How have changes in technology affected you in the home?

The biggest change was when we got our first electric cooker with a thermostat. For the first time you were able to control the exact temperature of the oven. This was never possible with the old gas stoves.

When was electricity first introduced to your home?

When I was about nine. It meant that when I did my homework I could turn the light on and off myself. This was never possible before as I was not allowed to light the old gas mantles. These in themselves where a pain as they had to be re lit regularly, from this point of view electricity saved my family a lot of time and effort. It was this change that had the biggest effect on me as I was quite young.

What other appliances helped you around the home?

The washing machine. I got my own when I had my first child, before that they were only found commercially. This saved me a lot of time, and is something my mother never had. When I moved into my first own home I went back 50 years. We were renting a farmhouse in Somerset with no electricity, the house was heated by a log burning boiler which needed regular refueling. The boiler was used for everything including boiling water. We didn't have an electric kettle until 1959.

During the war you worked with munitions, what did this entail?

I manned an electric lathe. The machinery didn't bother me really as I like machines. Before the war I made Axminster carpets so I was use to industrial machinery. I remember the noise from the shaft driven looms was sometimes unbearable. I lived away from home during the war, my family had no telephone, as my mother said she couldn't here through them, so I had to write.

Television is common place today, when did you first get a television set?

We were among the first people in the street to get one following my father's stroke. For once we were ahead of the times. It wasn't long however before everyone else followed. Although I did occasionally wonder how such things worked I generally accepted that they did. I thought it was great that ordinary people could have these things.

What pieces of equipment began to appear in your home, and when?

My husband and I went to the Ideal Homes Exhibition in London when I wanted to get a washing machine. That way I could see all that was on offer. We ordered our machine from the exhibition and it was delivered soon after. We got our first refrigerator in about 1949, my husband installed it in the larder under the cold slab. Before this I had to go shopping every day.

. How did you entertain yourself as a child without a television set?

I read lot. Children today have the computers and the television, but I had none of this so of course I had to read. I don't really understand computers unlike my grandson whose been using them since he was five. they are however everywhere, but I don't really even use things like banks in the wall or credit cards, I leave that to my husband.

What affect has the introduction of computers had on your life?

I don't really understand computers unlike my grandson who has been using them since he was five. They are however everywhere, but I don't really even use things like banks in the wall or credit cards, I leave that to my husband.

To summarise, what are the best and worst aspects of technology?

I had a cataract removed last year, the advances in the medical field are amazing and seem to benefit everyone. It does seem however that some money is wasted on technology. They can put a man on the moon, yet there is still no cure for cancer and things like that. It is scary, the speed at which things are changing. I think things should be controlled better so that technology doesn't continue to advance at the rate it is going. I remember seeing man land on the moon, it makes you wonder what they are going to do next. It amazes me what they can do.

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