A paper label Foremost Condensed Milk Can Label with information in French and Vietnamese. Written on the back is a letter to Dear Mother and Father, please remember to send your son a .....(illegible - possibly a scarf?) in VietnameseRecovered from an abandoned bunker systemletter, letter written on label, propaganda, psycological warfare, nva/vc, condensed milk can label, terry michael collie, 2790361, 7th battalion, 1st battalion, the royal australian regiment

Port of Portland Authority archivesFront: (no inscriptions) Back: (no inscriptions)port of portland

Port of Portland Authority archivesFront: (no inscriptions) Back: (no inscriptions)port of portland

Port of Portland Authority archivesFront: (no inscriptions) Back: (no inscriptions)port of portland

A small pocket sized book containing 100 recipes, health and beauty hints, hints on etiquette, frauds and swindles exposed. 128 Pages

Lifeguard Milk was a product name for milk sold by the Bacchus Marsh Dairymen's Co-operative Association and its subsidiary the Federal Milk company. In 1938 the Diaryman's co-operative began trading as the Lieguard Milk Company. This company was a major employer in Bacchus Marsh and was in business until the late 1960s.Timber box used for packing condensed milk products for export.Stow away from engine room and boilers: Lifeguuard Milk Products on long side. Export Lifeguard Sweetened Condensed Milk 48 x 14 OZ tins Made in Australia on narrow side.dairying, milk factories, lifeguard milk company

Advertisement for Gold Medal Milk from "Domestic Science Handbook: for use by the pupils of domestic science schools". An example of 1940s advertising through cooking and homemaker books. In this book, instructions are given for many aspects of household management, interspersed with advertisements for useful items. This Gold Medal Milk advertisement is for tinned condensed milk. The page includes an advertisement for Soyer's Baking Powder.An example of mid 20th century advertising through 'how-to' books.Digital copy of advertisement from a bookhistoric advertisements, domestic science, nsw cookery teachers association, gold medal milk, condensed milk, baking powder, soyers baking powder

The Nestle factory at Dennington was commenced in 1907 and proved to be a big boost to the local economy. The first product manufactured was sweetened condensed milk which began in 1911 and by 1944 was the largest plant in the Southern Hemisphere. They went on to produce Lactogen, full cream milk powder and in 1966 Milo and Nescafe. On average up to 650 people were employed. Nestle relinquished their link with the site when it was sold to Fonterra in 2005. A relic from a significant part of Warrnambool’s history, industry and agriculture and a large number of long serving employees.Terracotta coloured six sided, one side flat and the reverse with raised bars. Material is either clay or concrete. Handwritten in pen, “from the floor of the Nestle Factory Dennington. warrnambool, dennington, nestle, condensed milk, nescafe, milo, lactogen.

This is a Nestle badge. Henri Nestle formed the Nestle Company in 1867 with the headquarters based in Switzerland. Today this company is the largest nutrition, health and wellness company in the world. Nestle Australia was established in 1908 and a Nestle factory was established in Dennington (Warrnambool) in 1911. At this time the name, Nestle, was retained but the factory was actually operated by the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. The Dennington factory was for many years the world's largest milk condensery. In 1948 the factory began producing Nescafe coffee. In 2008, after 94 years of operations, the Dennington factory was sold to the New Zealand firm of Fonterra. This badge is of particular interest because of the many years of local association with the firm of Nestle (Dennington Factory).Circular 14 carat gold stud featuring a raised image of a bird feeding baby bird in a nest, twig and leaves.an text and a minute diamond.NESTLEnestle factory, dennington, anglo-swiss condensed milk company, warrnambool history

