw family are about to enter

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their fourth decade of time travel.

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The house has been transformed into a suburban home of the 1930s.

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The kitchen has become more homely, and is full of new technology.

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The front room is cosier,

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with comfort and family life at the core of its design.

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And the dining room now has a round table,

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better suited to more informal family dining.

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I'll be working with social historian Polly Russell

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to set the stage for the Robshaws' journey into the 1930s.

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So, it's a much nicer space.

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Yeah, it is. It's actually quite a pleasant place to be.

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I think there are two or three other things that are notable

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about this kitchen. We're now on the grid.

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A third of homes have become electric.

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We've got the kettle, we've got the toaster.

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Over there, the kitchen cabinet, which is designed to make cooking

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-as ergonomic and easy as possible.

-Mm-hm.

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'The larder is now stuffed with familiar brands.'

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There is an awful lot more than there was before.

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That's right. You know, those factories that were setting up

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these kinds of manufactured goods are now in full throttle

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and producing a large number of products.

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Shredded Wheat, Cornflakes, you've got ketchup and salad cream.

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You can make any sandwich in the world! A bit of tongue.

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I mean, that is thrilling.

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As a child, that was, every night, my favourite thing.

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Sausages and baked beans. I had no idea they'd been around that long.

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And what's significant is you've got enough food here

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-to last the week, maybe more.

-It's an enormous amount of stuff,

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given the fact that there was, presumably,

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quite a recession going on. The Robshaws have got less money.

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Well, this is a decade where you've people

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in great distress and poverty, but if you're in

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the professional classes, if you're in white-collar work,

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you will have quite a lot of disposable income.

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In 1930, millions of families were living in extreme poverty,

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the result of a global recession and the collapse

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of much of Britain's heavy industry.

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But cities in the Midlands and South East were flourishing,

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fuelled by more modern manufacturing,

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such as car production,

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and a house-building boom that was transforming the landscape.

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For the professional middle classes, the '30s were a time of progression,

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optimism and increasing choice.

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Historical surveys show how those who had money were spending it.

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When you look at this table,

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we can see exactly what food they're spending their money on.

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And what we can see from the 1930s is that the average amount

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spent on food goes down from the beginning of the century.

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We're not eating less,

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but families are smaller and the cost of food is less than it was.

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And why is the cost of food less?

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Costs just generally go down because of worldwide depression.

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So, if you are affluent and have money,

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things are generally cheaper to buy.

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'It's not just food that the better off could afford more of.'

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The spend on recreation and entertainment

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goes up quite significantly from 1900.

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In fact, it's at least a third more than it was before.

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That's cinemas, that is dance halls, municipal swimming pools.

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You know, people are spending time at leisure.

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We think of the '30s as grim,

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but it shows here they were beginning to have fun.

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It's that story of the '30s that's less known.

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It's time for the Robshaws to enter a new decade.

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I haven't really thought much about what '30s food might be.

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On a personal level, I think, probably, my skills have peaked.

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I don't think it will be as formal.

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If you look at what we were wearing in the 1900s

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and what we're wearing now,

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you wouldn't believe that it's just 30 years that have gone by.

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I think the '30s are going to be rather different from the '20s.

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I'm thinking it's not going to be quite such a

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pleasure-seeking decade.

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I think it's not such a prosperous decade.

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I think we might have to tighten our belts.

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Oh.

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Oh, this is very bright and white and light, isn't it?

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Oh, this is lovely. I really like it a lot.

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This is really very nice.

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But what is that? It looked like a giant hand grenade.

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Oh, my goodness me. I don't like the look of that.

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Is it some early form of a pressure cooker?

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-What is that, Fred?

-I don't know.

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-Is it a toaster?

-Have we finally got a toaster?

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Hold on. Does it open up?

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-Yes, that's what I...

-Oh, look at that!

-It is a toaster.

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-ROCHELLE:

-Oh, that's lovely, isn't it?

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-It's beautiful.

-And look, an electric kettle.

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Wow. This is all mod cons, isn't it?

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I hadn't thought about these type of gadgets at all.

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I imagine them being much later.

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-What have we got?

-ALL: Wow!

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-FRED:

-Look how much chocolate we have.

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As manufacturers expanded their ranges and prices dropped,

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items that were once luxury products became everyday treats.

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-Walnut Whip.

-Walnut Whip!

-Delicious.

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Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate. Wow.

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-Bourbons.

-Mm.

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Custard creams.

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Toblerone. Cadbury's...

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-I can't carry any more.

-..Milk Tray.

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Bournville! Now for a feast.

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THEY LAUGH

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I'm back to make sure the family know their place

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in 1930s suburban Britain.

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Hello, Robshaws. ALL: Hi, Giles.

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-How are you finding your 1930s house?

-Very cosy.

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Obviously, for a lot of people in this country, with the depression and everything,

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there were people who couldn't feed their families - it was a bad time for them.

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But for a middle-class family like you in a prosperous suburb

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in a big city, things will be OK.

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For you, Brandon,

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the depression will mean that your salary will have stagnated.

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But the cost of living has dropped a lot, so, relatively speaking,

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a lot more disposable income.

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Rochelle, for you, you're a more accomplished housewife, now.

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I mean, a housewife is the norm.

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Miranda and Ros, it's another good decade to be young.

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All sorts of freedoms that you wouldn't have dreamed of 20 years ago.

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Fred, all sorts of products which would appeal to you will be

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appearing through the decade. The best piece of news of all, I hope,

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is that a certain someone will be coming back...

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-Debbie.

-Oh, Debbie!

-No way!

-Fantastic.

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You will have Debbie back.

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-As a maid?

-Not as a maid of all works. You're not that rich.

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You can afford to have her coming in daily as a charwoman.

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So, Robshaws, for you at least, the beginning of the 1930s,

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it looks like a lot of fun. A lot of hope for the future.

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-There's your guidebook, how to live it.

-Thank you.

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Have fun and I'll see you a little bit later in the decade.

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-Thanks a lot.

-Bye.

-Cheerio.

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Debbie last worked for the Robshaws in 1915

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as their live-in maid of all work.

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Now, she's back part-time as the family's charwoman.

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I don't know where anything is in this kitchen.

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Unemployment was rising, and would soon hit

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its highest levels in history.

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Most jobs were given to men first and, for many women,

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low paid, part-time work was their only option.

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I mean, it would be nice to cook in this kitchen.

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It has moved on since I was last in here.

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Most people like me wouldn't have even had a job. They would have...

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Like, especially from North Yorkshire, your family's in poverty,

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so, for someone like me to actually have a job,

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I suppose that's a really good thing, even if it's just cleaning.

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Ten across, "A month, nothing more, in Ireland."

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While the rest of the family enjoy their new front room...

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-Mayo.

-That's in a sandwich.

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Yeah, but it's also a place in Ireland. County Mayo.

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..Rochelle is in charge of making the first dinner of the decade.

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She'll be using the latest must have gadget for the middle-class home -

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an Easiwork pressure cooker.

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Well, I've basically got no idea how it works.

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It's got all these different baskets in it.

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Pressure cookers were marketed as "Health cookers",

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enabling the modern housewife to take advantage

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of new scientific knowledge about vitamins and nutrition.

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They look like they're in a laboratory

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working away on some sort of secret

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sort of meal.

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Rochelle is following a menu recommended by the nutrition experts

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at Easiwork.

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Remove the inside of the marrow

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and fill with the mince-meat mixture.

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Oh.

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She's cooking stuffed marrow served with mushrooms and new potatoes

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with plums and cream for dessert.

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You have to stuff the meat inside the marrow

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and then tie it back together with string.

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For the pressure cooker to work efficiently,

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all the food has to go in at the same time.

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Not like that...

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-Um...

-I'm not surprised we don't really stuff a lot of

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marrows in contemporary life.

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Clamp on the lid of the cooker.

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I can't remember how it went on!

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Ah. That's it.

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That's it.

