The Rat In The Python: Book 1 The Home

by Alex Craigie

If you haven’t heard of a liberty bodice, believe that half-a-crown is something to do with impoverished royalty and never had the experience of slapping a television to stop the grainy black and white picture from rolling, then this series might not be for you. Please give it a go, though – I suspect that most of it will still resonate no matter where you were brought up!

The Rat in the Python is about Baby Boomers who, in the stability following the Second World War, formed a statistical bulge in the population python. It is a personal snapshot of a time that is as mystifying to my children as the Jurassic Era - and just as unrecognisable.

My intention is to nudge some long-forgotten memories to the surface, test your own recollections and provide information and statistics to put it all in context.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I’ll begin…

140 pages, Paperback

Published May 21, 2023

About the author

Alex Craigie is the pen name of Trish Power.

Trish was ten when her first play was performed at school. It was in rhyming couplets and written in pencil in a book with imperial weights and measures printed on the back. There were two princes in it - one was called Rupert and the other was changed to Sam because she couldn't find enough rhymes for Randolph.

When her children were young, she wrote short stories for magazines before returning to the teaching job that she loved.

Trish has had seven books published under the pen name of Alex Craigie. Three books cross genre boundaries and feature elements of romance, thriller and suspense against a backdrop of social issues. Someone Close to Home highlights the problems affecting care homes, Acts of Convenience has issues concerning the health service at its heart, and The Bubble Reputation reflects her fears about social media and the damage it can do. Another book. Means to Deceive, is a psychological thriller set in Pembrokeshire in Wales.

Someone Close to Home has won a Chill with a Book award and a Chill with the Book of the Month award. In 2019 it was one of the top ten bestsellers in its category on Amazon.
The Bubble Reputation won a Chill With a Book Premier Readers' Award in 2023.

She is currently writing a series of books called The Rat in the Python about growing up as a Baby Boomer. The title comes from the term for the bulge in the population statistics caused by us post-war babies.

Reviews

[D. Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a departure from the thrillers I’ve come to expect from this author. Instead, Craigie ventures into the realm of memoirs with her experience growing up in the UK in the 1950s. The “rat in the python” is the group of baby boomers who created a bulge in the population chain, and therefore there are a lot of “us” boomers who can relate not only to the way it was… but to how much things have changed.

Humor plays a lovely part in the book, though this isn’t as much a book about feelings as it is a collection of memories about the broader aspects of life in the 50s – housing, food, furniture, heat, chores, and more, often told through the eyes of the women who managed the household. A lot of this is relatable to those of us across the pond, but Craigie also shares her perspective on the differences that occurred post WWII.

My memory of childhood is a bit later – in the 1960s. But there was a lot to relate to since progress sometimes takes a while. I remember “the wrangler,” single-pane windows, laundry lines, and the old dial telephones. What also struck me is how dramatically technology has transformed our daily lives. When Craigie puts the trends in perspective, the pace of change becomes mind-numbing.

This afternoon’s read will surely be a trip down memory lane for many boomers as well as eye-opening for younger generations. Highly recommended to readers who have an interest in the details of life in the fifties.

[Teagan Geneviene · Rating 5 out of 5]

With previous works this author set the bar high for herself. My expectations were high. I must say that this book absolutely lived up to them. Don't miss it.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter likes to call my husband and I the last of the baby boomers, as my husband was fortunate to retire at 55 years with a good pension while she is likely to work on until 70. (In reality his retirement had more to do with Covid-19.) I intend gifting a copy of Alex Craigie’s The Rat in the Python to her, in an attempt to show that growing up in the sixties, wasn’t as easy as she’s had it. I loved the descriptions of homes in this book and often had a wry smile on my face as I read. Sometimes I was driven to laugh out loud. Craigie has the knack of shining a light on the funny side of lifestyle choices that seemed perfectly laudable back in the day. A thoroughly enjoyable read and good research material for anyone interested in writing about the period. There’s also a trivia section that provides useful questions for a pub quiz. As any baby boomer might say, it’s well worth the money for a copy.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as it brought back so many memories of growing up in the 50s & 60s. The title made me laugh - the bulge in the python represents the bulge in the population after the war. As a child I lived in one of those prefabs- little did I know they were made from asbestos! There’s so much in this book to either remember with either a shudder or a smile. Early washing machines, lighting coal fires, A fabulous trip down memory lane with lots of wonderful illustrations. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