This booklet records in brief the history of the Nestles Factory at Dennington, Victoria from its opening in 1911 to its sale in 2005 to Fonterra Milk, Australia and the closing of the Nestles association with the Warrnambool district. The factory initially produced Sweetened Condensed Milk and by 1918 was the largest Milk Condensery in the world. In later years there were productions of cheese, Sunshine Powdered Milk and Nescafe Instant Coffee. Six two-storey residences were built for employees and there were twice-daily trains from Warrnambool to the factory and back for many years. The Nestanglo Social and Sports Club, established in 1923, was important in the community life of Dennington and beyond. This booklet will be of great use as it gives a very good summary of the history of Nestles Factory at Dennington and reveals how important the factory was to the Warrnambool region and to Australia.This is a paperback booklet of 37 pages. The cover is white with a black and white photograph of the Nestles Factory (Alex Wilkins photograph) set in a brown background. The pages contain printed material and photographs and blank pages at the back for autographs. The pages are stapled.Front cover: Nestle (with logo), The Dennington Factory, Looking Back, 1907-2005 Back cover: Nestle (with logo) dennington nestles factory,, dennington, milk condensery, sweetened condensed milk manufacturing

Plastic bag containing multiple items. Eg Tube of choc flavoured confectionery cream spread, tube of sweetened condensed milk, satchets of chocolate drink powder, packets of biscuit Krispie multipack, tins of fruit.Label reads SVC# 3205907 Sgt. Eddie Hatzakortzian 105 DD Workshops Ph:- 0408232428 1 x Combat Ration Pack (1Man 24hr), 1 x Portable Stove, 1 X Pck Hexamine Tabletsration pack, fruit tins, chocolate satchets

This certificate was awarded in appreciation of 25 years service to the Nestle Company which operated a dairy factory at Dennington in Warrnambool. The company came to Warrnambool in 1907 and purchased 17 acres at Dennington and a new dairy plant was established by 1911. At its peak it employed 600 people and processed 55000 gallons daily in the milk condensery which is a process whereby much of the water content is drawn from the milk and sugar is added making a product which has a long shelf life and because it is processed at low temperature the milk maintains much of its vitamin content.A certificate which links a local person to a long and well known industry in Warrnambool and the Western district.Cream soft card certificate with red and black text.Mr H Goodall. Nestle and Anglo Swiss Condensed Milk Co Australasia Ltd. dated 1st December 1944. The signature of the Chairman of directors is unreadable.warrnambool, nestle dennington, h goodall

Items are part of a One man 24 hour ration pack..1) Tin diced two fruits, 140 g weight. .2) Tin chicken & vegetables, 185 g weight. .3) Tin steak & eggs, 165 g weight. .4) Tube sweetened condensed milk, 71 g net weight. .5) Tube butter concentrate 28 g net weight.military equipment - provisions, passchendaele barracks trust, rations

Common every day items food used by the ADF in combat situations. This shows the combat ration one man that has been used by the ADF since the Vietnam War era. The CR1M consists of two main meals, various light snacks, sundry and beverage items. The CR1M is designed to provide the daily nutritional value to sustain a soldier over a 24 hour period. Failure to consume all food items with this period will impact upon functional energy levels due to an unbalanced nutrition intake. Excluding tea and coffee aal food items are consumable either hot or cold. It is advised to fill one cup canteen with water, immerse one 250g main meal pouch and heat for 10 - 15 minutes. For heat source use use issued hexamine stove and tablets. residual boiled water is safe and may be used for hot beverage makingCombat Ration One Man (24 hour). Sealed in a clear plastic bag with the letter 'C' printed in blue on the front (indicating that contents are menu 'C'). This pack includes small packages of supplies in various shapes and sizes, including: M and M's chocolate, potato with onion powder, sweetened condensed milk, cream spread, tea bags, safety matches and toilet paper. Front - Blue text - C / NOT FOR PRIVATE RESALE TO PUBLIC ration pack, consumables, supplies