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The high pressures created within the airtight container

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mean the food cooks in just 15 minutes.

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It's whistling.

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I am considerably worried.

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It's not like a frying pan.

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It's a pan with edge.

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It sounds like it's coming to its end, doesn't it?

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-Hello.

-Hey.

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-That smells nice.

-Good.

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Oh. How do you get the lid off it?

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-Shall I get Dad to help?

-Yeah.

-What's up?

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Mum doesn't know how to get the lid off cos she's too weak.

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-Right, it's really hot. Move back, Fred.

-All right.

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See, the first thing is, what happens if we just...

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-That won't turn, will it?

-No, no, no.

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All you have to do is lift the lid up.

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You don't need to fiddle with that. Honestly.

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-I think you just needed to...

-Oh, do stop talking.

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-Oh!

-Oh!

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-It lifted off.

-THEY LAUGH

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Ouch. I need another pair of tongs.

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We don't have another pair of tongs.

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This is ridiculous.

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Yeah.

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-FRED:

-So, what's that?

-That is plums.

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-Ooh, that's hot.

-Well, that marrow certainly looks pretty well done.

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-What do you mean - "Well done"?

-I don't think that's going to be

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-chewy marrow, is it?

-It's not meant to be chewy marrow.

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I suppose presentation could be, sort of, enhanced.

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The '30s saw a huge rise in the amount of

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fruit and vegetables eaten,

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as housewives became informed about how to provide

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a more balanced diet for their families.

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-This marrow is delicious.

-You've got marrow, you've got mushrooms,

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you've got potato.

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You've got your protein in the meat.

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I think it's good. I like it.

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Is this Bovril gravy?

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No, it isn't. It's the cooking water from the bottom

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of the pressure cooker. It's full of, sort of, vitamins and minerals,

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so it's recommended that you drink the cooking water.

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-All right, let's go. Down the hatch.

-FRED:

-We're already halfway dead.

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Ah! This is a triumph. Thank you very much.

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-FRED:

-It was actually pretty good.

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Let's see what we've got here. Does anyone want to listen to a foxtrot?

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Mm.

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'The start of this decade feels very safe,'

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'it feels very contained,'

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very familiar, almost.

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I actually hadn't realised just how fast

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all this technological innovation had come along.

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The storm clouds on the horizon still seem like quite a long way away.

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It's quite a comfortable time, I think.

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It's a new day, and that means a new year.

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Rochelle is making full use of her new electrical appliances

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to prepare breakfast.

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I've got a fast electric kettle and a toaster,

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so everything is sort of speeded up a little bit.

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The early '30s saw a growing popularity

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for fried bacon with eggs.

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Despite the trend originating in America,

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we named it the English Breakfast.

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I'm not absolutely good at time management.

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It just seems it's getting it all together at the same time

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is the crucial bit.

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This obviously needs watching.

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You have to turn it over each side.

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Ooh!

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Although expensive, electric toasters and kettles

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were marketed as must-have gadgets to make life much easier

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for middle-class housewives.

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This toaster is just

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the worst toaster I've ever used.

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You can't just leave it. It's pointless.

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You might as well have a grill.

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I've been waiting for breakfast so long, it feels like it's turning into lunch.

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What have we got here?

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-Wow.

-Just what I was hoping for.

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-FRED:

-Yeah!

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Bacon and eggs, this is the classic English breakfast.

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I think this is one of our best inventions, actually.

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I think I'd put this right up there with the discovery of penicillin.

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-It's not exactly a life-saver, though, is it?

-Yes, it is.

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THEY LAUGH

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Set up for the day, Brandon is off to work.

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I've given Fred his own job, which Debbie's agreed to help him with.

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"Dear Fred, today you are a chocolate tester.

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"I appreciate this is a difficult task, but do it for Britain, Giles."

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-NEWSREEL:

-You've probably wondered at some time or another

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how these delightful little wiggly things get on the top of the chocolate.

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And now you can see that it is all done by hand.

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Chocolate was big business in the 1930s.

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Kit Kat, Aero, Milky Bar, Mars bars,

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Rollos and Smarties all made their debut in this decade.

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I'm just really good at eating a lot...

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-DEBBIE LAUGHS

-..and not stopping.

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In one of the first-ever examples of using a focus group,

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Cadbury's decided to ask children just what made

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the perfect chocolate bar.

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That's the best. It's like salted caramel popcorn crunching.

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-It's popping!

-Mm.

-It's popping candy.

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Cadbury's chose pupils from nearby Repton School,

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sending them 12 prototype bars and a test sheet with a space for comments

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and marks out of ten.

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Texture-wise, it was like ten out of ten.

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I mean, there is such thing as too much chocolate,

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but it takes a long time.

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I got sent a from box Cadbury of all the chocolate bars.

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It's so difficult, this task.

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I mean, even Giles said it was the sort of task that

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-you'd need a lot of skill to do.

-ROS LAUGHS

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ALL: Ooh.

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I feel like they're getting better as they go along.

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MIRANDA AND ROS: Wow.

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-Mm.

-Cookies and cream.

-Mm, cookies and cream.

0:16:510:16:54

That's really nice.

0:16:540:16:55

I think they've got the milky centre, like, just right.

0:16:560:16:59

-Yeah.

-That's an easy eight.

0:16:590:17:01

Which one have the unusually nutty flavour?

0:17:010:17:03

The one that Fred scoffed.

0:17:030:17:05

-MIRANDA:

-Really good idea, cos he's the target market, you know?

-Yeah.

0:17:050:17:09

There's no point having a panel of, like, people in suits tasting it,

0:17:090:17:12

when they won't eat it.

0:17:120:17:14

Being a Repton chocolate taster left its mark on one pupil in particular.

0:17:170:17:21

His name was Roald Dahl.

0:17:210:17:23

The experience inspired him to write his most famous book -

0:17:240:17:27

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

0:17:270:17:30

So, shall we go on to our final, number 12, bar?

0:17:300:17:33

Yes, I think so.

0:17:330:17:34

I thought it would be good to save the biggest till last.

0:17:340:17:37

I'm kind of regretting it,

0:17:370:17:39

-because I'm kind of full.

-Mm.

0:17:390:17:41

INDISTINCT

0:17:410:17:43

I think if that job paid well...

0:17:480:17:50

I'd do it for nothing. I'd pay to do that job.

0:17:500:17:53

That's a dream job for a 12-year-old.

0:17:530:17:55

Oh, my God, I feel so alive.

0:17:550:17:56

I just had 12 chocolate bars and it's the best thing in my life.

0:17:560:17:59

It wasn't just Cadbury's expanding its range.

0:17:590:18:02

This decade saw the launch of thousands of new products,

0:18:020:18:04

giving housewives more choice than ever.

0:18:040:18:07

Manufacturers had to become increasingly sophisticated

0:18:090:18:11

to entice consumers.

0:18:110:18:13

Fry's Malted Milk Cocoa With Eggs.

0:18:140:18:16

That's a bit of enriched cocoa.

0:18:160:18:20

With vitamins.

0:18:200:18:21

It's, I suppose, the start of trying to appeal

0:18:210:18:24

to people's shopping fancies.

0:18:240:18:27

It's not just, "Can I have some cocoa, please?"

0:18:270:18:29

It's, "I would like this particular brand of cocoa, please."

0:18:290:18:32

So, I'm making what I believe to be a considered choice.

0:18:320:18:36

'New types of cereal, new types of sauce, new types of pickle,

0:18:380:18:42

'new types of drinks. More emphasis is being placed'

0:18:420:18:45

on choice and more and more products are coming on the market.

0:18:450:18:48

I hadn't particularly expected that.

0:18:480:18:50

Mmm.

0:18:500:18:51

LAUGHTER

0:18:510:18:53

We ready then?

0:19:010:19:03

It's 1932, and Brandon and Rochelle are off on a day out.

0:19:030:19:06

They'll be travelling in the family car...

