Homes in the 1970s contain a range of

basic equipment far more uniform

than at any other time since the middle

ages. New homes provide a background

of built-in features differing only mar-

ginally according to taste and expense;

the latter half of the twentieth century

has produced standardisation in domes-

tic requirements and expectations as in

other aspects of life. Since the Second

World War domestic technology has

progressed so quickly and the standard

of living has risen so markedly that it

is easy to forget that in the early

twentieth century the domestic life of

the poorer classes in many cases com-

pared more readily with that of their

eighteenth-century counterparts than

with the contemporary middle classes.

The transition to the universal use of

gas and electric power in the home

speeded up in the postwar period so

that the younger generation has diffi-

culty in identifying some of the equip-

ment their grandparents, and even