This is a book of 122 pages. It has a dark green cover with a gold compass pattern and gold printing on the front cover and spine. The pages contain printed text, maps, diagrams, graphs, colour illustrations and sepia -toned photographs.non-fictionThe history of the first 80 years of the Nestle's Companydennington nestle's factory, dennington, warrnambool, milk production, milo, nescafe production, warrnambool manufacturing

The Nestle factory at Dennington was commenced in 1907 and proved to be a big boost to the local economy. The first product manufactured was sweetened condensed milk which began in 1911 and by 1944 was the largest plant in the Southern Hemisphere. They went on to produce Lactogen, full cream milk powder and in 1966 Milo and Nescafe. On average up to 650 people were employed. Nestle relinquished their link with the site when it was sold to Fonterra in 2005. A link to one of the longest established businesses in Warrnambool. Many people supplied milk and it employed many local people and as such has strong links to the district. White china cup with black transfer of Dennington factory and dates in black.Dennington factory 100 years 1911-2011nestle dennington, history of warrnambool, nestle milk products dennington

The photograph shows SEC Ballarat tram No. 33 turning from Main St into Barkly St on its way to Mt Pleasant. In the background is a shop selling Sunshine Biscuits and Carnation condensed milk. As well there is a truck with a canvas rear cover and two schoolboys and their bike by the tram stop pole. The tram still has its WW2 window paint scheme. Photo by I Ken Winney 12/1949.Yields information about tram 33 and the corner of Main and Barkly Sts in 12/1949.Black and white print with photographer's notes on the rear.On rear in ink "No. 33 turning fro Main into Barkly Sts Ballarat en route to Mt Pleasant 12/1949, I K Winney"tramcars, tram 33, barkly st, main st

Early in World War I local women's groups in Australia began working to provide provide tobacco, cakes, puddings, condensed milk, sugar, biscuits, newspapers and other 'luxury' items to supplement the Australian soldier's army rations. These fund-raising bodies were amalgamated in 1916 to form a national body, The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF), which undertook to provide 'comforts' to all Australians abroad. Sales of this book raised funds for The Australian Comforts Fund.A thin book with a brown fabric cover. On the cover is a black line drawing of a koala in a tree. It contains a summary of the work done by the Australian Comforts Funds at the front, Anzac and Mudros, at the camps in Egypt with a summary of gifts and statement of accounts.The book sold for 3/- or 15 P.T. in aid of the A.C.F. It was edited by William Beit.

A field ration, combat ration or ration pack is a canned or pre-packaged meal, easily prepared and eaten, transported by military troops on the battlefield. They are distinguished from regular military rations by virtue of being designed for minimal preparation in the field, using canned, pre-cooked or freeze-dried foods, powdered beverage mixes and concentrated food bars, as well as for long shelf life.Australian Defence Force Combat Ration pack for one man. Contains 30 items: tomato soup, processed cheddar cheese, blackberry fruits spread, sweetened condensed milk, cream cracker buscuits, scotch finger biscuits, instant coffee x2, chocolate drinking powder, sugar x8, mixed berry beverage powder, Cottee's cordial powder, tropical fruit grains, salt, pepper, sweet chilli sauce, tabasco sauce, arrowmint chewing gum, tangerine lemon lollies, toothpicks, scourer, napkins, bottle opener.Australian Defence Force Combat Ration (One Man) contents list.ration pack, australian army ration pack

This is a booklet of 24 pages. The front cover has a black and white photograph and black printing and the back cover has a colour photograph, a logo and black printing. The pages contain printed text and black and white and colour photographs. The booklet is stapled.non-fictionCentenary History of the Dennington Factorynestles factory dennington, fonterra factory dennington

