Important Exhibition at the Museum of Everyday Life History
By Veronique Weber | Published on
In your attics, you may have one of the items missing from the Museum of Everyday Life History in Petit-Caux (Seine-Maritime) for its October 2026 exhibition. If you donate it to the museum (or lend it), Cécile Jovanovic, the director, and her team can trace an important aspect of the history of women’s condition from the Glorious Thirty to the 1980s.
Currently, the museum is immersing the public in the evolution of information technology, telephony, radio, and television until August. But behind the scenes, a new major exhibition is being prepared. “This exhibition, called La ménagère, is scheduled from October 2, 2026 to September 19, 2027,” smiles Cécile Jovanovic, who is working with a co-curator, Michèle Dominici, for this occasion. The latter notably produced a documentary for Arte titled The Forgotten History of Housewives.
An Ideal Far From Reality
“This exhibition focuses on the figure of the housewife during the Glorious Thirty. Marketed as an icon by ubiquitous advertising, ‘liberated’ by household appliances, always immaculate and devoted to her husband and children, this ideal female figure is indeed far from reflecting the reality of women’s daily lives at that time,” details the synopsis of the upcoming exhibition.
Objects Sought After
The Museum of Everyday Life History has compiled a list of objects and furniture (with the corresponding years) it is looking for its exhibition. It is possible to donate them or lend them.
Furniture
- Kitchen: Formica furniture with integrated sink (1940/1950); Wall-mounted Formica kitchen furniture, wall cabinets (1940/50).
- Baby room (1960).
- Teen room (1960 to 1980): Single bed with storage; desk with chair; storage furniture and wardrobe.
… (list continues)
The museum already has many objects and furniture related to this theme, some of which are visible in the permanent exhibition. But it will present others, such as undisclosed documents from the Moulinex factory in Normandy kept in the Calvados departmental archives.
Objects with a History
Cécile Jovanovic also drew from the reserves of the museum of arts and traditions of Talou. The team is still looking for specific objects and furniture elements (see the list in the box). The idea is to build the scenography around pieces of an apartment. “We would like to recreate different interior spaces. We would move from the kitchen to the bathroom and then to a baby’s room, and finally to a teenager’s room,” explains Cécile Jovanovic.
Among the sought-after furniture pieces, some are imposing, so the museum can offer to pick them up on-site and even dismantle them. Furthermore, before bringing the objects, it is requested to contact the museum and send photos of the proposed items. “We also seek to know the history of the object, to whom it belonged, in what context, and, if possible, with a photo from the era it appears,” she adds.
To propose a donation to the museum (before the end of April 2026) or for more information: [email protected] or via the museum’s Messenger.
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