[Robbie Cheadle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short book is a forage into what life was like growing up in post war Britain (1950s). It is non fiction and the information is shared through discussions about a number of household articles. As my own mother was a young child during the war and a teenager during the 1950s, I was eager to learn how life changed after the war. It certainly took a long time for changes to filter through. Part of this was due to the enormous loans from the USA that Britain had and which needed to be repaid. Another reason for change happening slowly was the frugal re-use mindset of people post the war. Not that I think frugality isn't better than today's throw away society, but life remained very hard for people for a long time. The cold was difficult with limited heating. The descriptions in this book were similar to my mother's memories of freezing cold mornings with ice inside the window panes. Patterns created by 'Jack Frost' and suffering with chilblains. The author's comments about her mother getting up early to light a fire to heat the living area was also reminiscent of my mother's life.

One of the big changes from the war era was the home decoration. People did loosen up and start making changes, using items like linoleum and wall paper although the do it yourself culture remained. The extreme caution around the use of electricity and the father keeping a watchful eye on the metre was fascinating. I am used to my own wasteful generation although my sisters and I, the daughters of a 'war generation' woman, were brought up to be frugal. It is easy to forget this when everything seems so easily available in vast quantities.

The rite of doing laundry when the author was young was similar to during my mother's childhood. Although a washing machine replaced metal tubs, women still used dollies and mangles as part of the washing routine. Filling up the washing machine was as bad as filling up tubs.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to readers who are interested in learning more about how people lived during the 1950s and 60s. The information about the use of arsenic in green paint was new to me and very surprising. This book will have you appreciating you comfortable life with all its modern conveniences.

[Joy York · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Book 1 The Home of Alex Craigie’s series about life during the 1950’s and 1960’s in the UK. It’s about the process of daily life getting back to normal in the aftermath of WWll, and the slow progress of moving forward, sometimes impeded by many of the physical and psychological impacts of war. The level of detail and research was an authentic trip down memory lane. Craigie takes us through the daily hardships women during that time endured to maintain a home with warmth, comfort, nourishment, entertainment, cleanliness, harmony, security, and a strong sense of pride. As a baby boomer myself, there are many things I can relate to. Her mother’s bedroom with a 3-mirror dressing table, a sliver brush and comb set, perfume atomizer, and dusting powder could have been my parents’ bedroom. The only difference was the cedar chest ( or “hope chest” as my mother called it) at the foot of her bed. Although my grandparents on their farms still used wringer washers, churned butter, grew most of their food and livestock, they did have indoor plumbing by the early to mid-50’s. At the same time, my parents who lived in a newly built home in the city were much more progressive with modern appliances and conveniences, including a television and floor furnace, which I still bare a scar from on my leg. Although the UK and the US both suffered the loss of hundreds of thousands of men and women in WWll, the US did not have the same physical devastation and recovery experienced in Europe.

The Happy Home Good Housekeeping guide was a stark reminder of the inequality of men and women at the time. The expectation of the perfect home and perfectly raised and well-mannered children fell squarely on the shoulders of women. Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Hariet, The Donna Reed Show, and I Love Lucy were supposed to represent the ideal model of the American household. What they actually did was set unrealistic expectations for women who already lived under the male thumb. Although entertaining, the shows brought a level of anxiety to women who felt they didn’t measure up.

Craigie gives us a realistic look into the past which is both nostalgic and a reminder of how far we have come. Also, a reminder that sometimes the simplest things are the most loving and memorable.

[Colleen Chesebro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this humorous but also informative look back at life in the UK during the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, I lived in the UK for a few years in the late 1970s and early 1980s… I’ll never forget the smell of the coal fireplace in the freezing cold bungalow we rented, something this American had never experienced before.

Craigie’s descriptions fit many of my early UK experiences. From miniature refrigerators to electric meters you had to feed with 50 pence each time you wanted to heat water for a bath (we had no showers), to Calor heaters—gas-powered heaters on wheels you moved from room to room… all brought back so many memories of my time in a country I grew to love. (Now, I’m craving a cup of British tea with a dash of milk from a silver-topped bottle delivered by the milkman).