0:19:120:19:15

a Ford Tudor Y.

0:19:150:19:17

Here we go.

0:19:170:19:19

Made in Ford's brand-new Dagenham plant,

0:19:190:19:22

it costs just over £100...

0:19:220:19:24

Oh, sorry.

0:19:240:19:25

..less than half the price of cars in the '20s.

0:19:250:19:29

Motoring was no longer reserved for the very wealthy.

0:19:290:19:31

-I'll have to change down again.

-That's it.

0:19:320:19:35

It's all about clutch control.

0:19:350:19:36

That is the secret of a smooth drive.

0:19:360:19:39

It's also quite hard to find, this gear stick.

0:19:400:19:42

You expect it to be right down at your side and you have to kind of

0:19:420:19:44

grope forwards to find it.

0:19:440:19:46

-Yeah, that's my leg.

-Oh, is that what it is?

0:19:460:19:48

THEY LAUGH

0:19:480:19:50

As the number of cars on the road increased,

0:19:550:19:57

breweries built large roadside pubs.

0:19:570:19:59

These roadhouses, now familiar sights on A roads,

0:20:010:20:04

were originally built to attract the middle-class driver on a day out.

0:20:040:20:07

Often designed by distinguished architects,

0:20:090:20:11

they featured different rooms for different types of clientele.

0:20:110:20:14

Smoking rooms for men, large halls for entertainment

0:20:160:20:19

and, for the first time, women's toilets.

0:20:190:20:23

Here we are, my dear.

0:20:230:20:24

Brandon and Rochelle have driven to The Daylight Inn,

0:20:240:20:26

a classic 1930s roadhouse built in the most popular style of the era -

0:20:260:20:30

mock Tudor.

0:20:300:20:32

They're here to meet Polly.

0:20:340:20:36

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hi, Polly.

-Come and sit down. I've got you a drink...

0:20:360:20:39

-Thanks very much.

-..gin and tonic.

-Hello.

-Got you a bitter.

0:20:390:20:42

-You've had a long journey.

-It's just what I need. I've had a long drive on these dusty roads.

0:20:420:20:45

I've got to have a pint of beer.

0:20:450:20:46

This is very typical of a roadhouse of the period.

0:20:460:20:50

It's this weird mixture of the modern, the, sort of, motorcar,

0:20:500:20:54

new roads, meeting a very sort of nostalgic

0:20:540:20:58

-idea about a particular sort of Britishness.

-Yeah.

0:20:580:21:01

It's also a place where you can bring your wife. And it is...

0:21:010:21:04

You know, public houses are not where respectable women

0:21:040:21:08

would naturally drink,

0:21:080:21:10

but the roadhouse is a space... With its carpet,

0:21:100:21:13

it's comfortable, it's sort of elegant, it's rather glamorous.

0:21:130:21:17

-I hope you don't mind, I've ordered for you...

-Oh.

0:21:170:21:20

-..some typical...

-It's a pie.

-Yes.

0:21:200:21:22

Typical pub grub.

0:21:220:21:25

The Daylight Inn was more modern than most.

0:21:250:21:27

It had a tiny kitchen on the first floor where they could prepare

0:21:270:21:30

simple hot meals.

0:21:300:21:32

Roadhouses weren't really about dining as a kind of

0:21:320:21:36

gastronomic experience. It's sort of basic, homely pub fare.

0:21:360:21:40

I suppose you didn't come here for the food, did you,

0:21:400:21:42

you came here for the entertainment, you came here for the drinking, you came for the dancing.

0:21:420:21:46

That's right. Roadhouses were really built as places of leisure.

0:21:460:21:49

And you've got to have a destination, haven't you?

0:21:490:21:51

If you go out driving, you go out motoring, you've got to end up somewhere,

0:21:510:21:54

and these just answered that need perfectly.

0:21:540:21:57

A trip to the roadhouse would often end in dancing,

0:21:580:22:01

and The Daylight Inn still has its original ballroom.

0:22:010:22:05

I've really enjoyed motoring out to the roadhouse.

0:22:050:22:09

I thought, to sort of see these pubs that we've passed so often

0:22:090:22:14

throughout my contemporary life, and to know that they were destinations

0:22:140:22:19

where you could just go there, eat a meal, drink,

0:22:190:22:24

dance and let your hair down.

0:22:240:22:26

So, to actually see these roadhouse pubs

0:22:260:22:29

as a new part of the scenery

0:22:290:22:32

in '30s England...

0:22:320:22:34

..is really eye opening.

0:22:360:22:38

What seems very strange from a modern perspective

0:22:380:22:41

is the idea that he would deliberately take the car

0:22:410:22:45

and drive a long way,

0:22:450:22:47

an hour's drive or more, to go to a pub,

0:22:470:22:50

where you would drink a lot and then drive back.

0:22:500:22:54

It seems, you know, absolutely insane.

0:22:540:22:57

It's 1933.

0:23:080:23:09

While Debbie takes on the week's worst household task, the laundry,

0:23:110:23:15

Rochelle is off to the shops.

0:23:150:23:16

In the 1930s,

0:23:190:23:20

Britain's high streets were full of specialist shops that often sold

0:23:200:23:23

one particular type of product.

0:23:230:23:25

Shopping took a lot longer, but it often meant there was more choice,

0:23:270:23:30

and you'd be in the hands of an expert.

0:23:300:23:32

-I've come to buy some cheese.

-Yeah.

-I think I'm in the right place.

0:23:320:23:35

Perfect place. What would you like?

0:23:350:23:38

To find the choice available to a 1930s housewife,

0:23:380:23:40

Rochelle has come to an artisan cheesemonger.

0:23:400:23:44

I just thought it would be quite nice to get one

0:23:440:23:45

-right from the top of Britain and one right from the...

-OK.

0:23:450:23:49

We have quite, like, a lot of choice.

0:23:490:23:51

We have obviously the traditional cheddar. Wensleydale, Lancashire.

0:23:510:23:55

-What about the Dunlop? That's right in...

-That's Scottish.

0:23:550:23:58

In the '30s, cheese was still made by thousands of

0:24:010:24:03

individual dairy farmers in small batches.

0:24:030:24:06

Each region had its own speciality and, within that region,

0:24:080:24:11

there could be hundreds of different variations.

0:24:110:24:13

Over 500 farms were baking cheddar alone.

0:24:140:24:18

Here is your cheese for today.

0:24:180:24:20

I do think, if you're having cheese,

0:24:250:24:26

you've kind of got to have wine with it, it's almost compulsory.

0:24:260:24:29

Oh, that's a hard cheese.

0:24:290:24:31

Look at that. Do you want to try a bit of it?

0:24:320:24:34

-No.

-Why not?

-Don't like cheese.

0:24:340:24:36

As middle-class meals became less formal,

0:24:360:24:39

the emphasis shifted away from dining etiquette

0:24:390:24:41

and towards the food itself.

0:24:410:24:43

At the forefront of this new approach was gourmand Andre Simon,

0:24:450:24:49

who set up The Wine And Food Society.

0:24:490:24:51

The idea was to open up the pleasures of discovering new food

0:24:540:24:57

and new flavours.

0:24:570:24:58

In 1933, the society held its inaugural tasting meal.

0:25:000:25:03

To mark this auspicious occasion,

0:25:040:25:06

the Robshaws are holding their own tasting meal.

0:25:060:25:09

Rochelle has prepared a wide selection of cheese and fruit.

0:25:090:25:12

Bringing the wine is expert in all things grape, and Brandon's TV hero,

0:25:160:25:21

Jilly Goolden.

0:25:210:25:22

-Hello.

-Hello! Hi!

-Jilly Goolden!

0:25:230:25:27

-Hello!

-Jilly Goolden.

-I am Jilly, and you're Brandon.

0:25:270:25:29

HE LAUGHS

0:25:290:25:30

-Hello, Rochelle. Hi.

-Come in, come in, come in, come in.

0:25:300:25:34

Look at all this. Goodness.