This glass jar once contained Australian-made Nestle’s Malted Milk. The jar carries the company’s familiar logo. This jar would have originally had a screw-top metal lid. The large jar may have been used in a canteen, hospitality business or hospital due to its capacity. The jar was owned by Dr W.R. Angus, surgeon and oculist, who lived in Warrnambool with his wife and growing family for over thirty years. It may have been purchased from the Nestle factory in nearby Dennington. The jar was donated by his family and is part of the W.R Angus Collection. Nestles Malted Milk powder is usually added to either hot or cold milk as a nutritious drink supplement. The powder is a combination of evaporated whole milk powder, malted barley and wheat flour. Nestle began in 1867 and its products were available in Australia since the 1880s. Australia had become Nestle’s second-largest export market by 1906 and by 1908 Nestle had set up business in Australia. The Nestle factory in Dennington, Warrnambool, opened in 1911 and was the world’s largest condensed milk plant. For over 100 years the factory produced dried milk powder from the produce of local dairy farmers. It was a major employer for the district until an announcement was made on May 2019 by its recent owner Fonterra that it was closing its Dennington site for financial reasons. This Nestle Malted Milk jar is connected to the history of Warrnambool, as it was owned by the daughter of Dr W. R. Angus and his wife Gladys. It is part of the W.R. Angus Collection, which is notable for still being located at the site connected to Doctor Angus, Warrnambool’s last Port Medical Officer. It is also connected through its manufacturer Nestle. which had a branch in Warrnambool from 1911 to 2019, overlapping the time when the Angus family resided there, from 1939 to the 1970s. The jar is also significant as an example of the early-20th-century food found in local households and businesses, and could have been purchased from the local Nestle factory.Round tall clear glass jar with a wide mouth, short neck and straight sides on a cylindrical body. The jar has been blow-moulded in two pieces with a side seam running from the base to the top of the lip. There are air bubbles in the glass, and the base has been ground flat. The outside of the mouth is threaded. Inscriptions are moulded on one side and there is a round logo with text around an image of a mother bird with three young birds in a nest. The jar once contained Nestles Malted Milk and was made in Australia around the 1920s. The jar is part of the W.R. Angus Collection.Inscription: “PREPARED / IN AUSTRALIA” and “TRADE MARK / REGISTERED” Logo; “NESTLES MALTED MILK” around image [bird feeding young in next]flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, nestle, malted milk, glass jar, nestle jar, nestle malted milk, dennington, nestle australia, w.r. angus collection

The Wodonga Historical Society Haeusler Collection provides invaluable insight into life in late nineteenth and early twentieth century north east Victoria. The collection comprises manuscripts, personal artefacts used by the Haeusler family on their farm in Wodonga, and a set of glass negatives which offer a unique visual snapshot of the domestic and social lives of the Haeusler family and local Wodonga community. The Haeusler family migrated from Prussia (Germany) to South Australia in the 1840s and 1850s, before purchasing 100 acres of Crown Land made available under the Victorian Lands Act 1862 (also known as ‘Duffy’s Land Act’) in 1866 in what is now Wodonga West. The Haeusler family were one of several German families to migrate from South Australia to Wodonga in the 1860s. This item is a Nestlé Lactogen baby formula measuring scoop used in the preparation of formula for bottle feeding. It was used by Ilma Margaret Ernestine Haeusler (née Tasker, b.1900 in Tallangatta) to feed her son Alfred who was born in 1922. Ilma died in childbirth in 1928. This measuring spoon is one of several objects in the Haeusler Collection concerning early childhood that provide insight into family and home life in early twentieth century Wodonga. The first fully artificial infant milk formula, Farine Lactee, was developed in the 1860s. Companies continued to attempt to develop synthetic formulas which nutritionally replicated human breast milk in the decades that followed. Nestlé began producing Lactogen in 1921. It was marketed to women as a nutritionally superior substitute for breast milk, and as a nutritional supplement for breast feeding mothers. From the 1920s, when the Haeusler Collection measure was produced and used, Nestlé employed nurses in major Australian cities to promote Lactogen and its supposed health benefits to new mothers. They also used print advertisements to offer free product samples and instruction booklets advising on pregnancy and infant care for the same purpose. Nestlé was formed in 1905 by the merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1866 by brothers George and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé. The company grew significantly during the First World War and again following the Second World War, expanding its offerings beyond its early condensed milk and infant formula products. In the twenty-first century, Nestlé has faced criticism and boycotts over its decision to market baby formula as an alternative to breastfeeding in developing countries. The adoption of bottle feeding in countries without access to clean water and sanitation infrastructure has contributed to high infant mortality rates. This item has well documented provenance and a known owner. It forms part of a significant and representative historical collection which reflects the local history of Wodonga. It contributes to our understanding of domestic and family life in early twentieth century Wodonga, as well as providing interpretative capacity for themes including local history, social history, and women’s history.Silver toned alloy measuring spoon for Lactogen infant formula, produced by food and drink manufacturing company Nestlé. Embossed with the Lactogen brand name, and teaspoon and tablespoon measurements. "LACTOGEN MEASURE" on central handle/"TABLESPOON" on large inner scoop/"TEASPOON" on small inner scoopchildren, babies, household, domestic, motherhood, family, kitchen

