The 1940s Home

The history of the British home in the 1940s is dominated by the Second World War. In the first five years of the decade homes were adapted to better survive the affects of bombing. The 1930s home became the wartime home with the addition of anti-blast tape to the windows, sandbags round the door, and a Morrison shelter in the kitchen. In the garden, lawn and shrubs gave way to vegetable plots and chicken coops. For those whose houses were damaged or destroyed, or those moved out of their homes by post-war rehousing schemes, the picture was very different. For many the pre-fab became home, and new designs of furniture made under the utility scheme furnished rooms cheaply and stylishly. And new estates, different from anything tried before the war, rose from the bomb sites, offering state-of-the-art sanitisation and modern facilities to thousands.

“"This slender, almost pamphlet-sized book is chock-full of British modernism of the 1940s, with plenty of photographs and an erudite text... authors Paul Evans and Peter Doyle, an antiques dealer and a military historian who usually work together on Shire's books about World War II, have given this volume an informative, well-researched text that flows along with the photographs." -- Sandy McLendon, Modernism Magazine "Lavishly illustrated with photographs, ephemera and wonderful period advertisements, all three of these books take one through a good overview of British architectural design, house construction, furnishings and decor, and gardens." -- Kitchen Retro, kitchenretro.blogspot.com (October 2009) on 1930s Home, 1940s Home and 1950s Home”

"This slender, almost pamphlet-sized book is chock-full of British modernism of the 1940s, with plenty of photographs and an erudite text... authors Paul Evans and Peter Doyle, an antiques dealer and a military historian who usually work together on Shire's books about World War II, have given this volume an informative, well-researched text that flows along with the photographs." --Sandy McLendon, Modernism Magazine

"Lavishly illustrated with photographs, ephemera and wonderful period advertisements, all three of these books take one through a good overview of British architectural design, house construction, furnishings and decor, and gardens." --Kitchen Retro, kitchenretro.blogspot.com (October 2009) on 1930s Home, 1940s Home and 1950s Home

Paul Evans is a specialist dealer in twentieth-century art and design, having a particular interest in posters, graphics and the propaganda arts. He is co-author (with Peter Doyle) of The Home Front, 1939-45 and Tommy's War in Europe British Military Memorabilia, 1939-45. He lives in London.

The history of the British home in the 1940s is dominated by the Second World War. In the first five years of the decade homes were adapted to better survive the affects of bombing. The 1930s home became the wartime home with the addition of anti-blast tape to the windows, sandbags round the door, and a Morrison shelter in the kitchen. In the garden, lawn and shrubs gave way to vegetable plots and chicken coops. For those whose houses were damaged or destroyed, or those moved out of their homes by post-war rehousing schemes, the picture was very different. For many the pre-fab became home, and new designs of furniture made under the utility scheme furnished rooms cheaply and stylishly. And new estates, different from anything tried before the war, rose from the bomb sites, offering state-of-the-art sanitisation and modern facilities to thousands.

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