0:25:360:25:38

So, I'd like to introduce you to Jilly Goolden.

0:25:380:25:42

-Hello.

-ALL: Hi.

0:25:420:25:43

Honestly, when I used to watch you on television, I used to think,

0:25:430:25:46

"If only I can have a drink with Jilly Goolden."

0:25:460:25:48

I never dreamt that that would actually happen.

0:25:480:25:50

Well, my enthusiasm has not waned, I can tell you.

0:25:500:25:53

-I'm still really enthusiastic.

-Right.

0:25:530:25:54

-And I've got you some wines to try, here, too.

-Glad to hear it.

0:25:540:25:58

Today's tasting meal is made up of some of the same wines and foods

0:25:580:26:01

featured in the 1933 Wine And Food Society Journal.

0:26:010:26:05

Andre Simon, big man, big character.

0:26:050:26:08

His great passion was to try to get people

0:26:080:26:12

to really appreciate flavours.

0:26:120:26:14

A man after my own heart.

0:26:140:26:15

OK. So let's try this first wine,

0:26:150:26:18

which is an Alsace.

0:26:180:26:20

Now, when you come to taste it, I'm going to show you the technique.

0:26:200:26:23

It's not pretty. You take a sip.

0:26:230:26:25

-Munch it round, so it coats all your taste buds...

-Mm.

0:26:250:26:28

-..then you hold it on your tongue...

-Mm-hm.

0:26:280:26:30

..purse your lips as though you are about to whistle, and breathe in.

0:26:300:26:33

Oh, dear. I feel a bit sort of anxious.

0:26:350:26:37

THEY LAUGH

0:26:370:26:39

I need a glass of wine before I can do it!

0:26:390:26:41

Now, open your lips a little.

0:26:470:26:48

-Perfect!

-First person who looks good doing that tasting.

0:26:500:26:53

-Well done.

-You really do taste it.

0:26:530:26:55

-My whole mouth is tingling with it now.

-Yes!

0:26:550:26:57

I'm afraid to describe it, really, in front of you,

0:26:570:26:59

because I know you'll do it so much better...

0:26:590:27:01

-I want you to, Brandon.

-..but it seems to me...

0:27:010:27:03

refreshing, slightly dry, kind of summery taste.

0:27:030:27:06

It's a little sort of spiciness.

0:27:060:27:09

So, it's got that lychee, quite rich, sort of sweet,

0:27:090:27:12

it's a bit tinned-peachy sort of favour.

0:27:120:27:15

Now, the foods you have in front of you here,

0:27:150:27:18

delicious looking cheeses and fruits.

0:27:180:27:21

Rochelle's cheese platter includes one

0:27:210:27:23

from the very first Society dinner.

0:27:230:27:25

That's a very strong one. That's Munster.

0:27:250:27:28

This cheese tastes very much like, sort of, farmyard.

0:27:280:27:31

Cow's udder, a bit of cowpat.

0:27:310:27:34

SHE LAUGHS

0:27:340:27:35

How does something that tastes of old socks taste nice?

0:27:350:27:38

-FRED:

-Are those plums?

-These are plums.

0:27:380:27:40

The middle one tastes like a peach.

0:27:400:27:41

These melt in your mouth. And really sweet.

0:27:410:27:44

Now, what we're doing here is very much what

0:27:440:27:46

The Wine And Food Society was trying to achieve,

0:27:460:27:49

which was people not just enjoying the flavours,

0:27:490:27:52

but also having a sort of relaxed,

0:27:520:27:55

lovely conversation around it.

0:27:550:27:58

Well, we've got something very special.

0:27:580:28:00

This is an original

0:28:000:28:02

1933 bottle.

0:28:020:28:07

-I actually can't quite believe this, can you?

-That's extraordinary.

-It's actually 83 years old.

0:28:070:28:12

Look at that. Gorgeous.

0:28:120:28:14

Oh, my goodness. That's just amazing.

0:28:140:28:16

That is just beautiful.

0:28:160:28:19

Mm. Mm.

0:28:190:28:21

Nutty. This has held up remarkably, hasn't it?

0:28:220:28:26

I mean, you would never think that was 83 years old.

0:28:260:28:29

-MIRANDA:

-It's like the French farmer 83 years ago has given us a present.

0:28:290:28:32

-Cheers.

-ALL: Cheers.

0:28:320:28:35

Well, Jilly, thank you so much for coming, it was lovely.

0:28:350:28:37

-No, thank you. It was my pleasure.

-Thank you very much.

0:28:370:28:41

A bottle of wine, something that somebody might actually have drunk

0:28:410:28:44

in that year is still around and I can drink it.

0:28:440:28:48

It's... You know, I'm not having to imagine what wine in 1933 was like,

0:28:480:28:51

I know, I've got it. I can taste it.

0:28:510:28:54

So...

0:28:540:28:57

It really, really has brought this year to life.

0:28:570:28:59

CRACKLING

0:29:060:29:07

'This is the national programme from London.'

0:29:070:29:10

The Robshaws are four years into the decade...

0:29:110:29:14

..and are taking full advantage of the technological progress

0:29:160:29:19

happening around them.

0:29:190:29:20

But not all new household gadgets rely on electricity.

0:29:220:29:25

It's a juice-tractor.

0:29:250:29:27

Insert then press,

0:29:270:29:29

the juice-tractor does the rest.

0:29:290:29:32

Wow.

0:29:340:29:36

Today, the family's breakfast reflects one of the biggest crazes

0:29:360:29:39

of the decade - dieting.

0:29:390:29:41

That is absolutely amazing.

0:29:410:29:44

It's based on one of the most popular diets of all,

0:29:450:29:48

the Hollywood diet.

0:29:480:29:49

Fresh juice, extra lean steak,

0:29:490:29:52

tomatoes and grapefruit.

0:29:520:29:53

The '30s were the golden age of Hollywood glamour,

0:29:560:29:58

and many of the world's most famous actresses

0:29:580:30:00

swore by the Hollywood diet.

0:30:000:30:03

It required eating grapefruit at every meal,

0:30:040:30:06

due to its supposed fat-burning qualities.

0:30:060:30:10

Grapefruit.

0:30:100:30:12

-Take one.

-Do I have to?

0:30:120:30:14

-Yes, you have to.

-What's in the dish?

0:30:140:30:17

Whoa. Steak.

0:30:170:30:20

So in order to earn the steak,

0:30:200:30:21

I've got to eat this horrible grapefruit, have I?

0:30:210:30:23

Do you not like grapefruit?

0:30:230:30:25

I detest grapefruit.

0:30:250:30:26

-Do you?

-Cos they're so tart, so sour.

0:30:260:30:28

Oh.

0:30:300:30:32

It's not that bad. Dad!

0:30:320:30:34

It is.

0:30:340:30:35

It is. It just makes me cringe.

0:30:350:30:37

I'll eat one more segment then I'll have to call it a day.

0:30:370:30:40

-Really.

-This is a sweet grapefruit.

0:30:400:30:43

I don't even need sugar on it.

0:30:430:30:45

Nor do I.

0:30:450:30:47

I can't be doing with it.

0:30:480:30:50

I'd rather be fat, to be honest.

0:30:500:30:52

Dieting and keeping fit were all the rage, especially for young women.

0:30:560:31:00

By 1934,

0:31:020:31:03

the newly formed Women's League of Health and Beauty

0:31:030:31:06

had nearly 50,000 members.

0:31:060:31:08

-RECORD PLAYER:

-Clap, swing. Clap, swing.

0:31:100:31:13

Clap, swing.

0:31:130:31:14

If you couldn't get to a mass fitness event,

0:31:140:31:17

you could do the exercises at home.

0:31:170:31:18

Clap, swing, clap, clap.

0:31:180:31:22

Up, down. Up, down.

0:31:220:31:25

Oh, my God, it's so fast.

0:31:250:31:27

Up, down.

