A boom in middle-class home ownership before World War II (1939-45) was accompanied by an increase in the number of people with washing machines, vacuum cleaners and other labour-saving household goods. The war put an end to this expansion and it was not until the 1950s that consumers had anything to spend their money on. Purchases of televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines increased from 1954. Many families bought their first television for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.
In 1946 an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London – ‘Britain Can Make It’ – presented the best in modern industrial design and domestic objects such as furniture, textiles and glass. Unfortunately little of it was on general sale and the show became known as ‘Britain Can’t Have It’. Things did improve however. In 1956 the Design Centre opened in London and gave awards to good design. Excellent Scandinavian modern furniture was available, but expensive. It was not until the 1960s that modern design became affordable. In 1964 Terence Conran opened the first Habitat shop selling modern, well-designed furniture, lighting, ceramics and cutlery.
By the 1990s, design had been combined with the products of new technology, audio-visual equipment, computers (with Apple leading the way), and mobile telephones. More conventional consumer goods, like televisions and washing machines, also began to be designed to be environmentally friendly.
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