I Lived Like a 1950s Housewife for a Day

There is a schedule floating around on the Internet that is supposedly that of the average 1950s housewife. (I’m not sure where it came from…I expect that it’s probably more the ideal schedule a housewife would aim to follow than what actually tended to happen, but that is neither here nor there.)

I’d been wanting to try out this schedule for some time, and one day at the end of August, between when my summer class had ended and before the start of the fall semester, I finally did it. So today I’ll first go through the schedule and tell you how I fared on it, then briefly reflect on my thoughts about the day at the end of the post.

I wanted to make sure that I dressed the part, of course. I try to dress pretty retro most of the time, so I didn’t end up dressing very differently from usual on my ’50s housewife day. During the day I decided to wear this blouse and skirt

with a few accessories (ring, earrings, cross pendant) that I wear every day and which I think look reasonably vintage.

I don’t like spending a long time on hair and makeup, so my plan for that was just to put my hair back into a quickly-achieved roll which looks rather like this (minus the victory rolls, which I am not good at making and don’t work well in my hair)

and finish the look with red lipstick. Takes about two minutes but achieves a very vintage look, which is really the best of both worlds.

My outfit sorted out, all I had to do the night beforehand was print out my schedule for the day along with a couple vintage recipes I wanted to use, finish up a couple things on the computer (as I was going to minimize computer use as much as possible during my ’50s day) and try to get a good night’s rest.

1. Throw back the covers

I woke up at 6:00. The ’50s housewife would have to be up and getting breakfast before her husband had to go to work, so I thought 6:00 was probably a pretty authentic time. I threw back the covers as instructed. The next item on the list was to

2. Open up the blinds and windows

which I did not do, for the twofold reason that 1) the windows were already open and 2) there were many people still sleeping upstairs, so I did not want to flood the area with light. (I might as well admit now (as you will soon find out for yourself in any case) that there’s more than one item on the schedule that I followed in an extremely loose fashion…I apologize.)

3. Freshen up

I’m honestly not sure how you’re supposed to freshen up when you’re not supposed to shower for another half hour or so. I just put a cute headband around my (pretty messy) hair and said that was good enough.

4. Make and serve breakfast

I couldn’t quite do this either, since almost nobody in the house eats breakfast, and those who do weren’t yet awake and make their own breakfasts in any case. I got coffee water ready instead, as that was the nearest equivalent I could think of.

5. Clean up breakfast

See above. There were a couple dishes by the sink, so I washed those and considered that good enough.

Oh yes, and I also squeezed in ten minutes of prayer time in the early morning. I’m sure many a ’50s housewife did the same (and even if she didn’t, that wasn’t going to stop me).

6. Complete a 10-minute exercise regime

I had looked up vintage women’s workouts the day before and saw that the exercise bike was a popular option, so I did that for ten minutes.

7. Shower, do hair and make-up, get dressed

After I finished this it was 7:38. Considering the fact that I hadn’t even made or cleaned up breakfast, I feel like everything took a lot longer than it should have…I guess I’m just slower than the average ’50s housewife.

8. Gather a basket for tidying. As the rooms of the home are tackled, pick up items that aren’t where they belong and place them in a basket. Redistribute them where they should be as you enter a new room

Voila!

(And yes, I know the 1950s housewife would have probably used an actual basket, not a laundry basket. But she would also have been resourceful with what she had on hand, and that is the spirit that I was working with.)

9. Straighten up the living and dining room, including picking up potential clutter, light dusting, fluffing/straightening pillows, and watering plants or flowers

These last two items also took longer than they should have. It was 9:20 by the time I finished this task.

10. Make the beds

Wow, does it feel gross to make your bed when the morning is already half-over. I certainly have no intention of keeping that part of the routine in my daily life. (And I only made my own bed. I love my family, but I was not going to stop them from making their own beds just so that I could have the pleasure of doing it.)

11. Tidy the bedroom, including light dusting

Done!

12.  Hang up any clothes that may be about or ensure dirty ones are in the hamper

This was the one rare tidying thing that really didn’t need doing, so that was nice.

13. Do a light tidy of the bathroom including removing and replacing used towels, refilling toilet paper and soap (if needed) and cleaning the sink and basin area including soap dishes

Done!

14. Review the menu for the current day and the next and compare it to what’s currently available in the home. Make note of anything that needs to be prepared ahead of time or marketing (shopping) that needs to get done.

This also didn’t really need to be done, as my mother is very on top of weekly shopping/menu planning.

(Speaking of whom, at some point in my puttering I took a turn or two stirring the incipient bone broth that my mom was cooking.)

15. Begin long-advance preparations for dinner (such as making dessert)

The only long-advance preparation that needed to be done was the dessert itself. I was making something adapted from this recipe, which calls itself a “molded strawberry salad” but which I personally would not consider a salad at all, being a layered mixture of sweetened gelatin, fruit, and sour cream.

16. Wipe down kitchen work surfaces and inside the fridge

Done!

17. Dispose of garbage

Did not bother to do. See above about loving my family, but not having any great desire to take their chores away from them.

18. Rinse dish cloths and hang to dry

Also didn’t do, since that is not Our System.

19. Sweep or mop the kitchen floor

I did the virtuous thing and mopped the floor, even though sweeping would have been easier.

After this it was 11:14. I was pleased that it was this early, as I had feared that all the pre-lunch activities would take me far past a reasonable lunch time.

20. Handle errands that might take you out of the home (such as marketing, volunteering, going to the post office, getting an item fixed, etc), bookkeeping, correspondence, or indulge in a hobby

There weren’t any errands, so I did take the time to indulge in hobbies. I journaled a bit, if memory serves I read a bit, and I worked on my blanket project I’ve talked about on here at some point before.