0:31:270:31:28

Food manufacturers were quick to cash in on the dieting craze.

0:31:310:31:34

The '30s saw the launch of many more products that claimed to help you

0:31:360:31:39

stay slim and healthy.

0:31:390:31:40

Ryvita crispbread. Crushed wholegrain rye.

0:31:410:31:44

All the rye, nothing but rye.

0:31:440:31:46

-I think it's got rye in it.

-It's got rye in it.

0:31:480:31:50

Somehow I kind of felt like this was like a '90s thing or something.

0:31:500:31:53

I don't know, I hadn't thought of this being around since the '30s.

0:31:530:31:57

While the middle classes were worrying about staying

0:31:590:32:01

trim and healthy, others had far less choice about what to eat.

0:32:010:32:05

Debbie is living a few miles away from the Robshaws at Ada Lewis House,

0:32:070:32:11

built to provide accommodation for respectable working-class women.

0:32:110:32:15

I've got tomato soup, tomato soup or tomato soup.

0:32:160:32:21

After four shillings a week rent,

0:32:210:32:23

Debbie has little money left over for food and she's been living on

0:32:230:32:26

a staple diet of tinned soup with bread and margarine.

0:32:260:32:30

I mean, it's not nutritious.

0:32:300:32:31

I think if you'd been doing days and days of work and then not

0:32:310:32:35

eating properly, you'd just get really, really tired.

0:32:350:32:38

How can someone ever eat healthily when all they can afford is sort of

0:32:380:32:42

bread and margarine?

0:32:420:32:44

Why would anyone think that that is fair?

0:32:440:32:46

By 1934, Britain's economy was beginning to recover

0:32:480:32:51

from the Depression, but the working classes

0:32:510:32:54

were yet to see the benefits.

0:32:540:32:56

Unemployment was still incredibly high at around 16%.

0:32:560:32:59

Many people simply didn't have enough to eat.

0:33:000:33:03

-NEWSREEL:

-200,000 unemployed escorting a petition

0:33:040:33:08

signed by a million persons. A demand for someone,

0:33:080:33:11

somewhere to do something about empty coal trucks

0:33:110:33:17

and the resultant empty stomachs.

0:33:170:33:20

Scores of hunger marches were organised as the unemployed walked

0:33:200:33:23

hundreds of miles to London to bring attention to their plight.

0:33:230:33:28

I mean, it is weird, the fact that there's people, like, what would have been my family

0:33:280:33:32

up in the north, that maybe would have struggled so much,

0:33:320:33:34

they couldn't even afford food.

0:33:340:33:36

It's not a very nice thought at all,

0:33:360:33:38

to think there should be that kind of divide.

0:33:380:33:40

After a day on the Hollywood diet,

0:33:460:33:47

the family are planning to bring a bit of Hollywood glamour

0:33:470:33:50

to the suburbs.

0:33:500:33:51

GASPS

0:33:540:33:56

Isn't it magic?

0:33:560:33:57

Ros and Miranda are preparing a brand-new cinema snack - popcorn.

0:33:570:34:02

Oh, look, look at them in their trousers.

0:34:020:34:05

Fantastic. Have they all got them?

0:34:050:34:07

-Yeah!

-Have you got them?

0:34:070:34:09

Oh, yes!

0:34:090:34:11

-Brilliant.

-This seems very glamorous.

0:34:110:34:13

New technology meant the cinema could come to you.

0:34:150:34:18

-Action.

-Oh.

0:34:180:34:20

Brandon has rented Robinson Crusoe from the local library.

0:34:220:34:25

Actually, the good thing about watching a silent film

0:34:250:34:28

is you can provide your own commentary, can't you?

0:34:280:34:30

I wish he wasn't wearing that stupid hat, I can't take him seriously.

0:34:300:34:32

Yes, I think his hat is a little unusual, isn't it?

0:34:320:34:36

Oh, look, he's asking the parrots to be quiet.

0:34:360:34:39

Grab a bit.

0:34:390:34:40

Don't throw popcorn at the screen!

0:34:410:34:44

Oh, that's nice.

0:34:440:34:46

Are you admiring his umbrella legs?

0:34:460:34:48

Yes. Look.

0:34:480:34:50

I think the home cinema was simply amazing.

0:34:500:34:53

It was a real treat to have this kind of fantastic old projector

0:34:530:34:57

in the living room, eating popcorn, drinking gin and tonic.

0:34:570:35:00

I did think that the home cinema experience was amazing.

0:35:000:35:08

Whilst I was watching the film, what I did think of was Debbie.

0:35:080:35:11

I thought of her going home and maybe not having much to eat

0:35:110:35:14

or anyone to talk to.

0:35:140:35:16

The Robshaws are halfway through a decade defined by rapid progress.

0:35:260:35:30

Look, this is massive, Debbie.

0:35:320:35:34

This is like... Look at that.

0:35:340:35:37

-That's a very nice piece of salmon.

-It's absolutely lovely. Look at it.

0:35:370:35:41

But today Rochelle is using recipes from the past.

0:35:410:35:44

Florence White, the founder of the Folk Cookery Association,

0:35:460:35:49

collected recipes that had been handed down over many generations.

0:35:490:35:52

It's basically poached salmon and loads of salads.

0:35:550:35:59

The 1930s saw a growing interest in the folk movement.

0:36:000:36:03

Groups like the English Folk Dance and Song Society organised festivals

0:36:050:36:09

to help save Britain's ancient cultural heritage

0:36:090:36:12

before it was lost forever.

0:36:120:36:14

I mean, I think the change that must be happening in the world

0:36:160:36:20

at this time, in the space of a very short space of time,

0:36:200:36:24

must have left people wondering, you know, where they were.

0:36:240:36:28

So always going back to a folkishness

0:36:280:36:32

would seem particularly appealing.

0:36:320:36:34

Rochelle is cooking...

0:36:360:36:38

Stick the almonds into the cake beginning at the back

0:36:470:36:50

and sloping them backwards.

0:36:500:36:53

This version dates from the 18th century and was sent to the

0:36:530:36:56

author by Gladys Langley of Acton.

0:36:560:36:59

I've seen a hedgehog, so I've got an idea of what a hedgehog

0:36:590:37:03

would look like, except it doesn't look like this.

0:37:030:37:07

It looks like a very, very fat mouse.

0:37:070:37:10

A mouse with a bad skin condition.

0:37:100:37:13

Come through.

0:37:150:37:17

-Oh, how lovely.

-Doesn't it look beautiful?

0:37:170:37:19

Rochelle has invited her boss Judith and Polly to share the best of

0:37:190:37:23

Britain's culinary heritage.

0:37:230:37:25

Shall we help ourselves to salads and I'll do the salmon?

0:37:250:37:29

A key feature of traditional folk meals is a centrepiece

0:37:290:37:32

of simply prepared fish or meat

0:37:320:37:34

complemented by stronger flavours served separately.

0:37:340:37:37

It's all sort of very fresh.

0:37:390:37:41

And really English summer cookery, isn't it?

0:37:410:37:44

The nasturtium salad has a dressing with nasturtium pods in it.

0:37:440:37:50

-Really?

-Yes.

0:37:500:37:52

It's nice. It's quite horseradishy, isn't it?

0:37:520:37:55

They are very nice.

0:37:550:37:57

Florence White's one of my all-time food heroines.

0:37:570:38:01

She was a sort of pioneer, really,

0:38:010:38:04

rediscovering English traditional recipes.

0:38:040:38:07

You didn't have to cook French food,

0:38:070:38:08

you didn't have to cook the food the aristocracy were eating,

0:38:080:38:12

you could eat cooked foods that normal people

0:38:120:38:15

had cooked for generations.

0:38:150:38:17

To me, this seems like very sort of, like sophisticated food.

0:38:170:38:22

It's like sort of Sunday supplement food.

0:38:220:38:24

Yeah, that's exactly what it's like.

