The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
Beginner's Nightmare
A burnt birthday bake-off for an aspiring domestic goddess of the 1960s.
From the collection of:
Overview
Step into a 60s kitchen with Mrs Newly-wed. She aspires to be a perfect little homemaker but doesn't have the gourmet touch. Her first attempt to bake a cake for her husband ends up on the floor, the second as garden landfill. This wife is no domestic goddess, but she does own a desirable 50s Kenwood Chef mixer in her new-build all-electric home. As an advert for the mid-century design icon declared: "The Chef does everything but cook – that is what wives are for!"
There may have been a revolution in the kitchen with luxury labour saving appliances, but emancipation seems far in the future for the suburban housewife (baking in pearls) in this early 60s cine club comedy produced by a husband and wife team from the Newcastle & District ACA. By 1961, some 4 million British women (50 percent) were now working. However, one in three husbands interviewed in 1965 disliked the idea of wives going out to work. Girls were still groomed to be wives and mothers – and consumers. In 1964, the social historian Harry Hopkins declared that the new technological kitchen of the 1950s was "the heart of the feminine dream", full of 'gadgetry, whirring and wires'.
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