Memories from Shirley, 80
I grew
up in Melbourne . When I first went to the property outside
Hughenden as a young bride in 1952, we had a very old 32V
power plant. Every half hour, the lights would flicker and
one had to go out to the shed and add more cooling water to
the tank above the engine. The kitchen had a fuel stove, bare
timber floors with large cracks between the boards, iron walls
and no fly screens. There was an old kerosene fridge, but
you couldn't keep meat in it because it wouldn't stay cold
enough. I used a petrol iron and cakes had to be beaten by
hand.
I was
thrilled when the boss, the owner of the property, finally
said I could have an electric washing machine (about 1955).
The laundry had been a skillion with tubs and a big black
copper about 30 feet from the house with no water laid on.
I had to wash for myself, my husband, the boss and two little
children.
A new
shed was built with concrete floor – half for the laundry
and half for the new Lister power plant. The washing machine
was a Simpson with a wringer attached. This was a great asset
as washing blankets was a big job and they were difficult
to wring by hand. The men's moleskins had to be scrubbed with
a scrubbing brush – this was difficult too. The machine brought
me great joy and hours less work.
The
power was laid on to the house so we now had lights in every
room and were able to read at night. However, when we went
to bed, the power was turned off and, just like with the old
system, we had to use torches to attend the babies. When the
engine broke, we had to revert to carbide lights and kerosene
lanterns – smelly and unreliable.
Later,
we had a 240V capacity marine engine installed. Finally –
electric power in the kitchen. Now I had an electric iron
and an enormous electric fry pan and a cold room with eutectic
plates (so that when the power was turned off at night, the
cold room stayed cool). We were able to store meat and milk
and even have bought ice cream. This was something like seventh
heaven.
Eventually,
in 1974, we got rural power and could have lights right through
the night if we needed them.
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