0:38:240:38:26

I think that is what's so amazing about her is that she was, you know,

0:38:260:38:30

depicting and imagining, writing about food in this way,

0:38:300:38:33

which now we almost take for granted,

0:38:330:38:36

but that she was doing it so long ago.

0:38:360:38:38

Oh, my goodness. What's that?

0:38:390:38:41

This is a tipsy hedgehog.

0:38:410:38:44

It's redcurrant jelly by his mouth.

0:38:440:38:47

It looks like he's killed a slug or something.

0:38:470:38:50

-It does, doesn't it?

-A bit eerie, it's looking at me.

0:38:500:38:52

Can I just turn it round?

0:38:520:38:55

I thought the folk lunch was really enjoyable.

0:38:550:38:59

My whole idea of folk is sort of sandals and hemp,

0:38:590:39:04

but these dishes conjured up sort of summer and a kind of idyllic time.

0:39:040:39:12

It's 1936 and the future holds a new threat to the British idyll.

0:39:220:39:28

Across Europe, fascism is on the rise.

0:39:280:39:30

Oh, see that.

0:39:320:39:33

-Looks like something out of a nightmare, doesn't it?

-Yes.

0:39:340:39:36

Swastikas everywhere and massed crowds.

0:39:360:39:39

The triumphalism of it.

0:39:390:39:41

-Yes.

-But, for some, fascism had already arrived in Britain.

0:39:410:39:44

In the 1930s, London's East End had a sizeable Jewish population.

0:39:460:39:50

Most, including some of my own family, had arrived as immigrants

0:39:510:39:55

from Eastern Europe in the late 19th century.

0:39:550:39:57

It was a close-knit community with hundreds of restaurants,

0:40:010:40:04

food shops and bakeries.

0:40:040:40:05

I've come to one of the few still open for business.

0:40:070:40:11

Can you do me one with cream cheese and smoked salmon, please?

0:40:110:40:14

Would you know what I meant if I said lox and a schmear?

0:40:140:40:18

-Yeah, salmon and cream cheese.

-Yeah. Does anyone ever said that any more?

0:40:180:40:21

-No.

-I was going to say it, but I was worried.

0:40:210:40:23

That's what my grandparents always said - lox and a schmear.

0:40:230:40:25

Emboldened by events in Europe,

0:40:290:40:31

British fascists began to target Jews directly.

0:40:310:40:33

In October 1936, inspired by the Nazis, their leader, Oswald Mosley,

0:40:350:40:40

planned a provocative march right through the heart

0:40:400:40:42

of the Jewish community.

0:40:420:40:44

Rochelle's family were also East End Jews,

0:40:480:40:50

so I've brought the Robshaws back to their roots to Cable Street

0:40:500:40:54

and its iconic mural.

0:40:540:40:55

-What do you think of this?

-I love it.

0:40:580:41:00

I think it's really amazing. I think it's great.

0:41:000:41:02

It commemorates a massive and important thing -

0:41:020:41:04

the Battle of Cable Street,

0:41:040:41:06

which was when Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts,

0:41:060:41:08

who were, you know, a bunch of hooligan buffoons

0:41:080:41:11

led by a posh twerp,

0:41:110:41:12

but who took their inspiration from Hitler and the fascists of Europe,

0:41:120:41:15

tried to march through the heart of the Jewish East End,

0:41:150:41:18

where families like yours and mine were living,

0:41:180:41:20

and the working class of the London East End rose up to stop them.

0:41:200:41:24

-NEWSREEL:

-Sir Oswald Mosley, Blackshirt leader,

0:41:260:41:28

arrives at Royal Mint Street to inspect his followers.

0:41:280:41:31

In Stepney, thousands of East Enders prepared to resist the invasion.

0:41:310:41:35

Communists, Labourites and Jews jam the fascist route.

0:41:350:41:38

A fierce battle ensued with Cable Street at its centre

0:41:400:41:43

and the fascists were forced to turn round.

0:41:430:41:46

There's all the chairs being thrown and stuff like that.

0:41:480:41:50

There's Hitler in his underwear, who wasn't actually here,

0:41:500:41:52

but they are making a mockery of him.

0:41:520:41:54

They are throwing things down like bottles, possibly filled with wee.

0:41:540:41:59

I think it's really amazing that men and women, children,

0:41:590:42:02

everybody wanted to stop it and there was...

0:42:020:42:05

It wasn't just the Jews.

0:42:050:42:06

The Communists, the trade unions,

0:42:060:42:08

they were all against Mosley walking through the area.

0:42:080:42:12

It always makes me so happy that they tried fascism here

0:42:120:42:17

and we wouldn't have it.

0:42:170:42:18

To mark this pivotal point in British history,

0:42:200:42:23

and to give the Robshaws a taste of Jewish food in 1936,

0:42:230:42:26

I've arranged a celebratory meal.

0:42:260:42:28

Oh, I'm liking what I'm seeing.

0:42:300:42:32

-What a spread, eh?

-What a spread.

0:42:320:42:34

I'm serving up a traditional Jewish dinner featuring potato

0:42:340:42:37

latkes, gefilte fish, salt beef, pickles and a roast chicken.

0:42:370:42:42

I think with particular reference to Cable Street,

0:42:420:42:45

there is a way of distilling all Jewish festivals down to a single

0:42:450:42:48

sentence, which is, "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat."

0:42:480:42:52

Which is basically all of them. So shall we do the chicken soup first?

0:42:520:42:56

These are called matzo balls, also known as kneydl.

0:42:560:43:01

This tastes like non-sweet cookie dough.

0:43:010:43:04

Quite rubbery.

0:43:040:43:06

Very stodgy, isn't it?

0:43:070:43:08

I mean, there's a lot of stodgy food on the table.

0:43:080:43:11

Stodgiest of all is the gefilte fish.

0:43:110:43:13

I just remember as a kid never being a fan of gefilte fish.

0:43:130:43:16

My heart always sank when I saw it on the table.

0:43:160:43:19

-Especially with its little carrot hat.

-No, it's famously terrible.

0:43:190:43:21

I wrote a review once of a Jewish restaurant and I said the gefilte

0:43:210:43:24

fish was terrible, as it should be. And people got a bit upset.

0:43:240:43:27

It's going to be a taste sensation.

0:43:270:43:29

He loves it! Right.

0:43:340:43:35

-He's a Jew.

-There's something about the texture that's just slightly sort of glutinous.

0:43:380:43:41

Basically, Jews did not live in places with coastlines.

0:43:410:43:44

They lived in landlocked Central Europe, so there were no sea fish.

0:43:440:43:48

Delicious, yummy cod and stuff not available.

0:43:480:43:50

What they ate was lake fish, so they ate things like pike, carp.

0:43:500:43:53

It's just a bony fish - you boil it,

0:43:530:43:55

you drag all the flesh off the bones, you mash it up.

0:43:550:43:58

You form it into sort of shapes a bit like a foot and you eat it

0:43:580:44:02

with sugar. And that's it.

0:44:020:44:04

And then Fred doesn't really like it and can you really blame him?

0:44:040:44:08

These are whoppers.

0:44:080:44:10

Jewish food is fatty, nothing very fresh.

0:44:100:44:13

The closest thing is a pickled cucumber.

0:44:130:44:15

You know, boiled things,

0:44:150:44:16

things that you can quickly parcel up into a bag when

0:44:160:44:19

the Nazis come, and run.

0:44:190:44:21

I think there's a thing with Jewish cooking which is to do with

0:44:210:44:24

making the most of the moment that you have, because,

0:44:240:44:27

who knows what tomorrow may bring.

0:44:270:44:29

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

0:44:290:44:30

Right, and that sums it up.

0:44:300:44:33

Something that was strange while I was eating this food is that

0:44:330:44:35

I completely forgot that I was supposed to be in 1936,

0:44:350:44:39

because this is just food that we would have at, like,

0:44:390:44:42

a family gathering with, like, the Jewish side of my family

0:44:420:44:46

and it is so strange how the food just hasn't changed

0:44:460:44:49

in that 80 years.

