Housewife, 49
Housewife, 49 is a 2006 television film based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actor and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire during the Second World War. It was first broadcast in the UK by ITV on 10 December 2006.
Plot
The Mass-Observation project was set up in 1937 by Charles Madge, a poet and journalist and Tom Harrison, an anthropologist to 'record the voice of ordinary people'. They recruited volunteer 'observers' to report to them and in 1939 invited people to send them an account of their lives. Nella Last was one of 500 people who took up this offer. Nella Last's war page vi. Her diaries sent weekly are headed "Housewife, 49", her age when she first began the correspondence. Nella Last's War page ii. Her diaries to Mass-Observation, often written in pencil, provide the narrative of the play as it unfolds her life. Edited versions of her diary have been published: Nella Last's War edited by Richard Broad and Suzy Fleming appeared first in 1981 and has been more recently re-published by Profile Books in 2007. Housewife, 49 is based on this book which covers the years 1939–45. Nella Last's Peace, which appeared in 2009, includes diary entries from her immediate post-war years. A third volume, Nella Last in the 1950s: Further diaries of Housewife, 49 which includes material not published in Nella Last's War was published in 2010.
Podcasts:
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by Joseph
Joseph
by: JosephWay way back many centuries ago,
Not long after the Bible began
Jacob lived in the land of Canaan,
A fine example of a family man.
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
Depended on farming to earn their keep.
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
Spent all of their days in the fields with sheep.
Jacob was the founder of a whole new nation
Thanks to the number of children he had
He was also known as Israel, but most of the time
His sons and his wives used to call him Dad.
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
Men of the soil, of the sheaf and crook
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
A remarkable family in anyone's book.
(Narrator, Brothers, Female Ensemble & Children)
Reuben was the eldest of the children of Israel
With Simeon and Levi the next in line
Naphtali and Isaachar with Asher and Dan
Zebulun and Gad took the total to nine
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
Benjamin and Judah, which leaves only one
Jacob, Jacob and sons,
Joseph - Jacob's favourite son
Jacob, Jacob and sons
Jacob, Jacob and sons
Jacob, Jacob and sons
Jacob Jacob Jacob
Jacob and
Sons
(JOSEPH'S COAT)
(Jacob)
Joseph's mother, she was quite my favourite wife
I never really loved another all my life
And Joseph was my joy because
He reminded me of her
Narrator
Through young Joseph, Jacob lived his youth again
Loved him, praised him, gave him all he could, but then
It made the rest feel second best
And even if they were -
Brothers
Being told we're also-rans
Does not makes us Joseph fans
(Narrator)
But where they had really missed the boat is
Brothers
We're great guys but no-one seems to notice
(Narrator)
Joseph's charm and winning smile
Failed to slay them in the aisle
And his father couldn't see the danger
He could not imagine any danger
He just saw in Joseph all his dreams come true
Jacob wanted to show the world he loved his son
To make it clear that Joseph was the special one
So Jacob bought his son a coat
A multi-coloured coat
(Brothers and Female Ensemble)
Joseph's coat was elegant,
The cut was fine
The tasteful style was the
Ultimate in good design
And this is why it caught the eye
A king would stop and stare
(Narrator)
And when Joseph tried it on
He knew his sheepskin days were gone
(Narrator & Female Ensemble & Children )
Such a dazzling coat of many colours
How he loved his coat of many colours
(Narrator)
In a class above the rest
It even went well with his vest
Such a stunning coat of many colours
How he loved his coat of many colours
It was red and yellow and green and
Brown and blue
Joseph's brothers weren't
Too pleased
(Brothers)
We have never liked him
All that much before
And now this coat
Has got our goat
We feel life is unfair
(Narrator, Female Ensemble & Children)
And when Joseph graced the scene
His brothers turned a shade of green
His astounding clothing took the biscuit
Brothers
Quite the smoothest person in the district
(Joseph & Female Ensemble)
I look handsome, I look smart
I'm walking work of art
Such a dazzling coat of colours
How I love my coat of many colours
(Narrator, Joseph, Ensemble & Children)
It was red and yellow and green and brown
And scarlet and black and ochre and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And red and yellow and green and brown and
Scarlet and black and ochre and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange