1940-1970

  • 1940-1970

    Eric Morecambe visits the show in 1973

  • 1940-1970

    The Grand Hall in 1968

  • 1940-1970

    Princess Elizabeth visits the show in 1949

  • 1940-1970

    Grand Hall in 1953

1940s to 1950s

The Second World War meant that the Exhibition was suspended from 1940-1946 but from 1947 onwards it continued to grow, culminating in a huge attendance in 1957 of almost 1.5 million people. The Show continued to ‘Educate and Entertain’ throughout the decades and in 1953, the Coronation year, it even featured a two thirds scale copy of the state coach.

  • The first microwave oven was launched at the Show in 1947
  • In 1957 the British housewife still spent an average of 70 hours a week on housework

1960s to 1970s

The 1960s was an era of forward-looking fashion and the first man on the moon, yet the most popular house style of the period was Mock Georgian. The disco decade of the 1970s ushered in a new look for interiors featuring chrome and smoked glass and the Show reflected every trend in all the latest house designs and interiors.

  • The phrase the ‘Swinging Sixties’ was coined in 1965.
  • The last Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition to be held at Olympia was in 1978

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