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EXHIBITION
the 1950s
No more war and scarcity
Take a trip to the decade where Denmark said goodbye to war and scarcity, and when working families became consumers.
After World War II, there were still shortages and rationing of many goods, which affected the lives of working families. But during this decade, the private economy flourished, and consumer culture grew strongly influenced by the US.
This exhibition invites you into the home of a working-class family, where you can sense the emerging prosperity. On a trip through the shopping street, you can experience the shortage of goods from the war and post-war period gradually being replaced by a greater supply.
the home of the Hansen family
In the 1950s apartment, the five members of the Hansen family lived together in a two-bedroom apartment: Mr. Hansen, who was a bricklayer, Mrs. Hansen, who was a hairdresser and worked at home in the living room, the oldest boy, who was an apprentice car mechanic, the girl, who was a shop assistant, and the youngest baby of the family.
The three children living at home shared the one bedroom, while the parents slept on the sofa bed in the living room. Although the family lived in close quarters, the apartment also shows the burgeoning prosperity with newly purchased teak furniture in the living room and lamps in modern colours. The crisis of the 1930s and the war and struggles of the 1940s were finally over.
the shops of the time
The shopping street tells its own story. A.C. Hansen’s clothing store displays the latest trends, such as nylon shirts and jeans.
Meyer’s Ismejeri is a dairy that used to exist in every Danish town. They sold fresh milk, butter from barrels, cheese, eggs and blocks of ice for the icebox – the precursor of the refrigerator.
And Radio Denka sells televisions, reel-to-reel tape recorders and gramophones – items that working families could only afford at the end of the decade. Until then, many had to make do with renting a radio on a monthly basis or a vacuum cleaner for a day.
coffee and biscuit cake
The trip through the 1950s starts and ends at the nostalgic Coffee Shop. Here, you can get fresh coffee with or without Rich’s coffee replacement, soft drinks, and chocolate biscuit cake. The coffee shop is open during museum opening hours. Welcome!