0:44:490:44:51

When you're living in a world filled with, like, persecution and fear,

0:44:510:44:54

it must be really nice to have that sort of, like, comfortable place

0:44:540:44:57

and point of stability in your life.

0:44:570:45:00

The truth is that with the Jewish religion, Jewish culture,

0:45:000:45:02

Jewish life, in the end, everything comes down to food.

0:45:020:45:05

And after a day talking about immigration and Cable Street

0:45:050:45:07

and the terrible things that happened in the 1930s,

0:45:070:45:10

it's lovely to end with basically exactly the same meal that

0:45:100:45:13

they'd have had when Mosley and his Blackshirts had left,

0:45:130:45:16

and they settle down, "Oh, that's over.

0:45:160:45:18

"Let's have some salt beef."

0:45:180:45:20

There's a strange kind of contrast between the cosiness,

0:45:240:45:28

the pleasantness of family life

0:45:280:45:30

and these big and scary political changes.

0:45:300:45:33

There's almost something cocoon-like about this 1930s house.

0:45:330:45:36

It feels like a place of safety when actually terrifying things

0:45:360:45:40

are happening.

0:45:400:45:41

Double spin it. One, two...

0:45:470:45:50

It's 1937 and, despite the growing threat to peace in Europe,

0:45:500:45:54

everyday life continues to improve, especially for the young.

0:45:540:45:58

Ros and Miranda are dancing to the latest American craze - swing.

0:46:000:46:04

America's cultural influence was huge.

0:46:070:46:09

And our larders were increasingly full of the latest US innovations.

0:46:110:46:14

Chef Ainsley Harriott is coming round to introduce the Robshaws

0:46:160:46:19

to an American invention that would transform a British staple.

0:46:190:46:23

-Hello.

-Welcome.

0:46:240:46:26

-Ainsley Harriott!

-How are you doing?

0:46:260:46:28

-Very well, thank you.

-It's Rochelle, it is it?

0:46:280:46:30

-It is.

-Marvellous to meet you.

-And lovely to meet you, too.

0:46:300:46:33

-Come in.

-Hey. Hello, how are you all?

0:46:330:46:36

Are you good?

0:46:360:46:37

In 1937,

0:46:390:46:40

the Wonderloaf bakery in Tottenham imported a brand-new machine

0:46:400:46:43

from Missouri - an automated bread slicer and packager.

0:46:430:46:47

This was the first time that sliced bread was introduced into Britain.

0:46:480:46:53

That is the best thing I've ever seen.

0:46:530:46:56

-Look at that.

-I am excited to see sliced bread like this,

0:46:560:47:00

because it's an equal, uniform shape, it's nice and square,

0:47:000:47:04

it means I'm not going to be hacking at the bread,

0:47:040:47:07

and it looks sort of like nice and perfect.

0:47:070:47:10

Perfectly sliced bread led to a whole new approach to the humble sandwich.

0:47:100:47:14

Cold devil sandwich for you.

0:47:140:47:16

Simple cheese and pickle won't cut it.

0:47:160:47:19

Ainsley has brought some 1930s sandwich recipes

0:47:190:47:22

from the Delia Smith of the age, Mrs CF Leyel.

0:47:220:47:25

A summer sandwich, which is a mixture of mixed chopped olives,

0:47:250:47:29

cream cheese, spread between buttered bread.

0:47:290:47:32

Chop a few of those up. See what we're doing there?

0:47:320:47:35

Leyel's recipes encouraged housewives to make

0:47:350:47:38

sandwiches the American way,

0:47:380:47:40

combining rich ingredients to form elaborate savoury pastes.

0:47:400:47:43

Then, we've got the tartare sauce.

0:47:450:47:47

A dollop of that. Very slowly now,

0:47:470:47:49

we don't want that going all over our tablecloth.

0:47:490:47:52

I've got the creamed haddock sandwich, so I've just flaked

0:47:520:47:55

the fish up, now I've got to add three tablespoons of cream,

0:47:550:47:59

which sounds like quite a lot to me.

0:47:590:48:00

What have you got going in yours?

0:48:000:48:02

Haricot beans, horseradish, mustard, parsley, celery.

0:48:020:48:06

Now that sounds like a lovely combination.

0:48:060:48:10

You have a go. That's better.

0:48:100:48:12

I'm your food processor.

0:48:130:48:14

OK. You didn't have one of them in the 1930s, did you, eh?

0:48:200:48:23

Come and stay in the larder.

0:48:230:48:25

Sliced bread helped another American trend take hold in the 1930s.

0:48:250:48:29

Some of Britain's first fast-food restaurants

0:48:290:48:32

were up-market sandwich bars.

0:48:320:48:34

The thing is, you could not have produced sandwiches like this

0:48:340:48:37

without the sliced bread, could you? Not really.

0:48:370:48:39

Absolutely. It's a bit more uniform, isn't it?

0:48:390:48:42

And there is something which is what we are used to today, but in fact,

0:48:420:48:46

can you imagine something like that in the 1930s?

0:48:460:48:48

That is pretty impressive.

0:48:480:48:50

Robshaw family, you've done the sliced bread proud.

0:48:500:48:53

Hey, thumbs up in the middle.

0:48:530:48:55

Woo.

0:48:550:48:57

With the picnic in the bag,

0:49:010:49:02

the Robshaws are off for a family day out.

0:49:020:49:05

They've come to Tooting Lido -

0:49:110:49:13

one of many urban open-air swimming pools built in the 1930s

0:49:130:49:17

as leisure opened up to the masses.

0:49:170:49:19

Mixed bathing is now allowed and the whole family can enjoy

0:49:220:49:25

their time together.

0:49:250:49:26

I think it's the informality that we haven't seen before.

0:49:360:49:39

All of us sort of larking about and that's what's been missing

0:49:390:49:44

from the other decades.

0:49:440:49:46

Now you'd see other families around doing the same sort of thing,

0:49:460:49:50

so it does feel sort of a very different, a different time.

0:49:500:49:54

Who wants a plate?

0:49:590:50:01

Keeping the Robshaws' sandwiches nice and fresh suddenly became a lot

0:50:010:50:04

simpler with another 1937 invention - cellophane.

0:50:040:50:08

What's it called, Ros, what's it called?

0:50:090:50:11

It was like haricot beans and stuff.

0:50:110:50:13

It's kind of like a baked bean sandwich, isn't it?

0:50:130:50:15

Your one tastes like the inside of cheese straws.

0:50:150:50:18

The inside of a cheese straw?

0:50:180:50:20

You know what I mean?

0:50:210:50:22

I think the best sandwich out of the ones we made is the summer sandwich

0:50:240:50:27

with olives and cream cheese.

0:50:270:50:29

To be honest, that is the only one I would eat in normal life.

0:50:290:50:31

-Yeah.

-The other ones were a bit claggy, weren't they?

0:50:310:50:33

They were claggy - is the very word.

0:50:330:50:36

To go with the sandwiches are pineapple chunks, boiled eggs,

0:50:360:50:39

ginger beer and tea.

0:50:390:50:42

It's idyllic, really, isn't it?

0:50:420:50:43

This is like a Famous Five-style picnic. We just need a dog.

0:50:430:50:46

-Here.

-Thank you.

0:50:570:50:59

Eight years in and there's more choice than ever at the Robshaw's table.

0:50:590:51:03

Let me see if I can hear them snap, crackle and pop.

0:51:030:51:06

Oh, yes, they're absolutely fizzing away there.

0:51:060:51:09

Britain's favourite breakfast is fast becoming branded cereal.

0:51:090:51:13

This one says Weetabix - more than a breakfast food.

0:51:130:51:16

A middle-class family can now afford to cater for everyone's individual taste.

0:51:160:51:21

What did you get in that one?

0:51:210:51:23

I think it's a ship-making thing.