There are numerous photos and drawings to help illustrate the different gadgets available in the UK during the baby boomer years. Everything you want to know about a British home is discussed with humor and even a bit of nostalgia.

The Rat in the Python is a fun, enjoyable read! There is another book in the series. I’ll make sure and read that next!

[Darlene Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, a history lesson about life in England in the 50s and 60s. It was fun to read about things one would see in a museum, like a "dolly peg". If you don't know what that is, you'll have to read the book! It is a fascinating glimpse of post-war Briton, especially for someone like myself who grew up in North America. I loved the part about the author's dad trying to hang wallpaper. It's so funny and I could just picture it. As always, I enjoyed learning the different terminology, like "bottom drawer" which I figured out was what we would call a "hope chest". Not everything was different, just called another name. I liked the chapter about Us and Them, explaining the difference between life in the UK and life in America for baby boomers at that time. The book is well-researched and detailed to take you back to another time and for me, another place.

[Patricia Furstenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Rat In The Python, Book 1: The Home" by Alex Craigie is a captivating look at the postwar era of 1950s Britain, exploring the nuances of daily life through the use of daily household items.
Craigie expertly navigates the landscape of postwar societal change, shedding a warm light on the frugal re-use mindset that defined the time period. From the ritual of lighting morning fires to the chore of laundry, the author's anecdotes are authentic and charming, bringing back fond memories of my own childhood experiences in communist Romania (such as hand washing the laundry in the bathtub and the very careful use of electric bar fires). Craigie paints a vivid picture of life in postwar Britain, complete with charming illustrations and photographs that bring the era to life.
What truly distinguishes "The Rat in the Python" is its delightful humor, which kept me laughing from beginning to end. It's a delightful trip down memory lane and an eye-opener on how much humankind has changed (not that it's always such an accomplishment), and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for a humorous and insightful look at mid-century British culture.

[Elizabeth Gauffreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex Craigie’s The Rat in the Python: Observations and experiences of a Baby Boomer is the first in a planned series of books about growing up as a Baby Boomer in the 1950s and 1960s in the United Kingdom. The focus of this first book is on the home.

Readers can expect to be taken through an average home of the time, starting with the heating and electrical systems. We are then taken through each room with a description of its function, furnishings, and associated paraphernalia for housekeeping, personal hygiene, communication, or entertainment–and let’s not forget that all-important garden shed!

Each chapter is liberally illustrated with sourced photographs, for which I was grateful. Despite my being a Baby Boomer, I grew up in the United States, and there were many terms in the book that I’d never encountered before, such as the “dolly peg/dolly stick” (a manual agitator for a wash tub used on laundry day).

In fact, one of my main takeaways from the book was just how significant the differences were during the postwar years between the United Kingdom and the United States. The US moved into full-on production of new housing and consumer goods, while the UK faced hardships as the country rebuilt its infrastructure.

One of the book’s great strengths is the conversational and engaging prose style, with a good bit of humor. For example, the following description of the amateur home decorator hanging wallpaper was hilarious (as long as you weren’t the one doing the hanging):

“He [the author’s dad] didn’t fall off the ladder (although others succeeded) but he did manage to put his foot in the paste bucket resulting in a brief but messy, Buster Keaton-type routine.”

Take as another example, the gift no lady of the house ever wanted to receive:

“Bath cubes were offensively-scented blocks of compressed white powder that you crumbled into the water so that you, too, could reek of ‘Gardenia’ or ‘Lily of the Valley’ or some other inoffensive flower whose name had been hijacked.”

As much as I enjoyed the delightful stroll down Baby Boomer Memory Lane, The Rat in the Python is more than that. I was reminded of Frederick Lewis Allen’s approach to history in Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s and Since Yesterday: America in the 1930s. Allen’s view was that an important part of history is the lived experience of everyday people, written immediately after the particular time period has ended.

As time goes by and a generation dies, the events and major figures of government, politics, and popular culture remain as part of the historical record (albeit albeit subject to interpretation).

On the other hand, the lived experience of everyday people is lost if it is not written down (or preserved in some other medium). Without knowledge and understanding of how everyday people experienced the world they lived in, the history of that time period is incomplete.

In addition to appealing to Baby Boomers, The Rat in the Python would be appropriate as part of a middle school social studies curriculum. I highly recommend it!

