Family Woollies and a bit of history

 I love these knitting supplements - this one was produced by Texet for Mother and Home in about 1937. Not only do you get a range of patterns also get a teeny glimpse of what was 'socially' acceptable for that era - history and knitting in one happy bundle. This one has the perfect nuclear family for the 1930s: Mum and Dad and 3 children and reflected the British government's attempts to raise the population.

Although it may not seem like an obvious campaign, images of the ideal family across a range of media presented what was desirable and in 1930s Britain, a larger family was desirable. Having a large population in the early part of the 20th century was seen as a positive thing as people were needed to work in manufacturing and agriculture but also meant that you had a population to buy the goods you made.

During the First World War the UK population had slumped and although there was a significant spike immediately afterwards, the birth rate soon dropped again. By the late 1920s the number of births had dropped to current levels, about 700,000 a year, and infant morality meant that 1 in 10 children didn't survive to their first birthdays so subtle campaigns throughout the 1930s were designed to encourage larger families (but not too large). These feed into all aspects of normal life including knitting patterns.

So there you have it: a little bit of history and a little bit of knitting - click on the cover and download the booklet with 9 family designs