0:51:230:51:25

Such choice has so far only benefited those who can afford it,

0:51:280:51:32

but welfare reform is finally making life better for many more.

0:51:320:51:35

Debbie is now entitled to holiday pay,

0:51:370:51:39

so she's come to Bexhill-on-Sea with a friend.

0:51:390:51:41

MUSIC: Swimmin With The Wimmin by George Formby

0:51:430:51:46

The 1930s was the heyday of the British resort,

0:51:510:51:54

with millions flocking to the seaside.

0:51:540:51:57

Thanks to the 1938 Holidays with Pay Act,

0:51:570:51:59

a week by the sea was now accessible to 19 million low-paid workers.

0:51:590:52:03

For Debbie, it means she finally gets to enjoy fish and chips,

0:52:050:52:08

instead of having to make them.

0:52:080:52:10

It's kind of important for workers to have a break.

0:52:100:52:13

I mean, after I've worked like what I have been doing,

0:52:130:52:15

and then to have a law made that I have to have a paid holiday,

0:52:150:52:18

must have been, I don't know, excellent.

0:52:180:52:21

For many, the summer of '38 was a time of fun and optimism.

0:52:220:52:26

But Hitler's actions in Germany were becoming harder to ignore.

0:52:320:52:37

The optimism and progress of 20 years of peace felt less secure.

0:52:370:52:42

Our policy has always been to try to ensure peace.

0:52:420:52:47

After the losses of World War I,

0:52:470:52:49

popular opinion was to avoid war at all costs.

0:52:490:52:52

This morning I had

0:52:520:52:55

another talk with the German Chancellor Herr Hitler.

0:52:550:52:59

We regard the agreement signed last night as symbolic of the desire

0:52:590:53:04

of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.

0:53:040:53:08

CHEERING

0:53:080:53:09

If I heard that, I would just hope, fingers crossed,

0:53:110:53:15

that I would believe the politician that there would be no war.

0:53:150:53:20

I would feel kind of like a sense of relief that it would be OK.

0:53:200:53:24

I certainly wouldn't feel frightened.

0:53:240:53:27

There's something about that speech and the cheers afterwards.

0:53:270:53:30

-There's something reassuring about it, isn't there?

-Yeah.

0:53:300:53:33

It's very sad.

0:53:330:53:35

Find a space for that somewhere?

0:53:410:53:43

It's 1939.

0:53:430:53:44

-How are you?

-Hello, nice to see you.

0:53:450:53:48

And the Robshaws have invited me,

0:53:480:53:50

Polly and some friends to mark the end of the decade.

0:53:500:53:53

I thought a touch of George Formby would be just exactly what the occasion demands.

0:53:530:53:57

# With me little stick of Blackpool rock

0:53:570:54:01

# Along the promenade I stroll

0:54:010:54:05

# It may be sticky but I never complain

0:54:050:54:07

# It's nice to have a nibble at it now and again

0:54:070:54:11

# Every day, wherever I stray, the kids all round me flock

0:54:110:54:16

# A fella took me photograph, it cost one and three

0:54:160:54:19

# I said when it were done, is that supposed to be me?

0:54:190:54:22

# He properly mucked it up, the only thing I can see

0:54:220:54:25

# Is me little stick of Blackpool rock

0:54:250:54:27

# Oh, lordy, lordy, me little stick of Blackpool rock. #

0:54:270:54:30

Thanks very much, hope you enjoyed it.

0:54:340:54:37

So how was the 1930s for you?

0:54:380:54:40

Well, I thought it really was a decade of discovery.

0:54:400:54:44

I was a bit surprised at actually how well we ate.

0:54:440:54:46

So it was a decade of, for us, in the middle classes, of abundance.

0:54:460:54:52

Our family kind of set-up and life has become much more informal.

0:54:520:54:56

It does feel like a decade of progression and I think it feels

0:54:560:55:00

like a good time to be young.

0:55:000:55:01

Has this been your favourite decade so far?

0:55:010:55:04

-Yes.

-It's been mine, yeah.

0:55:040:55:06

I suppose as far as you were concerned, you were just heading out into a wonderful future?

0:55:090:55:13

I think it's kind of given new meaning to that phrase,

0:55:130:55:16

"A false sense of security."

0:55:160:55:18

On September the 1st, despite all previous agreements and treaties,

0:55:200:55:24

Germany invaded Poland.

0:55:240:55:26

The party was over.

0:55:260:55:27

RADIO: You will now hear a statement by the Prime Minister.

0:55:270:55:31

I am speaking to you...

0:55:310:55:33

..from the Cabinet room at 10 Downing Street.

0:55:340:55:38

I have to tell you now...

0:55:380:55:39

..this country is at war with Germany.

0:55:400:55:43

Now may God bless you all,

0:55:450:55:47

for it is evil things that we shall be fighting against.

0:55:470:55:50

Brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression,

0:55:510:55:57

and persecution.

0:55:570:55:58

And against them, I am certain

0:56:000:56:03

that the right will prevail.

0:56:030:56:05

There just isn't any real way of grasping, is there...

0:56:060:56:10

You're about to go into a world war. It sounds like it's

0:56:100:56:13

the end of the world. It's impossible to imagine.

0:56:130:56:15

It is a kind of very sort of striking speech and announcement.

0:56:150:56:18

He makes it sound as though it's a war of ideology, this time,

0:56:180:56:21

and like we're on the side of the right.

0:56:210:56:23

I think, listening to that, as a family and as a nation,

0:56:230:56:26

we would have thought, "Right, OK, we've given him every chance,

0:56:260:56:31

"now it's war. Now, you know, he's asked for it."

0:56:310:56:34

What about for you, Rochelle, as the mother of the family?

0:56:340:56:37

I was trying to work out how old Fred would have been,

0:56:370:56:39

so my thought would be for him going to fight.

0:56:390:56:42

I think British people would have gone, "Oh, God, not again."

0:56:420:56:45

Don't you? And then just braced themselves for the task.

0:56:450:56:48

I think I agree with you.

0:56:480:56:49

I probably would have stood up and just thought, "Right, well,

0:56:490:56:52

"that's what we have to do."

0:56:520:56:54

I think the 1930s was a great decade for the Robshaws.

0:56:570:57:00

They enjoyed themselves unexpectedly.

0:57:000:57:02

They were relaxed, things moved on, they had so many freedoms.

0:57:020:57:04

The food was better and healthier.

0:57:040:57:06

Things were going so well and then the declaration of war

0:57:060:57:10

and you almost saw the colour drain from their faces.

0:57:100:57:12

And now the 1940s are coming and all the wonderful things

0:57:120:57:15

we've given them are about to be taken away.

0:57:150:57:17

Finally, in the '30s, you do feel like things are more genuine

0:57:180:57:22

and they really are moving forward.

0:57:220:57:24

And that's all turned topsy-turvy by the war.

0:57:240:57:27

This golden period is very fleeting.

0:57:270:57:29

It actually makes me feel quite sick, sort of living through

0:57:310:57:35

the '30s, because it's a really odd rubbing together

0:57:350:57:39

of comfortableness and horror.

0:57:390:57:41

You can't help but look back on this period with a sense of tragic irony,

0:57:430:57:47

cos we know what came next.

0:57:470:57:49

And it almost feels as if when the war does begin in 1939,

0:57:490:57:53

it just puts a stop on everything.

0:57:530:57:56

Everything goes on hold.

0:57:560:57:57

Social progress,

0:57:580:58:00

the idea of a world of sort of greater freedom and opportunities,

0:58:000:58:03

that's suddenly just shut down.

0:58:030:58:05

Next time, it's the 1940s...

0:58:100:58:12

..and the Robshaws live through another world war.

0:58:140:58:18

AIR RAID SIREN This one much closer to home.

0:58:180:58:20

And they have to make do with an entire decade of rationing.

0:58:200:58:24

How strange.

0:58:240:58:26

BRITISH DANCE BAND MUSIC: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

0:58:260:58:30

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