[Sally Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was certainly a trip down memory lane for me, and I am sure for anyone born in the post-war years in Britain. It is also an excellent reflection of the social history of the 50s and 60s and how the slow, but impactful introduction of new technology changed the lives of the population, and in particular women.

The descriptions and the anecdotes about life in the home, the household chores and the diet in the 50s illustrate how far we have come in the last 70 years. They used to say ‘A woman’s work is never done’ and that was certainly the case. The author does a great job in bringing the era into sharp focus based on her own experiences and research, along with a touch of humour.

Keeping the house clean, washing by hand, using a mangle to get as much water out as possible, hoping for a dry windy day in winter to dry the laundry or hanging on racks over the stove. No fridges, freezers to keep food fresh so shopping every day. Outside toilets, tin bath for washing with one batch of hot water used over and over for the whole family. No double glazing or central heating with coal fires still the main form of keeping the house warm during the day, leaving the job to blankets in freezing bedrooms overnight. Not to mention that human fuel, especially in the cities was basic and had to be budgeted for carefully. In fact rationing was still in place of many food items until the early 50s and some to the mid 50s.

The late 1950s also saw the beginnings of the new look in furniture and the introduction of home help in the form of kitchen appliances and the start of social housing, although it is clear from the chapters on this governmental attempt to address the issue of lack of housing, that not all projects were successful or safe.

Televisions not only brought entertainment but also broadcast programmes from the USA which highlighted the stark differences between lifestyle and amenities between the two countries with Britain still repaying war loans.

Reading this book brought back memories of my own childhood and although I was brought up in the country and had access to a different diet it did make me realise how far we have come in my lifetime, and also how dependent we have become of the luxuries of modern life. It have given me a greater respect for the women of that generation who worked so hard to keep their families fed and cared for.

There are many photographs throughout the book and at the end a trivia quiz that underlines some of the key issues of the day. A fascinatingt record of home and life in the 1950s and 1960s and also a very useful reference guide for authors who write in that period in Britain. I can highly recommend and look forward to more in this series.

[D.G. Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

From fireplaces to blankets, stoves, floors, furniture and painting, Craigie takes us through the times of the 1950s in the United Kingdom, sharing what life was like back then when she was a young child. The author draws a picture of her home growing up that helps us visualize what things were like back then. With no electrical heating and no indoor plumbing, we get a feel through her words, for how it would feel to have to go outside in the cold, dark, or rain just to relieve yourself. No power bars to aid multiple plug sockets. Craigie takes our minds with her precise imagery, right into the 1950s daily life.

In this memoir of time and lifestyle in the 1950s, the author shares her childhood conveniences and inconveniences with great detail and many photos to accompany described items. We’ll learn the purpose of each room, as homes were small, some with big families. We’ll learn about decor and decorum. We’ll learn about the dangerous substances used in building materials, such as: asbestos, arsenic, and coal. We’ll learn about the aftermath of England after WWII, living conditions, and that food rations actually began after WWII and ran well into the 50s. Modern housing introduced formica in the kitchen, brighter colors and checkerboard floors. It was interesting to learn that there really was some kind of manual for housewives – How to run your home, with chores slotted in a daily calendar – cleaning, cooking, laundry, errands. And, we’ll learn why it took England longer than it did North America to bounce back with progress or a strong economy, after the war, which is so weird to think now that it’s usually Europe who is more advanced than us here on this North American side of the pond.

The author comes full circle taking us through the changes from housing to life and times in U.K. living. This was a great and educational read, and a good reminder to be grateful for all we have in advancement in our modern world.

[Judith Barrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is a gem of a book. For anyone who lived through the nineteen fifties and sixties in the UK, for anyone who wants to know how their mothers or grandmothers existed in the two decades after the Second World War, this is the book is for you.

Filled with so many details of the homes and everyday life at the time, there are also delightful pithy recollections and humorous facts of the author’s own life, such as this section on decorating and her father’s hilarious attempts:

“ Not only did gloss paint drip and take ages to dry, it had a powerful smell. My father used the tried and tested remedy of floating half an onion in a bowl of water and leaving it in the newly painted room as an early form of Fabreze. I can’t say that it reduced the pungent odour, but the paint smell still lingered for day – and as it began to fade, you’d pick up the top notes of old onion. Enchanting.”