Mary Tolhurst M&DHS - March 29th Dunvegan Willows Park Melton 1992 Ladies Oral History Day Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transfer to CD 2011 by Tom Wood Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 I was born in Rockbank, and when I was five years old moved to Toolern Vale and started and finished school there. Toolern Vale only consisted of the Store, Post Office and shop, where you could buy your fodder, and pollard supplies, the Hall, the little Church and the bluestone School. The School changed shape three times from the 1800s[1869] til the time I went there. There was four generations of my family that went there and it was destroyed by fire in 1965. Marjorie nee Myers Butler. Yes, I remember along with it your lovely Ronisch piano. Mary, quite true! Marj what you say about the Ronisch piano. When I came the age to learn music my mum and dad couldn’t really afford it, but still what parents do for their children. They had Marj go along with them and pick this lovely Ronisch piano. It was known round the district. Everyone commented about the loss that lovely piano. After leaving school it was war time, 1939, then it was work, When I was 7 year old I was put out into the cow yard. In 1940 when the soldiers were going away our milk was confiscated it had to go to Bacchus Marsh. It used to go the Sunbury to be brine cooled and then go to Melbourne. Then they took it then to the Lifeguard Milk Factory at Bacchus Marsh. It had to go as condensed milk to the soldiers. This year is 50 years of the Land Army. I was an unofficial Land Army but they still kept check on me. I went onto married life and I followed the cows right through [howls of laughter] and we went on until the 1965 fire. That’s when we got out of the cows. Marjorie asks, was Granny Watts your grandmother or great grandmother? Mary: She was my great grandmother, the midwife of Melton. The 1965 fire started ¾ of a mile above our place, Frank Ryan’s sheds were burnt and his house was saved, then it wiped the School out, the Hall, the Church the Post Office and Store and little house that was Charlie Charlton’s in the early days. Mrs Wilson’s place was saved by the Fire Brigade by pulling boards off the side, and from there it went over the hill and it was stopped at the Rockbank Railway Station. If it had of got over the railway they said it would have gone into Werribee. A lot was burnt out in that strip. Mary nee Nixon Collins: 18 houses burnt that day. Audience question, did Melton get burnt that day? Ray: No. It came down through the Toolern Vale road and cut across about a mile and a half from the cross roads at Toolern Vale from north westerly to the south east and cut through over the Keilor road. Mary: It came in across the creek at Funstons in Toolern, then through Jim Minns. Dorothy was it your place then [nee Knox Beaty] to Ken Beatty’s and from there it went through to Doug McIntosh’s and to Cockbills and the wind changed and it came across to the railway line, and that is where they stopped it. [the cause of the fire was controversial, they had been burning off the night before and there was some talk of someone starting it. It was very hot and very strong wind, it was a terrible day] Ray: When the fire went through McIntosh’s they had a haystack on the north side of their house and the haystack got caught and the fire burnt a hole through the side of the house and the boys pyjamas on the bed. The house was saved. It came through like and express train roaring at you, I was at McIntosh’s when it went roaring past. You couldn’t see, dust and ash and tremendous heat. The fire started about 12 o’clock Jack [husband] said to me, fire, I said where, where? Just up the road, what have I got to do? and he went out and he had gone to the fire and left me. I tried to get the animals and I put out buckets of water, putting the buckets of water out saved my life. Chas Jones and another friend of his came in and they picked up the buckets of water, I thought I had better get out because the fire was on the haystack up the paddock and when I went to go out through the north side of the house and couldn’t get out, I’ll go through the front gate so I went around the other side of the house. I got caught there and Chassy Jones and his friend came round carrying the bucket of water and I panicked. He threw the bucket of water over me. Well that is what saved my life because I was damp, whenever we tried to leave the ball of fire came over me and over my shoulder and my hair was scorched. Chassy Jones lost his truck and Keith Watt his big truck because he had the water tank on it and they couldn’t get out of the yard. Granny Watt’s house, the first private hospital had condemned and Jack and I pulled it down and had it moved up to Toolern and had it in the yard a fortnight and it was all burnt and we didn’t get the shed we wanted. Every 13 years right up until Ash Wednesday fires, there has always been fire close at hand. The 1952 fire went down the back of the house, the 1965 fire took the house, and the house that I live in now, it is the third house that has been on that spot. When the Hunters owned it, Mrs Hunter was nearly burnt in her bed. They had a 13 roomed house. In 1924 the house burnt down, and there was another house was built there and that was the one that burnt down. Edna: So Mary built a brick veneer house. Marjorie: like the three little pigs [laughter] Mary Tolhurst member of the Melton & District Historical Society in the Melton and Moorabool Leader local identities, local special interest groups

