Life in 1950s London

Mike Hutton

• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Year: 2014
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781445621333
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

After the trauma of the Blitz and wartime restrictions, London embraced the arrival of a new decade. Austerity was slow to loosen its grip, but the Festival of Britain pointed a tentative way forward. Two years later saw the birth of a new Elizabethan era that was greeted with an almost naïve enthusiasm. This was a time when class still dominated and divided. Despite the introduction of the welfare state, grinding poverty still existed. The rich were also suffering under a barrage of punitive taxation. The artistic community set out to challenge the bounds of perceived decency. As always, London spearheaded change. To a background of grisly murders and organised crime, often shrouded in fog, London lurched into the unknown. It was loud, brash and chaotic, yet also sophisticated. A city of opportunity and dangerous temptation, it set the agenda for others to follow. Huge success and degrading humiliation were of passing interest only as the world's greatest city hurled itself restlessly forward seeking its next distraction.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Introduction: A City of Contrasts
• 1: Real Austerity
• 2: Festival Time
• 3: The Year of the Great Smog
• 4: A New Elizabethan Era
• 5: The Social Pecking Order
• 6: Building for the Future
• 7: School Days
• 8: A Woman’s Work is Never Done
• 9: Radio Fun
• 10: The Effects of Television
• 11: Sporting London
• 12: Food for Thought
• 13: Changing Attitudes
• 14: The Creative World
• 15: The Young Ones
• 16: Music, Music, Music
• 17: End of an Era
• Picture Section
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography