Back in Time for Winter

The Carlsons embark on their time traveling experiment of experiencing Canadian winters in the past starting in the 1940s, their house gutted of their 2019 conveniences. In this decade, Melanie, the "housewife", will spend most of her time in the kitchen doing domestic duties, not only cooking, but cleaning. In the early part of the decade, the meals will be affected by the war, with the prime cuts of meat sent overseas to the troops. Being winter, fresh produce is in short supply, meaning fruits and vegetables will be from cans, they often preserved in some fashion, such as dried. With Melanie stuck in the kitchen, Dave is largely forced outside to ensure his family is kept warm. Dave will also have to do his part in providing for the dinner table, and not only in being the breadwinner. Dave will also have to ensure they as a family know what the weather will be like, such knowledge which may ensure survival and which cannot be ascertained by an app on his phone. With long range forecasting a thing of the future, families were forced to stock up on supplies just in case an unexpected storm results in loss of power. The war also affected social activities, games which often had a military theme. To stay warm, activities often took place inside, but also had a practical side, such as quilting. They end the decade having some fun outside with Dave waxing the equipment before they all head down the hill on a wooden toboggan.

The Carlsons are looking forward to the 1960s, a decade they believe will be more fun. While Melanie, with Lauren by her side, is still stuck in the kitchen this decade, they at least have more modern conveniences to assist them with meals. Those conveniences may not however overcome the "weirdness" factor of some of the meals they are asked to prepare. Other conveniences make Melanie do some additional housework she had never even contemplated, rug shampooing at night to allow the rug to dry overnight. Melanie is also subjected to the overnight beauty routine of setting her hair, more important in winter because of the dry weather. Dave, for the first time, gets to play Canada's "national sport", but it may take some adjustment for him to get used to 1960s equipment. With women not yet playing the sport, Lauren, Alex and Chelsey try the women's equivalent which at the time was deemed less physical than hockey, thus suitable for the fairer sex. Alex and Chelsey also try one of the decade's most trendy crafts: rug hooking. By mid decade, Melanie is for the first time out of skirts and into pants, but at a price she may not be willing to pay. Both Dave and Melanie have different winter tasks related to the whole getting back to nature culture of the decade, with Melanie finally able to get outside for some leisure activity. By the end of the decade, the girls try to newest wintertime snacks, and, to match their new mod looks, go on their first dates - at least board game style. While they end off the decade with some old (Dave still outside shoveling snow, Melanie still the the kitchen cleaning up) and some new (eating dinner in front of the television), they cap it off outside with a good old fashioned 1960s backyard winter bonfire.

As the Carlsons usher in the 70s, both Melanie and Dave are hoping that there will be a greater gender balance of responsibility in the kitchen, with reality being that they will have to wait until mid-decade for that to happen. Technological advances, greater globalization and a recession in the early part of the decade led to the want for convenience with a greater array of products, including fresh produce, but with a cost consciousness thrown in for the greater use of budget cuts of meat. This combination also saw more global flavors, especially tropical, even in the winter, less expensive activities to the norm, such as cross country skiing as opposed to downhill skiing, the advent of curling for both sexes and at home yoga with shows such as "Kareen's Yoga", and more DIY projects to make life easier in the long run, such as roof rakes to clear snow, and for the girls home French manicure kits to help them take care of their nails, especially important in the winter. By the mid to end of the decade, the word was novelty to match the outrageousness of the disco era, with toys for especially the younger generation all about wackiness with no thought of safety, or more precisely lack thereof.

The Carlsons enter the 1980s with a sense of optimism if only because it will have a sense of familiarity at least for Melanie and Dave as children of the decade, and as they perhaps will get back to roles more familiar to them especially in the kitchen. They will find that Melanie is still queen of the kitchen but will eventually get more help as diets, especially winter ones, were heavy on the carbohydrates as filling and satisfying, although the meal preps will not be totally comfortable to unadventurous Melanie. The gender roles leave Dave still largely outside, with some tools purportedly making life easier and others seemingly damaging in the never-ending quest to rid ice and snow. The melding of gender roles will also move into the realm of activities as girls started to play hockey, although had to be self taught in the focus still on the men's game. Both Dave and Melanie partake in outdoor wintertime jogging and downhill skiing, where the objective was speed and looking good in neon. The girls will also test 80s DIY fashion with puffy fabric paint to customize their looks. Speed was also the name with the GT-Racer, the fastest ever downhill sled. The end of the decade saw the explosion of video cameras using VHS tapes, and more indoor lighting to combat the newly coined SAD. They finish off the decade with some Calgary Olympic inspired items, including a visit by someone who stole the show for Canada at the games.

The Carlsons enter the 1990s with Melanie and Dave looking forward to the girls experiencing their childhoods as they were actual teenagers in this decade. Among the things the girls will experience this decade in terms of wintertime activities include snowboarding, which was seen then as the activity of the rebellious, tubing, board games in this, the pre-Internet era, and the DIY project of homemade scrunchies, a fashion accessory worn by every young female. The kitchen duties are now shared by the family as women increasingly were part of the workforce, with Dave taking on his first solo meal of the experiment, using the familiar equipment the domain of the male, namely the barbecue, even in winter. The thought of the day in terms of health and food was that fat, especially saturated fat, was bad, much of that fat in processed foods being replaced by sugar. Although the lower carb trend would emerge later in the decade, other healthier options did include more fresh fruit and whole grains. Dave in the kitchen allows Melanie to partake in her own outdoor activity which became popular as the baby boomers started to age, namely power walking, seen as kinder on the joints that the 80s high impact aerobics. But as the decade comes to a close, so does the harsh winter, allowing the family to get outside for activities not necessarily associated with winter. The end of the decade also saw the issues associated with Y2K which made people reflect more on the past. The Carlsons close out the experiment with a past-time typical of Canada and which they could do in the milder end of winter.

The Carlsons have completed their time travel experiment where their lives were completely transformed for them to experience what winter life was like for a typical Canadian family chronologically for the six decades from 1940 to 1999, they to adhere to the time period they were in even when the cameras weren't rolling. Beyond the relatively minor cheats admitted to by two, the Carlson family members reflect on this experience, they talking about using the "technology" of the day, the strict gender roles especially in the earlier decades which seemed most arduous for Melanie but which ended up being psychologically just as difficult for Dave in a slightly different way, the rules for teenagers, fashion and changing fabrics, food and food trends, decor with the continual physical transformation of their house, health and beauty trends, the changing ways to remove snow, pop culture norms, and leisure activities which were not always confined to the outdoor winter variety. The work required to make these physical transformations are discussed. The Carlsons conclude by talking about the family bonding that occurred, the surprising benefits from their current days lives, and if they would do it all over again knowing what they now know.