Mary Tolhurst M&DHS - March 29th Dunvegan Willows Park Melton 1992 Ladies Oral History Day Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transfer to CD 2011 by Tom Wood Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 I was born in Rockbank, and when I was five years old moved to Toolern Vale and started and finished school there. Toolern Vale only consisted of the Store, Post Office and shop, where you could buy your fodder, and pollard supplies, the Hall, the little Church and the bluestone School. The School changed shape three times from the 1800s[1869] til the time I went there. There was four generations of my family that went there and it was destroyed by fire in 1965. Marjorie nee Myers Butler. Yes, I remember along with it your lovely Ronisch piano. Mary, quite true! Marj what you say about the Ronisch piano. When I came the age to learn music my mum and dad couldn’t really afford it, but still what parents do for their children. They had Marj go along with them and pick this lovely Ronisch piano. It was known round the district. Everyone commented about the loss that lovely piano. After leaving school it was war time, 1939, then it was work, When I was 7 year old I was put out into the cow yard. In 1940 when the soldiers were going away our milk was confiscated it had to go to Bacchus Marsh. It used to go the Sunbury to be brine cooled and then go to Melbourne. Then they took it then to the Lifeguard Milk Factory at Bacchus Marsh. It had to go as condensed milk to the soldiers. This year is 50 years of the Land Army. I was an unofficial Land Army but they still kept check on me. I went onto married life and I followed the cows right through [howls of laughter] and we went on until the 1965 fire. That’s when we got out of the cows. Marjorie asks, was Granny Watts your grandmother or great grandmother? Mary: She was my great grandmother, the midwife of Melton. The 1965 fire started ¾ of a mile above our place, Frank Ryan’s sheds were burnt and his house was saved, then it wiped the School out, the Hall, the Church the Post Office and Store and little house that was Charlie Charlton’s in the early days. Mrs Wilson’s place was saved by the Fire Brigade by pulling boards off the side, and from there it went over the hill and it was stopped at the Rockbank Railway Station. If it had of got over the railway they said it would have gone into Werribee. A lot was burnt out in that strip. Mary nee Nixon Collins: 18 houses burnt that day. Audience question, did Melton get burnt that day? Ray: No. It came down through the Toolern Vale road and cut across about a mile and a half from the cross roads at Toolern Vale from north westerly to the south east and cut through over the Keilor road. Mary: It came in across the creek at Funstons in Toolern, then through Jim Minns. Dorothy was it your place then [nee Knox Beaty] to Ken Beatty’s and from there it went through to Doug McIntosh’s and to Cockbills and the wind changed and it came across to the railway line, and that is where they stopped it. [the cause of the fire was controversial, they had been burning off the night before and there was some talk of someone starting it. It was very hot and very strong wind, it was a terrible day] Ray: When the fire went through McIntosh’s they had a haystack on the north side of their house and the haystack got caught and the fire burnt a hole through the side of the house and the boys pyjamas on the bed. The house was saved. It came through like and express train roaring at you, I was at McIntosh’s when it went roaring past. You couldn’t see, dust and ash and tremendous heat. The fire started about 12 o’clock Jack [husband] said to me, fire, I said where, where? Just up the road, what have I got to do? and he went out and he had gone to the fire and left me. I tried to