Summary The Carlsons are happy to be moving from the '40s to the '50s, a more prosperous and thus comfortable time. While the gender roles of the '40s are still in place with Melanie largely tied to the kitchen while Dave attends to chores outside, they each have new - or in Dave's case repurposed - gadgets which are supposed to make their responsibilities easier. In Dave's case, his role has been expanded to beautify the outside to match that new prosperity. And for Melanie, she will be getting some new regular "human" help in the kitchen in the form of fifteen year old Lauren, who is to use this opportunity to be a housewife in training, and in the process, later in the decade, who will be handling one of the meals on her own. The females still have to look feminine and pretty no matter what they are doing, which gives Lauren the chance to experiment with a new fashion tool on Alex and Chelsey. The latter two will partake in an activity that was all the rage with the success of Barbara Ann Scott: figure skating. In the latter part of the decade, gym bunny Dave will get a chance to get back into an exercise regimen of the time designed for the Canadian military by one of their own, while Lauren and Alex learn all about knitting, a past-time which allowed young women to make things for their wardrobe, from accessories to full garments with the practical item of wool. Dave, Alex and Chelsey learn not only of the practical warmth capability of wool, but the downside of the fiber as they continue many of their activities outside in the wet snow. By the end of the decade, Dave makes an admission about the gender balance, or what he sees, imbalance of this decade.

• Documentary