IMHO the best home-front social experiment. I LOVED the 1940s House so much. They picked a great family that weren’t afraid to express themselves and the young boys were a tribute to their mother.
A Facebook friend posted the link this morning and I of course had to share this opportunity with you to watch this TV series in full…
C xxxxx
I really think there must be some kind of strange vibes going through the air. My youngest son 11, has had the hardest time with the whole eat frugally and predominately real food situation. So to curb him of the “whoa is me” syndrome I made broke out my old DVD of 1940’s House just the night before last. When he spurted out “I could do that!” my teenage daughter and I laughed out loud. He couldn’t even make it through last week without raiding the pantry! He upped the ante with “you want to bet?” Naturally our answer was a resounding “YES!”, so now we are officially joining you on War Rations for two weeks. I’ll keep you posted:) Sam x
Sorry for sentences that have poor grammar. I was so excited and shocked to see your post that I had to reply right away. It is early morning and I am not yet caffeinated. 🙂 🙂
OMG!!! That is awesome and your kids are awesome!!!!!! I can’t wait to hear how you fair! I’ve loved this- to begin with preparing meals from scratch was very time consuming but now I don’t give it a second thought…. xxxxx
I LOVE that program! I loved all of the “House” shows, but this was one of the best, I think. The part where the air raid sirens are going off and the mother and daughter are scurrying around to get out the door and the mother yells to the daughter (about one of the males of the family), “Is he still on the toilet?!” I die every time, LOL! I like shows like this because in addition to being entertaining, you actually learn something. Have you seen 1900’s House? It was good too!
Yes I did see the 1900’s house but several years ago so I’d love to see that again too! I can’t wait to watch the 1940s House though- going to start watching it tonight. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it all the way through 😉
I have a complete copy on my computer and I just watched it earlier in the week, so I think Samara must be right.
I absolutely LOVE 1940s House !! Each time I get it from the library I watch it at least once a day and keep it all at least 3 weeks. I have it on my Amazon wish list and am determined to treat myself and buy it!! This movie is one of my favorites. My thanks to all involved who made it and the Hymers family for their part as well.!!
I love this show – actually just bought it recently on DVD. I have to tell you, your ration diet really helps – I lost 3 pounds the first week. Of course, things went to pot this week, but I’m back on it come Sunday. 🙂
Great show and great blog!
One thing I noticed is that Lyn (Granny) got visibly thinner over the course of the program.
Another thing to note is how their personalities underwent a real transformation during the period. Granny began to take a more passive, caring, nurturing role, while Kirsten found strength, a more dominant role in the family, and a new talent for baking that she didn’t knew she had. The oldest boy very quickly took on a manly responsibility.
One funny thing: at one point, Lyn bemoaned the fact that she had to do the rations without a calculator. I laughed out loud.
It’s worthy of note to realize that when the air raid sirens came, they felt real panic, even though they consciously knew it was all “fake”.
It was heartwarming to see these people find their strengths during times of strife.
This was the single best reality show I’ve ever seen. Thanks for sharing.
I thought EXACTLY the same thing too!!! The eldest son found it amusing how his Budweiser swigging cool nan had turned into this old granny type person! But as you say it was her nurturing side and her appreciation and realization of things that kind of created some sort of epiphany in her…
I loved the fact that Kirsty had become stronger as a single mum- her confidence had obviously taken a knock in her past but there she was, so strong and definitely a survivor… related to her in many ways.
It was good to see that they actually took this seriously, I’m glad they used an extended family and that the ladies wore their hearts on their sleeves, it needed that so we understood the frustrations that people must have had.
I loved this show very much indeed and although I’ve just finished watching it I’m all set to watch it in a couple of weeks time again
xxxxxxx
I also loved it when they talked about the kids and how aware the children were that although they had so much less in the 1940s, they always had things to do and were happier. It was good to see that they continued to enjoy play time with their grandfather afterwards too…. it was lovely to see
And last, but still very important:
It stuck with me that Lyn (Granny) now shops at (supposedly) more-expensive greengrocers and local butchers, instead of the supermarket—but yet, noticed a most dramatic drop in her food bill (50%).
This fact serves as solid proof for everything you’ve taught us on this blog.
One other thing: did you notice that they almost seemed reluctant to leave their 1940s house? Out of the agony came a lot of ectasy.
BTW, after your yearly experiment is over in October, do you plan to stay on rations to some extent?
YES I think she realized that she was busying so much before and being very wasteful but then buying as she needed on a daily basis, although paying more, she bought much less and nothing went to waste…. I really loved that part.
I think they genuinely were sad to leave the house behind… you could see that. It kind of brought tears to my eyes watching them 🙁
When I finish in 2 weeks time I have decided to stay on 100% rations until I get to 299 lbs as I know I won’t have reached goal…its never been about dieting and counting calories- its been following a wartime diet, as near as I can for a full year to see how it effected my health and to support a theory I had that without dieting I’d lose weight…
Once I get to 299 lbs I’m still going to stick to “rations” and the same principles of eating lots of fresh veg, little processed foods and drinks and no wasting food BUT will then allow myself the luxury of any fruit or vegetable I want and will be looking forward to trying out some non 1940s recipes for a change!!
Saying that I’ll still be carrying on with cooking ration book meals and also carrying on with reducing my weight so the blog will always be being updated xxxx