Twenties & Thirties

During the twenties and thirties, chains often replaced sash cords in the domestic setting. Chains had been employed for large plate-glass windows in the 19th Century, but were then rare in houses. By 1939, the use of sash windows was confined largely to neo-Georgian buildings, particularly post offices, banks, public houses and local authority housing estates.

After the Second World War, the sash window was probably at its lowest level of popularity. The steel spiral balance began to replace the pulley and weights, which were considered expensive to make, and old-fasioned. Steel windows and mass-produced casements became universal, and the sash was considered "old-fasioned", although it was to be seen in revived Georgian settings.

By the 1950's, many owners of older houses were replacing sash windows with up-to-date steel casements that were hinged for easy cleaning. By the later 1960's, it became common to replace sash windows, particularly in smaller terraced houses, with plate-glass, often with louvered vents at the top, thus disfiguring many splendid Victorian houses. By the mid 1970's the aluminium window, with its sealed glass unit, began to supersede the idea of internal double glazing, and window replacement began on a scale never before seen in this country. By the early 1980's, this process increased. It became quite usual, not only for the actual sash to be replaced, but for the whole frame to be replaced by a hardwood frame, and aluminium double-glazed units - totally unsuitable aesthetically for an older house. Many 18th and 19th Century houses have been ruined aesthetically by such alterations.