Wartime woman would like to meet... 1940s obsessive who eats rations and sleeps in an air-raid shelter dreams of being a traditional housewife - but can't find her vintage man 

  • Joanna Francis has spent the last ten years transforming her home in Scunthorpe into a 1940s replica  
  • She also lives her life as a woman in the 40s would have done - even going as far as to recreate blackouts 
  • Joanna is on the hunt for a man who shares her passion for the past but admits most of them may be dead 

Advertisement

For wartime enthusiast Joanna Francis - who doesn't own a TV or computer, never drives and hasn't used a washing machine for ten years - finding a man is more challenging than for most women.

In fact, Joanna, from near Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, is so immersed in the past from her wardrobe and the decor in her house, to chopping her own wood and heating her water on the stove, that the thirtysomething is the first to admit that 'people find me quite hard to live with.'

She hopes to find someone who can join her back in the early Forties and even sleep in her blackout bunker and promises that she would be a traditional wife, putting tea on the table and doing their washing and ironing, but says, 'I think I was born a few decades too late'.

Joanna Francis has spent ten years transforming her home into a replica of how it would have been in the 1940s and has dedicated her life to living that way 

Joanna Francis has spent ten years transforming her home into a replica of how it would have been in the 1940s and has dedicated her life to living that way 

Joanna, whose entire life is frozen around 1939, only uses an outside toilet, she cycles everywhere on a 1937 Raleigh pedal bike.

She said: 'I've had a few boyfriends, but I know I'm a bit of a novelty and once that novelty wears off, well, most people find me quite hard to live with.

'I would have their tea on their table when they came home from work, I'd do their washing and ironing. In fact, I'd take care of everything. The only problem is that most people who want that kind of housewife are either in their 90s or dead.

'I might just have to accept that I was born just a few decades too late. But until then, I will keep on looking.'

She certainly is a one-of-a-kind. 'There's really only me who lives like this 24/7. Every morning I come downstairs and empty my chamber pot in the loo outside. People think it's a hardship, but it's not - you get used it.

'I think the neighbours realised I was serious when I ripped out the kitchen and bathroom as soon as I moved in. The units were just too modern.' 

Joanna - who wears authentic Land Girls' uniforms - spends an average morning doing her washing using soap flakes and an old dolly tub.

But now two years on Ms Francis has revealed she has found love and was recently proposed to - at a wartime dance 

Joanna doesn't own a television or a computer and she even recreates blackouts in her home near Scunthorpe. Here she is pictured reading the Picture Post magazine, a popular publication at that time 

Joanna has ensured that even her wardrobe is historically accurate
She is seen here in her garden wearing authentic Land Girl's uniform

Joanna has ensured that even her wardrobe is historically accurate seen here in her garden wearing authentic Land Girl's uniform 

Joanna spends an average morning doing her washing using soap flakes and an old dolly tub and hasn't used a washing machine for ten years 

Joanna spends an average morning doing her washing using soap flakes and an old dolly tub and hasn't used a washing machine for ten years 

She also swapped central heating for a coal fires - and converted an out building to a bricked up outside toilet. 

To outsiders Joanna's life may seem like a hassle but she says that it is the life she has dreamed of since being a child. 

She told Survivor79: 'From being very young the 30s and 40s always had a pull on me. Visiting museums with 30s/40s rooms I just wanted the rooms to be "alive". Now some years later and with blacker hands I've created my "1939 house".

'Each room I have put back near as possible, being used as it was originally meant to be.The 1930s house hold chores for a woman are very repetitive and routine/pre-planning is essential. 

She added that her way of living hasn't affected her social life: 'Even though I live in "1939", I still have a good social life and enjoy a beer or a glass of whiskey while listening to Al Boley, Glenn Miller, Max Miller, George Formby etc..'

The part-time cleaner also refuses to drive a car instead opting to cycle everywhere on a 1937 Raleigh pedal bike

The part-time cleaner also refuses to drive a car instead opting to cycle everywhere on a 1937 Raleigh pedal bike

To make her idyllic world even more realistic she uses the limited rationing provided to people who lived in the time of the Second World War. 

Joanna said: 'I've always had what you'd call quite bland tastes. I like sausage and mash, pie and potatoes. One year I did try to live off the equivalent of rations, but that was a step too far - even for me. 

'I'd make a sandwich and then realise that I'd eaten an entire week's ration of cheese.' Joanna's one concession to modern life is a mobile phone. 

She enjoys her quaint life - but sometimes it means the modern world can catch Joanne off guard.

Describing seeing Britain's riots in 2011, a horrified Joanna said: 'I worked for a while at Sainsbury's and I remember going on my break one day when someone had left the television on in the staff room. 

Joanna (pictured here in her bedroom) says that there is just one thing missing from her idealistic life, a man, and says she promises to act as the perfect house wife to whomever agrees to marry her 

Joanna (pictured here in her bedroom) says that there is just one thing missing from her idealistic life, a man, and says she promises to act as the perfect house wife to whomever agrees to marry her 

She admits that most of the men looking for a woman with her approach to life are likely to be in their 90s or dead. Joanna is seen here in her dated sitting room

She admits that most of the men looking for a woman with her approach to life are likely to be in their 90s or dead. Joanna is seen here in her dated sitting room

Joanna says that most people think her life is a hassle but she says it has been her dream home since visiting museums as a little girl

Joanna says that most people think her life is a hassle but she says it has been her dream home since visiting museums as a little girl

'The cameras kept switching from Liverpool to London to Birmingham and Leeds and for a minute I honestly thought that we were at war. I ran and got a colleague - but he told me it was just a series of riots - I couldn't believe what I was seeing. 

'They said it like it was "just one of those things" and that's something I definitely notice about other people. They have become desensitised. Out there everything is faster and louder.' 

Joanna has met friends through wartime weekend events but is adamant that most of the people only use the facade as a hobby and go back to normal homes and lives. 

She added: 'People will pop round and think I'm not in because there are no lights on - but I tell them it's the blackout. 

'The only problem is that when people find out I live like this they keep bringing me things. I've lost count of the number of gas masks people have brought me.' 

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.