21. If returning from the grocery store, wash vegetables, wrap them and put them away. Place rest of groceries or purchases in their proper place

Not applicable. (Though while we’re on the topic, were I the ’50s housewife, after I’d washed them I would let the vegetables air-dry for awhile before putting them away.)

22. Have a quick lunch

I usually have a leisurely lunch – checking my email, reading a book, &c. – but as it does specifically say ‘quick,’ I dispensed with that. I did eat on the patio, though. It was a beautiful day, and if the ’50s housewife wouldn’t have eaten outside, that was her loss.

This seemed like a reasonably 1950s-ish lunch – a ham sandwich (made with gluten-free bread I had baked the day before), salad, a couple of leftover hot dogs, and a cup of coffee. (I did in fact put ketchup on my hot dogs, by the way, but the ketchup was at the bottom of the bottle and was coming out in a most unphotogenic fashion, so I decided to wait until after I’d taken the picture to apply it.)

23. Start advance food conditioning like crisping vegetables or thawing frozen foods

There wasn’t really anything which counted in this category, so I moved on to

24. Handle weekly chore for the day

There were four different things to choose from for my weekly chore, which were these:

Use metal polish on bathroom fixtures
Clean and disinfect all kitchen appliances
Scald and disinfect bread boxes and garbage pails and bins
Replace flowers with fresh bouquets

Not all of these were feasible/applicable, so I went with the garbage pails. I wasn’t sure how to go about scalding them, but I did clean them all out with vinegar and soap and such. And it was not a pleasant task, I can tell you. (I took no photos of this, because who would want to see that?)

25. Set the table for dinner

Done. If memory serves, I believe I actually started the dinner at this point, since it required a goodish amount of time just simmering…but I’ll get to that in its proper place.

26. Arrange the living room for evening enjoyment (such as “the Mister’s” newspaper, book, and cigarettes).

As it turns out, I am single. I have no Mister. However, I put out a few DVDs of classic movies for the family to watch in the evening and considered that close enough.

27. Do a quick sweep of the floors and ensure entrance ways are clear

Done!

28. Prepare a special dish for dinner

I had researched a few ’50s recipes beforehand, and I’d decided to make an onion soup as the main course.

The onions had to soften in butter for about twenty minutes, so I did other puttery things as they simmered away.

I also made a sour cream cucumber salad as a side dish.

29. Freshen up before the husband returns from work. Consider changing into something more festive if the day dress is plain

See above regarding my lack of husband-age. I did change into my one actual vintage ’50s dress at about this point, though.

30. Set out a tray with equipment for making cocktails, should the Mister want to serve drinks before dinner

See above.

31. Greet husband gayly

See above once again. I was fairly chipper when my dad came home from work, though.

32. Serve dinner

Voila!

(Yes, that’s bacon. Other family members had made bacon, and I certainly wasn’t going to refuse my share.)

Oh yes, and the gelatin “salad” was considered a smashing success, but it came out looking very messy and unphotogenic, hence the lack of pictures of the finished thing.

33. Clear table and wash dishes

Done!

34. Pour boiling water down the sink to ensure pipes are flushed

Done. I quite enjoyed this, actually – there’s something strangely satisfying about it.

35. If necessary, pack the husband’s lunch for the next day. Set aside a lunch tray in the refrigerator for yourself if having leftovers

I do often have leftovers or odds and ends for lunch, but I didn’t bother packaging it up beforehand.

36. Set table for breakfast

See what I mentioned at the beginning about most people in my household not eating breakfast.

37. Ensure breakfast foods are available and do any make-ahead preparations for it

See above. I got the coffee prepared for the next day, though.

38. Enjoy an evening of relaxation

Done! It was about 6:11 once I’d finished, which was a lot earlier than I had feared it would be. I read for awhile, and then we all watched the first half or so of Casablanca before bed.

I wanted to watch something at least somewhat time-appropriate, and Casablanca is a great movie in any case, so it seemed a fitting choice.

~

So, what were my thoughts on this day? Truth be told, the main thing I noticed was how un-foreign it felt. While I did spend more time doing housework than I usually would in one day, and spent less time using a computer or pursuing intellectual pursuits than I normally would, it didn’t feel too very different from how I might spend a busy Saturday around the house.

I liked having a decluttering time scheduled in every day. If that were really part of the daily routine it would eventually turn into just a really quick removal of surface clutter, and that would be nice. I also liked the focus on looking presentable, even when you’re puttering around the house all day. Generally speaking, I think it’s important to put effort into your appearance even if no one will see you (another thing I could write a post about (after letting it molder in my drafts for months, of course, as is my wont)).

Actually, I also really liked being on my feet and away from computer screens for so much of the day. A lot of my usual activities involve the computer, and while I certainly enjoy those activities, I know I spend too much time sitting at my desk looking at a screen.

In fact, I think the only major thing I really disliked was making my bed so late in the day. (And I like to shower as soon as I get up, so I guess that too.)

Now, is there anything from this 1950s day that I think it would be beneficial to absorb into my daily life?

While I certainly can’t spend this much time doing things around the house on a daily basis, I like the idea of having set times for those things that do need to be done every day, and I like the idea of having dedicated time for decluttering each day.

I also like having dinner be a special and important sort of focal point of the day, a time not just for eating, but a time for all the family to sit down together and be present together.

Indeed, just in general, I like the importance that’s given to making the house look beautiful. I think it’s important to remember that one’s house shouldn’t just be a recharging spot in between activities, but a real home, a resting place, and a beautiful and lovely place to be. And I think the ’50s housewife would agree with me on that point.

What’s your favorite part of the schedule of the 1950s housewife? Have you ever tried an experiment like this?