And then the bathroom accessories:

"We had a wire rack, with cracked and splitting rubber handles, that spanned the bath and in one end was a bar of soap.... There was also a scratchy flannel."

I loved these! In fact there are many places in this book where I actually cackled with laughter, remembered sections with nostalgia. And then sighed with relief that homes are more comfortable and housework and such is so much easier these days.

Crammed with illustrations that are a story in themselves, The Rat In The Python is a winner for Alex Craigie, and I have absolutely no qualms in recommended this to ... well absolutely everyone!

And I look forward to the sequel.

[Lucinda Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
If you were a Baby Boomer, this book will rekindle many memories. So much I had forgotten and a reminder of just how tough we had it then. A history lesson for those born later, to show just how the elder generation and how we have not in fact done as much damage to the world as they might think.

[Stevie Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. Alex Craigie is only a few years older than I am, and so I could relate to all the household products she mentioned in this wonderful memoir of the 1950s/1960s. I remember having to move the TV aerial about in order to try and remove a black line running down the middle of the set. My mother’s spin dryer used to dance around the kitchen, and we lived in one of those prefabs Alex mentions that had asbestos in the walls. However, we were lucky in that we had an inside toilet and a proper bathroom, although my grandparents didn’t, and not only did they have to share an outside toilet with another family, they also had to put buckets out to catch rain as it dripped through the roof.

This book is a wonderful trip down memory lane, and brought back happy memories of my childhood in London. I don’t think my mum read the household management book Alex mentioned, as she was a working mother and I was a latch-key child. Other than that, this book will tell you how we lived back in the middle of the last century, and I’m so glad I was born in that era and grew up without mobile phones, internet, iPads, i-this and i-that. I played outside with real people, and came in when it was dark. I roamed all over the East End, and my parents had no idea where I was or what I was doing. I had freedom, which kids of today seem to lack.

A recommended read for all you Baby Boomers out there.

[D.L. Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Rat in the Python” is a fun look into the past or the 50s and 60s in the UK. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Craigie’s fictional books and wasn’t disappointed in her dive into nonfiction. It is still well written with a touch of humor weaved into it. “Book 1 The Home” takes us back to times before not only cell phones and computers but a lot of the modern house conveniences we are used to. People in the UK were still recovering from WWll and if they wanted a meal, the women cooked it with what was available. There were no microwaves, freezers full of food, or delivery takeout to depend on. I was born during this time and remember some of it, like the rolling pictures on the small black and white televisions. This issue could usually be resolved by adjusting a knob or moving the rabbit ears, but if none of that worked, there was always the sharp pound on the side of the TV. There was a magazine article that made me cringe. It had a housewife’s itinerary that was not only a twelve-hour day, but every minute filled with cleaning, cooking, laundry, ironing, food prep, child and husband care, and all the other things expected from a 50s woman. I believe I would have been a terrible 50s housewife. This is a fascinating peek into our past that shows not only how times have changed, but how we have changed. I enjoyed this, and look forward to reading more in this series.

[Jaye Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not exactly sure of the significance of the title, but reading this story really took me back to the golden years, for despite how difficult they were at the time, they still evoke such happy moments.

My first washing machine was a Hotpoint (as shown in the book) with a mangle on the top. I can’t tell you how often those rubber rollers used to grab my fingers!
I loved my whistling kettle, too, right up to the day I let it boil dry, and the bottom fell out. And as for that special kitchen drawer, the one that contained everything that didn’t belong anywhere else, I still have one of those.
Things that I still miss?
Good old-fashioned pillow ticking, these days, nothing stops those feathers from poking you in the eye. Pears soap, I loved the smell.
And my Cannon gas stove with the eye-level grill. These days I must bend double to make cheese on toast.
Those were the days?
Maybe, but I am so grateful the toilet paper improved!

[Pete Springer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read several of Alex Craigie's excellent fiction novels (Someone Close to Home, Means to Deceive, and The Bubble Reputation), I was intrigued to learn that this fine author was venturing into nonfiction. The Rat in the Python is for Baby Boomers or those who want to better understand life for those in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s. Since I was born at the end of this time, there was some familiarity with many of the topics covered. I was reminded throughout about the ingenuity of people and their ability to build a better mousetrap.

Woven throughout, the author shares her family experiences with keen insights and a delightful sense of humor. After reading this book, I feel grateful for today's many modern conveniences.