Housewives' Choice

Not so long ago housewives had a number of very good reasons to be desperate. Not only did they have to look after their families in an age of depression, war and austerity, but they did so without the consumer durables that we now consider essential. Housewives' Choice is a collection of films from the BFI National Archive that explores the lives of - and offers advice to - British housewives across the decades.

The collection includes dramas, documentaries, cinemagazines, propaganda films and adverts. It also features films by two of the women who helped to shape the British documentary movement of the 1930s and 40s - Ruby Grierson (1904-40) and Kay Mander (1915-).

Robin Baker
Head Curator, BFI National Archive

Ten to Try

Hints and Hobbies (no. 12) (1926)
Who needs an iron when you have a jam jar to hand?

Rabbit Pies (1934)
Bunnies beware - how to gut, dice and cook your rabbit.

How to Tell (1935)
A mother explains the birds and the bees with the aid of some pussy willow.

They Also Serve (1940)
Touching morale-booster celebrating the stalwarts of the Home Front.

Mr. English at Home (1940)
Mrs. English is the real star of the Colonial Film Unit's day-in-the-life portrait of a 'typical' family.

Partners in Crime (1942)
A stern reprimand to housewives meddling in the black market.

Homes for the People (1945)
Housewives of Britain offer a weary insight into the dire state of their homes.

By the Fireside (1945)
An idyllic fireside scene slips seamlessly into an advert for Maypole Tea.

It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)
Googie Withers plays an embittered housewife whose past catches up with her in this gripping noir thriller.

A Day of One's Own (1956)
At last, Mum gets a well-earned break from cooking, cleaning and kids.

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