A bundle of 1950s hire purchase statements for a spin drier, a washing machine and a fridge might not seem the most promising starting point for an interesting bit of family and social history. But bear with me ...
I found the carefully preserved statements amongst the belongings of my great aunts - "Nancy" Thompson and Lillian Barton. The first thing that struck me was how expensive everything was!
The spin drier bought in 1959 was £32 - £600 today. And they paid £68 and £71 for the washing machine bought in 1961 and the fridge bought in 1963 - that's over £1,000, ($1,500), each today.
My aunts were comfortably off but certainly not rich. Nancy, was a nursing supervisor and Lillian, who was separated from her husband, didn't work. These precious - to any housewife! - items represented a major outlay of money. The statements from Roomes of Upminster, suggest the hire purchase was very quickly paid off, so there must have been some serious saving to afford them.
