Research Output
‘Common Sense Slimming’ - How the contribution of Joan Robins, television’s ‘afternoon cook’, was not the perfect-fit for the culture of the BBC in the 1950s
  Cooking on television after WWII mainly addressed ‘the housewife’ audience, while women themselves were presenting television cooking programmes. History has largely forgotten the presenter Joan Robins, who appeared alongside Philip Harben and Marguerite Patten on BBC broadcasts of the late 1940s and 1950s. Robins specialised in ‘common-sense’ cookery, nutrition, and health, including a controversial slimming programme that featured advice that was later disputed by the British Medical Association. Robins’ ideas and innovations were not always welcomed by the BBC, who preferred more straightforward cookery demonstrations, resulting in her turning her back on broadcasting to concentrate on her other careers.

  • Type:

    Article

  • Date:

    18 May 2022

  • Publication Status:

    Published

  • DOI:

    10.1177/17496020221103469

  • Cross Ref:

    10.1177/17496020221103469

  • ISSN:

    1749-6020

  • Funders:

    Edinburgh Napier Funded

Citation

Geddes, K. (2022). ‘Common Sense Slimming’ - How the contribution of Joan Robins, television’s ‘afternoon cook’, was not the perfect-fit for the culture of the BBC in the 1950s. Critical Studies in Television, 17(3), 254-268. https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020221103469

Authors

Keywords

BBC, television cookery, women on television, Joan Robins, food media

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