BOSSES at Dudley’s Black Country Living Museum are on the hunt for domestic memorabilia from the 1940s to the 1960s to complete the interpretation of two cast-iron houses which have been relocated.

As part of the museum’s major new development, its cast-iron houses will reopen later this year and will be redressed in two different styles reflecting the changes between the early years of the Second World War and the modernity of the 1960s.

It is the first time the museum, located in Tipton Road, will be bringing the era of the 1960s to life in a domestic setting.

The different time periods will showcase the lives of two different families who lived in the cast-iron houses during these time periods.

Staff at the museum are now seeking donations of a range of domestic items dating from the 1940s and 1960s to help add the finishing touches to bring the houses to life, including furniture, packaging, clothing and bedding, kitchenware, as well as toys and games.

Plus, in a nod to the modern era, the museum is also looking to pick up a late 1960s Philips television set, on which the family would have watched West Bromwich Albion win the FA cup in 1968.

The 1940s house will tell stories of the early years of the Second World War, including rationing and the “dig for victory” campaign.

Meanwhile, the 1960s house will include the bedrooms of two teenage boys, adorned with football memorabilia and Clint Eastwood posters. Visitors will also have a chance to hear music playing from the boys’ favourite bands, including the Who, the Beatles, and Cream.

The houses were originally built by Dudley Council back in the 1920s in response to a shortage of housing at the end of World War One. They are made from cast-iron panels, two feet square in size, and bolted together.

First translocated and rebuilt at the top of the museum’s site in 1991, they became a firm visitor favourite. They have now been carefully de-constructed and rebuilt again in a new home further down in the site, next to the museum’s new 1940s to 60s high street.

It is the first time that visitors to the museum will be able to explore both houses, as originally only the downstairs of one house was on display.

The houses originally stood in Birmingham Road and Ernest Road on the Brewery Fields Estate, not far from the museum.

Due to a shortage of building materials and labour after the war, experiments were made with various types of non-traditional construction methods.

Dudley Council opted for cast-iron panels, with the Eclipse Foundry in Dudley securing the contract. By the time the second set of cast-iron houses was completed, the construction costs were higher than brick-built houses, so no more were built.

Museum staff want to hear from anyone who has any 1940s to 1960s domestic memorabilia that can used to help furnish and decorate the houses.

The team can be contacted by emailing collections@bclm.com or calling 0121 521 5600.