Last month when I visited Amsterdam, my friend Birthe Weijkamp told me about an event held at a living history museum about an hour from me. It’s called “Leben und Überleben in der Nachkriegszeit“ or “Life and survival in the postwar period”. It’s a weekend-long event commemorating the years immediately after WWII. There are a few of these events around Germany, but this was the first time that I attended one. I knew that I would probably be the only attendee to dress up, but that’s ok. I had a great time and really enjoyed seeing the reenactors and learning a bit about what life was like in this area after the war.

Dress ~ eShakti 
Brooch ~ Vintage (I can’t remember where I got it)
Shoes ~ Thrifted
Purse ~ Vintage from a flea market
Umbrella ~ Vintage from a flea market
Hat ~ Vintage from My Vintage Hat Shop on Etsy

The event was fascinating, some many wonderful things to look at and learn about. There was a table set up showing the daily rations of food for each person, I was ashtonished at how little it was. There were samples of various baked goods, marmalades, and mustards that were made from ingredients found nearby, such as dandelion marmalade, carrot marmalade, a coffee substitute made from roasted roots and chicory.

Daily food rations for a normal consumer during the postwar period.

They even demonstrated how they boiled and washed laundry.