get the animals and I put out buckets of water, putting the buckets of water out saved my life. Chas Jones and another friend of his came in and they picked up the buckets of water, I thought I had better get out because the fire was on the haystack up the paddock and when I went to go out through the north side of the house and couldn’t get out, I’ll go through the front gate so I went around the other side of the house. I got caught there and Chassy Jones and his friend came round carrying the bucket of water and I panicked. He threw the bucket of water over me. Well that is what saved my life because I was damp, whenever we tried to leave the ball of fire came over me and over my shoulder and my hair was scorched. Chassy Jones lost his truck and Keith Watt his big truck because he had the water tank on it and they couldn’t get out of the yard. Granny Watt’s house, the first private hospital had condemned and Jack and I pulled it down and had it moved up to Toolern and had it in the yard a fortnight and it was all burnt and we didn’t get the shed we wanted. Every 13 years right up until Ash Wednesday fires, there has always been fire close at hand. The 1952 fire went down the back of the house, the 1965 fire took the house, and the house that I live in now, it is the third house that has been on that spot. When the Hunters owned it, Mrs Hunter was nearly burnt in her bed. They had a 13 roomed house. In 1924 the house burnt down, and there was another house was built there and that was the one that burnt down. Edna: So Mary built a brick veneer house. Marjorie: like the three little pigs [laughter] Collins - Mary M &DHS - March 29th 1992 Ladies oral history day at Dunvegan, Willows Park Melton. Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transferred to CD 2011 Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 Mary Collins nee Nixon born in Terang 1907 down in the Western District and we shifted to Melton when I was 5 and a half then I started school here in Melton, and spent all my school life at Melton State School, next to the Church of England, it’s called the Primary School now. I got my Qualifying and Merit Certificate then I left School because there wasn’t a High School. When I was 16 I got and job in the Melton Post Office and I worked there, I was the first girl in Melton to deliver the mail, and worked on the telephone and the Bank business. Mrs Ross and myself behind the counter, there were about 500 – 600 people in the Shire at that time and now when I go into the new Post Office there is 36,000 here there’s still 2 people behind the counter [laughter from the audience] and wait in a queue right out to the door. Times haven’t changed much have they! There was a manual telephone and you had to ring the handle, and there were eight subscribers when I went there and when I left there were 46 I had coaxed that number to join the telephone, even the police station didn’t have the phone on. The two Hotels and the two Chaff mills and Mr Ernie Barrie, Parkers the butcher, the Shire Office was No 8, and the Police house was next to the Courthouse on the corner. They were number 9. I can remember a lot of the numbers still. The Post Office was the Agency for the Commonwealth Bank [comment from audience member] I used to do the Bank business too, I left after four years there, mother wasn’t very well. The Inspector who used to come up to the Post Office asked me if I would take up casual Post Mistress and to go around the different districts but I refused and when Mrs Ross’s holidays were due I was the replacement. I wasn’t 21. I loved my work meeting everybody and most people had horse and jinkers and when the elderly would come in there would be Mr Tom Morrow, he only had one arm and Mrs Dunn came from Bulman’s road in their horse and jinker. They were