I like the styles of Audrey Hepburn as well as Marilyn Monroe, especially their 50s hairstyles( actually I guess it is their homecoming hairstyles , such as the Barrel roll blow dried hair and Half up ponytail with bouffant). My class will have a historical show about 1950s, and I need to collect the 50s hairstyles and clothes, also learn the habits people have in that time.
I can only speak about the habits of the people in the Yorkshire town that I grew up in.
Most old men smoked a pipe and the rest of them smoked cigarettes, which were sold in packs of 5 or 10; such as cheap "Woodbine" in a blue pack, "Parkdrive" in a red pack, or the more expensive "Players Please" or "Capstan", etc.
My two brothers were teenagers in the 1950s and never wore headgear even in the rain or snow, but older men usually wore a cap or a brimmed trilby hat, which were always taken off in the house and in church, whereas women kept their hats on in church and when visiting people the older ladies took off their coats but often kept their hats on.
My father's folk were from the west side of town and my mother's from the east side but their habits were the same. Meals were eaten at the table, sit up straight, put your shoulders back, dont slouch, don't talk with your mouth full and if you want something, ask for it - don't lean across the table to help yourself and always say "please" and "thankyou". Mid morning or mid afternoon refreshment meant children had to sit and eat/drink, they weren't allowed to walk about during those rituals.
There was a time and place for everything and that included the clothes you wore. In the 1950s women at home kept their clothes clean during housework and/or cooking by wearing aprons or pinnies, which would be taken off when their work was done. Women did wear trousers, called slacks, which were only worn for leisure.
Monday was always "washday" the only full day spent on washing a full week's dirty clothing, which in the early 1950s usually meant boiling a tub of water and using a dolly stick and posser to agitate the laundry, which then had to have the soapy water squeezed out by using a mangle and then rinsed before using the mangle again. Sheets on the bed meant each bottom sheet would be put in the wash and the top sheet would spend the next week covering the mattress. Dinner that day would probably consist of cold left over meat accompanied by hot vegetables and a milk pudding. Tuesday was spent labouring over an ironing board using either an old fashioned coal or electric "flat iron" or a more modern electric iron that heated itself.
We ate seasonal food and always had brain food twice a week, 'brain food' being fish.
As a child the most used phrase I heard was; "Go out and play". This phrase was also used when as a family we'd visit other members of the family and no sooner had we greeted the adults we'd hear "Now go out and play".