"People find me quite hard to live with," says Joanna Francis. "I think I was born a few decades too late."
Tin bath, coal fire: woman ‘lives’ in 1939
"People find me quite hard to live with," says Joanna Francis. "I think I was born a few decades too late."
<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">Q & A</h2>
Visitors to her home in North Lincolnshire might think Britain was still at war. Over the last decade, she has adopted a lifestyle from 1939 which one historian says is "incredibly authentic".
She has ripped out her kitchen, bathroom and central heating, installed a tin bath, range oven and real coal fire, and turned the utility room into a pantryA room or cupboard where food was kept cool.. Blackout curtains and bomb blast tape cover her windows and an Anderson shelterSmall, cheap bomb shelters in people's gardens used in England during World War Two. stands in her back garden.
Now she is gaining nationwide fame. Over the last week, her story has featured in local and national newspapers and television programmes.
Joanna Francis wears traditional clothes, chops wood and heats water on her stove. Her only form of transport is a 1937 Raleigh pedal bike. She does not own a television, computer or washing machine, and only uses an outside toilet.n
But when she tried to live off rationsWhen shortages mean limits are placed on the amount of food and other necessities people are entitled to. for a year, she said it was "a step too far - even for me". And she needs a mobile phone for work - though her ringtone is the sound of an air raid siren.
She is now in her forties, but her interest was piqued as a child, when she started collecting wartime memorabiliaObjects collected due to their association with a person, time or event. . "I used to go to museums and see their 1930s and 1940s rooms," she says. "It felt natural. I wanted it all to be alive."
The attraction, she says, comes from the "traditional roles, etiquetteThe set of rules that inform behaviour among a social group., morals, standards and simplicity" of the era and a "more hands on, more laid back, more rewarding" lifestyle. She has met friends through wartime weekend events, but says: "For them it's a hobby. There's really only me who lives like this 247."
In November, the National Archives released a government register which revealed how people lived in England and Wales in 1939. Lifespans were shorter, people were more likely to be married. And over 70% of working age women performed domestic work - mostly unpaid, as housewives.
Life, some say, is better now. Modern life has opened up a wealth of opportunities. Advancing healthcare now allows us to live longer; we can travel further and communicate across borders with ease. Society is much more sympathetic to everyone's aspirations and in much of the world the lives of women, in particular, have been transformed.
But, Joanna Francis responds, "people helped each other" in 1939. Scarcity and lower expectations encouraged them to appreciate what they had, rather than being wasteful. The family unit and class structures brought clear divisions of responsibility and provided security and stability. And people felt more attached to the communities they lived in.
How would 1939 have been for me? In Britain many young people were evacuated from major cities to live with strangers in the countryside. In the government's register, children under 10 made up 14% of the overall population of England and Wales, but in London the figure had dropped to just 2%. The London population of 10 to 20-year-olds was also significantly reduced.
Would there be any benefits if I lived like Joanna Francis? Joanna says she has "a healthier way of living". When other people are playing on their computers or watching television, she is likely to be washing clothes, working in the garden or dancing to gramophone records and - in her words - "looking daft". But you would be a lot colder during winter and you would need to learn new skills we no longer have to practise.
Pantry - A room or cupboard where food was kept cool.
Anderson shelter - Small, cheap bomb shelters in people's gardens used in England during World War Two.
Rations - When shortages mean limits are placed on the amount of food and other necessities people are entitled to.
Memorabilia - Objects collected due to their association with a person, time or event.
Etiquette - The set of rules that inform behaviour among a social group.
Tin bath, coal fire: woman ‘lives’ in 1939

Glossary
Pantry - A room or cupboard where food was kept cool.
Anderson shelter - Small, cheap bomb shelters in people’s gardens used in England during World War Two.
Rations - When shortages mean limits are placed on the amount of food and other necessities people are entitled to.
Memorabilia - Objects collected due to their association with a person, time or event.
Etiquette - The set of rules that inform behaviour among a social group.