elderly I would see them pull up out the front and quickly get their mail and run out to them because they didn’t have to get out of the jinker to tie up their horse. If someone had a baby in arms I would tear out and hold the baby while they got down. Mrs Ross was very very strict. I had to sweep the Post Office, she had a couple of mats and there would be a threepence or a sixpence under the mats show she knew whether I lifted the mat, I was whether I was honest or not. Graham: How much were your wages? I got 27/7 pence a week for a 52 hour week. I had to work every holiday except Good Friday and Christmas Day and even when it was Monday holiday I always had to go to work from 9am - !0 am, the Post Office was always open. In the winter I had to wait until twenty past six in case there were any telegrams to deliver. I delivered them on a push bike. One time Tom Barrie told me this years afterwards. I used to go home for lunch. We lived on the Keilor road and I used to ride my bike home. On the hot days the boys used to go and swim in the swimming pool down near a turn in the creek there was a hole where the boys would swim in the nude, they didn’t have any bathers and they didn’t have any watches in those days. Tom Barrie said they always used to watched for me as I was always about 3 minutes past 1, my lunch hour was from 1-2. One particular day they missed seeing me and swam on, and of course they were all late for school when they got back and were all kept in a night. I did get a fortnight holiday. I loved my work and I knew everyone in the district right from Toolern Vale to the Marsh and everybody at Melton South. Did you listen into conversations on the Switchboard? Oh no. [laughter] Melton did not have electricity then. I had to fill the lamps everyday with kerosene. The Staughton Memorial was outside the Post Office. It had four posts with the chain looped around it, and that’s where the people used to tie up their horses. Marjorie nee Myers Butler comments about sitting and swinging on the chains. Mr Fred Coburn lit the acetylene gas light in the Memorial. It was the only streetlight in Melton. There was no electricity until 1939. Ray Radford comments about another gas street light which was on the corner of Station road. [later] Mary passes around her school photos. Mary mentions the names of those who have passed away, Maisie McDonald, ,Marian Wraith, Hilda McCreey, and Valda McDonald. I have written the names on the back. Marjorie comments about Marie Jongebloed and Greta are the only two girls left out of big family of ten I think there were [hesitates] 4 or 5 girls and the rest were boys. Mary. Flora Woodley, Dorrie Flynn and Margaret McDonald are still alive. They are my age we were all born about 1907. Marjorie points out herself in a later photo [1921 and 1922 School ] Mary mentions the name Walsh and identyfies following names, the Parker boys, Ken Beaty, Malc and Linda Cameron, Maisie Mc Donald, Ted Radford, George Nixon, Norman Minns, he was later the Shire Secretary of Werribee. One of the Woodley girls. [Maisie Arthur] Marjorie: Rosie Shearwood, June Whiting Mary. Lily Mc Donald, she has passed away. Isabel Harrison nee Tinkler, she lives at Werribee, Doreen Rogers, Marjorie Walker, Jess McIntosh, Mary Gillespie. Mr Malone was the Junior teacher Mr Roe and Miss Cooke. Fred Myers, my sister [Elizabeth] and the year was 1921. Myers (Barrie) School Photo Collection. Many of the names were identified at the 1970 Centenary of Melton State School No. 430. Edna Barrie organised, compiled and typed the lists to accompany these photos for the year 1921. The 1922 photo shows the higher grades. Ladies Oral History Day event held by Melton and District Historical Society, article featured in the Telegraphlocal identities, local special interest groups