Sounds great! But there was also plenty to do at night (people had electric lights since the 10s and 20s, and radios, and before that, lanterns and candles)—knitting, sewing, mending, preserving food, sweeping, churning, reading the Bible, that sort of thing.
They also had plenty of books and magazines by the 40s, as well as agitator washers with wringers. I remember my grandmother's Reader's Digests, women's magazines, needlework magazines, devotional pamphlets, and well-worn Bible (I still have it), plus an assortment of gadgets for drying clothes to minimize ironing like aluminum-frame trouser stretchers and wooden frames with tack points all around for stretching lace curtains to dry. She was raised on a farm, and no one could beat her home cooking, plus large-quantity cooking for church suppers. She also drove a black Ford automobile and one of the joys of my childhood was accompanying her to the grocery or the streetside markets in the city.
My grandfather had a workshop in the basement in which he made all kinds of household objects for his grown offspring and toys for his grandchildren. I decorate my wooden dollhouse that he made in the late 40s every year for Christmas.
It was a modest, decent way of life. Home, family, church. Work and school on the side.
It was a modest, decent way of life. Home, family, church. Work and school on the side.