Household Management.
The lack of domestic help was a long-standing problem for married women in
the Australian colonies, particularly in Western Australia. Girls who were
sponsored to become servants often got married themselves soon after arriving.
'Young wives starting housekeeping for the first time are often obliged to take upon themselves a huge share of the household work, the domestic staff consisting, possibly of a young inexperienced maid-of-all-work. Consequently a household apron or overall has become a necessary item in the trousseau of many bride and some of these aprons are quite dainty looking and are made of fancy linens and muslins. Many are made on the lines of the ever-popular kimono fastened either at the back or in the front'.
The Swan Express 13 September 1912In the early 1900s, the ban on information about contraception, plus the lack of modern day labour saving devises meant married women spent most of their time working in the home.
Men’s stiffened collars were boiled in the copper, scrubbed against a corrugated washing board, soaked in a gooey starch, and finally ironed with several heavy flat irons. Before using the flat irons they had to be heated on the massive wood stoves, cleaned with bath brick, then smoothed with bees-wax.
The need to train girls for the industry of ‘Home Making’ was a key part of early educational philosophy. As early as 1885 the then Minister for Education, Mr. E. H. Wittenoom envisaged setting up classes in Dressmaking and Cookery for girls to train the young so that they might be brought up to ‘make their living on the lands of the Colony’. (Education Department file 3278/96).
Domestic classes for girls were introduced at Midland Junction Technical School as part of the Continuation School program. Girls were taught Needlework, Dress-cutting and Millinery; and could choose to do either Household Accounts, Cookery, or Home Nursing. In 1910, approval was given for converting the old teachers quarters at the Midland Junction State School into a Household Management Centre for girls. The centre was to combine cooking and laundry sections. Fittings included:
 | a shelf for cleaning irons |
| one blue flame Perfection Stove and oven (2 burners) |
| 2 Metter's stoves |
| a dresser |
| 2 baths |
| coppers and troughs |
| shelves in the maids’ rooms |
| hat and cloak pegs |
| a wood shed. |
It was completed by November of that year and classes commenced in 1911.
Early recipes, such as those belonging to Hilma
Campbell, show the very practical nature of the courses.
By the 1920s Dresscutting and Dressmaking had become regular subjects with students undertaking a practical and theory exam. In the first year students were given two hours to draft a tight fitting bodice, sleeve and skirt pattern to given measurements. By the second year they were expected to know what measurements were required "to draft, a slip on a frock with a flare at the hem", and "to explain the difference between the sporting type of fashion now prevailing and the feminine type". Technical School Examination Results 1925
After the Depression financial constraints of government spending were
beginning to show on the building and its equipment, and it became a struggle to
keep classes operating. In 1935 Jessie Fitzpatrick, the instructress at
the Midland Junction Household Management Centre sent an urgent letter to Miss
Mabel Yewers, the Inspector and Organiser of Domestic Science stating that all oven
work had to be postponed due to the useless condition of the stoves. White
ants had completely eaten out the wall of the store-room and had also caused the
fence to fall down. A general lack of suitable accommodation meant that
girls began to be excluded from classes.
The District Inspector approached Miss Yewers who in turn assured him that she would recommend that a new block be placed on the Estimates. The Midland Junction Parents and Citizens’ Association also tried to secure a new building but the response from the Director of Education was that it was ‘impossible for the Department to obtain funds for the extension of this work at the present time’. It was decided instead to renovate the existing building. Miss Yewers stressed that the walls and ceilings were in a very dirty state - there was no record of them having been painted for over 15 years. The Instructress, Jessie Fitzpatrick, had raised money during the year to paint the furniture but according to Miss Yewers, ‘their whiteness only intensifies the neglected appearance of the rest of the building’.
Cooking was suspended once again when it was believed the chimney was about
to collapse or cause the whole building to be burnt down. Shortly after,
all classes had to be abandoned due to flooding until emergency repairs on the
worn out pipes could be made.
Miss Yewers informed the Director that there were 48 girls entirely excluded from Domestic Science. Needlework could not be taught at all due to the lack of facilities. In desperation Miss Yewers approached the Church of Christ to use their chapel. Meanwhile the centre continued to experience more maintenance problems – white ants had eaten the girls lavatory and there were damp bricks in the walls.
Finally in 1939 the Director of Education sent a memo to Miss Yewers informing her that approval had been given for the erection of one room at Midland Junction to ‘allow of work in household management functioning more satisfactorily’. The new room was for Cookery, but it was to be another two years before it came to fruition. In the meantime Jessie Fitzpatrick reported that the centre was now infested with rats, which were destroying books. She made an urgent request ‘that a man be sent to eradicate the pest’.
Delays occurred after Miss Yewers' list of requirements doubled the
budget. By now the white ants had progressed to the doorway. After
an urgent memo from the Director of Education Miss Yewers promised to liaise
with the architect with the view to reducing costs. However her
suggestions further increased costs by an extra £50. The plans were
sent back to the drawing board and the size of the building was significantly
reduced until it came within the original budget. This time, according to
the Director of Education in his memo to the Under Treasurer, ‘only bare
essentials have been requisitioned’. Letters from Education Department File 1389/35
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