All these people who go on about not having washing machines, telephones, etc when they were young are being a little short-sighted in my opinion.
When we married we didn't have a car, or a TV, and only got a twin tub washing machine on the birth of our daughter. Then there were buckets of terry towelling nappies soaking in sterilising fluid, not disposable nappies as are available today.
But when my Mum and Dad got married they had no vacuum cleaner or washing machine. Clothes and sheets were hand washed and a mangle used or, in later years, there was a bus ride to the launderette. There was no central heating - just paraffin fires in the downstairs rooms.
My Mum used to recall how her mother would use strips of towelling for sanitary protection, which had to be boiled after use.
And. even in later years, my other grandparents (despite being very comfortably off) had no fridge but used a larder under the stairs, and no car. They thought my parents purchasing a small fridge was very extravagant and unnecessary.
It's silly to compare one age with another. What was rare then is commonplace now and to expect people to live without things that virtually every household has - and which TV adverts constantly remind them about - is ridiculous. We live in a society that encourages, indeed demands, consumption and when people stop consuming there is then a panic about falling "growth" and the hope expressed that people will start buying again.