A revival of 1950s style domesticity has swept Britain due to the economic downturn. Consumers are applying a do-it-yourself attitude to all areas of daily life by making clothes, growing vegetables and dying their own hair.
Sales of knitting and dressmaking equipment are powering ahead – knitting needles are up by 7 per cent and sewing machines by 34 per cent according to the department store chain John Lewis.
Meanwhile garden centres are reporting strong demand for fruit bushes – up 68 per cent last year – and hardware stores have brought out budget gardening tool ranges. Although the motivation for the return to the thrifty, homely appears to be money, the new habits may stay once the economic good times return, at least according to one expert.
I will believe if if and when the bulk of the population acquires handyman skills. Compared with the US, where the average suburban garage bristles with tools, we here in the UK abandoned such stuff and instead we call in outside help. Simple jobs that could be done by the homeowner are undertaken by a carpenter, or plumber, or electrician. With the regard to the latter, health and safety legislation actually requires us to contract in professional help for jobs that many a US homeowner would take in his or even her stride. Pathetic, I know. And I am one of those who can just about change a lightbulb and would be challenged to hang shelves.
Oh, but we’re not immune, Terry Tee. I recall the day about ten years ago when our older daughter left her headlights on in the school parking lot. I drove down there after school with the emergency kit containing jumper cables. Now I, being female, was not sure which lead to connect to which battery terminal, but my very attractive daughter was standing there with five teenage boys, and I was sure they would know what to do. Not one of them did! At last we were saved by a guy from a poorer family who drove an old junker on which he did his own maintenance. He got the car jumped in no time. My hero!
Terry,
I noticed that when I lived in Britain for a while. At the seminary I attended, I quickly became the go-to handyman. I was quite amused by this because, believe me, its not like I’m a regular Mr. Fixit. I just know how to use a circular saw without cutting my hand off and how to fix a washer on a plumbing fixture.
There was a few times I had to get them to just call the repairman, not because I did not know how to fix it, but because no one anywhere had any of the tools I needed to fix the otherwise 5-minute repair. I was truly amazed.
Katherine,
The real question is whether your daughter went out with him that weekend! 🙂
When my wife and I were first dating I was in the process of rebuilding an old car. She’d never seen such a thing as her dad couldn’t fix anything. Must be my old-school manliness she tags so well (or she still knows how to affirm her hubby after all these years) as she expresses wonderment when I decide it’s time to completely remodel a bathroom.
OTOH, to my shame neither of my two kids can open peanut butter …