1950-luvun kotien elämää aikalaisten kertomana : "Neuvokkuus, ahkeruus, periksiantamattomuus – päivä kerrallaan eläminen – siinä kai selviämisemme salaisuus."

Aims. The post-war time in Finland was a golden era of reconstruction and the baby boomers were born. Earlier the 1950's have been a subject of studies in architecture, suburban studies, home technology and social politics. The following research questions arose from the ageing of the baby boomers: what actually occurred in everyday life in Finnish families during the 50's and how well-being manifested itself in demanding circumstances? The aim of this research was to let the contemporaries themselves tell the story of the 50 s, in the context of home economics. The themes and the questions of the research are as follows: 1.Well-being in families: Which factors contribute to well-being in families? 2.Connections between everyday life, built environment and surrounding nature: Which factors connect the everyday life to environment? 3.Functionality in families and the technological development at homes: Which technological innovations are utilized by families? Data and methods. The research approach was narrative. The data for this qualitative research consists of 15 narrative stories from informants (n=16) in different age groups from different parts of Finland. Informants were invited through the organization Marttaliitto and via the researcher's own interest groups. The theoretical framework lies in the interpretive oral history. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results and conclusions. There were five themes which contributed to well-being in families. Functional housing and development of the built environment were important contributing factors. Target-oriented action to achieve a good life and responsible human agency to increase solicitude both between the family members and in community. Everyday life was connected to the environment on many levels, through economical and emotional factors. There was a wide variety of the artifacts that families used. They can be categorized whether they were used in housekeeping, if they promoted functionality at homes or were used during the leisure time. Societal factors have a great impact on forming the relationship between everyday life and environment. To raise the standard of living through target-oriented action is dependent on the development of the infrastructure. Political actions to promote the welfare state have been a carrying force of development of the 50 s, having a positive effect on households activity. Societal factors to promote welfare improve health and increase equality in education.