Hilda Craven was born in Navenby in 1892, and, after a bequest in the 1920s, she was
able to purchase the cottage which had been her childhood home.
It hadn’t changed much since it was built a hundred years earlier: the bedroom was accessed
by ladder; water was drawn from nearby hand pumps and Hilda washed in the kitchen.
The only change she made to the house was to have electric lights installed, though
all the light switches were downstairs.
The lavatory was an outside earth closet, and a chamber pot was used at night.
By the 30s Hilda had lived through three decades of social and fashion change.
The fashionable silhouette was now a natural bust line with smooth hips and belly.
Although the bra had been introduced in the 20s, it was still not very effective, with
many adopting a knitted vest instead.
Elasticised girdles were washable and worn next to the skin.
They fastened with hooks and eyes on the left side and were closed with the newly fashionable
zip.
The most fashionable lingerie colours were pink and peach, and the new man-made fibres
such as rayon made silky undergarments affordable.
Knickers made of flowing artificial silk helped to improve the line of the dress.
Petticoats, which were fitted to the bust and flowed in an A-line over the hips, provided
some bust support and added to the smooth outline.
Petticoats were fastened with poppers or press-studs at the side.
All these new lightweight undergarments were easily hand-washed in warm water and drip-dried
on a washing line.
The stockings were made with a centre back seam and had a stretchy reinforced knitted
band at the top on to which the garter suspenders, made from rubber and steel, were fastened.
Every day clothes were durable and easy to wear and were mid-calf in length.
Cotton remained a favourite fabric for day dresses.
Zips were still heavy in design and were not often used in dresses, so poppers were still
used to close the dress at the side.
The first plastics were now used to make buttons and buckles.
Ready-made clothes could be purchased in the shops, but many still made their clothes at
home or had them sewn by a local dressmaker.
Dress patterns were generally available.
The stockings had reinforced heels and toes which extended their life and could be darned.
Hilda even made rag-rugs from her stockings when they were beyond repair.
Shoes came in many designs, and Hilda seems to have favoured this style with its single
bar fastening across the foot and a raised heel.
Regardless of footwear it was essential to walk down the steep steps backwards.
Hilda was petite and had to stand on the fireside fender to do her hair in front of the mirror.
The short hairstyles of the twenties had given way to longer hairstyles and clips and grips
could be used overnight to create something of the popular marcel wave.
In the morning, Hilda then plaited, clipped, and coiled her hair out of the way.
Aprons were routinely worn to protect the clothing from soiling during household tasks
or gardening.
Hilda always kept her door open as an invitation to anyone to call.
She had an allotment for vegetables, grew flowers for her chapel, and contributed to
village society.
She worked as a bookkeeper and covered all her household costs herself.
Apart from a brief, but happy, four-year marriage in her sixties, Hilda lived alone in her cottage,
which had remained virtually unchanged, until the age of 102.
Mrs Smith, as she was known by then, left her cottage recognisably as the one she had
purchased over seventy years before.
Mrs Smith’s cottage is a time capsule, and a tribute to much-loved local woman who had
found her perfect life.