Gender, Consumption and Social Status in Post-War Suburban Scotland, 1945-1980

The post-war period was associated with increasing privatism and the rise of the home-centred society. In Scotland people engaged with consumerism to create better homes for their families. This book uses oral histories to focus on the pioneering owner-occupiers in a nation of renters. Amidst stories of washing machines, coffee mornings and DIY, Yvonne McFadden tells the story of young couples building a life together in the suburbs. Men’s stories are positioned alongside women’s to explore their relationship to home. The book shows that experiences of work and leisure were gendered but couples considered themselves as partners in this endeavour. In the suburbs, there was a large community of women at home with young children sharing connections while at the same time enjoying the benefits of a private home in the suburbs. This is a history of home and family that examines gender relations and social mobility through the process of making the house into a modern family home.