Persil: We Mothers

1942
Sound
1m

A mother's work is never done - as these two young girls playing at grown-ups have realised.

Two well-spoken young girls dressed in frilly white frocks play at grown-ups. They exchange news of their soldier husbands away at war, and young Mrs Green laments the challenge of keeping baby Gladys' clothes clean. Mrs White reassures her that Persil washing powder is here to save the day, with 'the whitest white wash'. Sadly, this film survives incomplete and the final few feet are missing.

What Women Want?

Caring mums, hard-working housewives or independent, fun-loving 'new women' - the female consumer has long been a target of screen advertising.

In the cause of selling anything from baked beans to washing powders to all manner of labour-saving devices, advertisers have promised to make women's lives easier and to help them build happy homes and successful relationships.

There's no getting past the fact that women have all-too often been patronised and objectified by a male-dominated advertising industry. But screen advertising also tells (and sells) a more positive story of social progress for women, with increasing social and economic independence. This collection tracks the ups and downs of female empowerment in the 20th century, with its false steps as revealing as its forward ones.