>>We did!? Why in many of the old B&W sit-coms from back in the 50s and 60s, and films, the guy went out to work, pipe in mouth, the "little lady" stayed home, with her pinny on, and the coloured maid came in :-) Tom & Jerry's household always had a maid (well a fat behind and stockings down at her ankles was all we saw of her!)
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>I don't know why the sitcoms looked like that, but my life didn't look much like those sitcoms. For one thing, in my neighborhood, not everyone was white. I can't remember any family in my neighborhood that had full-time help.

Just like all the ladies in the western movies always had perfectly combed hair, no matter what fire/mud/water/dust they went through during the same scene.

These movies were true documentaries... mostly about the way the movies were made, not so much about what they were about.