1940s-1970s
The Second World War meant that the Exhibition was suspended from 1940-1946 but from 1947 onwards it continued to grow, culminating in a huge attendance in 1957 of almost 1.5 million people. The Show continued to ‘Educate and Entertain’ throughout the decades and in 1953, the Coronation year, it even featured a two thirds scale copy of the state coach.
The first microwave oven was launched at the Show in 1947. In 1957 the British housewife still spent an average of 70 hours a week on housework
The 1960s was an era of forward-looking fashion and the first man on the moon, yet the most popular house style of the period was Mock Georgian. The disco decade of the 1970s ushered in a new look for interiors featuring chrome and smoked glass and the Show reflected trends in all the latest house designs and interiors.
The last Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition to be held at Olympia was in 1978
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