This box contained packets of Reckitts Blue and was probably displayed in a shop with the lid up showing the brand name and the items. Blue or laundry blue was a household product used up to about 1960 to improve the appearance of textiles during the washing process. It added a trace of blue dye which made white fabrics appear whiter and it was widely used. Reckitts was a firm established by Isaac Reckitt in Hull, England, in 1840. By 1888 it was a public company and in 1938 it merged with J.& J. Colman, a food manufacturer. Later it sold the Colman side of the business and today it trades as the Reckitt Benckiser Group. The firm established an Australian branch in the late 19th century.This box has been used to store the Charles Brittlebank birds’ eggs collection but it is of interest in its own right as a box that held Reckitts Blue packets. Most Australian households in the 19th and 20th centuries (up to about 1960) would have used blue bags or packets in the laundering process so they are part of our social history. Today a bleach is used as a replacement for a blue bag.This is a wooden box with a hinged lid (the hinges are hooks and eyes). The box once contained one gross of Reckitt’s Blue. The printing on the box is coloured but some of it is now faded. Inside the lid, pasted on, is the name of the manufacturer. The side of the box also has the name of the manufacturer pasted on but the printing has been discoloured at the edge by the application of maroon-coloured paint. On side of box: ‘Reckitt’s Round Blue, contains one gross of circular blocks’ Inside the lid: ‘Reckitt’s Round Blue’ social history, history of warrnambool, reckitt’ blue

3 pieces Reckitt's Blue Bags. Contained in fabric gathered at top. Paper wrapper in red and white.Reckitt's Bag Blue / Squeeze the bag in the last rinse / and stir. This keeps your linen white.reckitt's, laundry bluing, linen, washing aids

Household Items - Reckitt's Blue Bag Bleachstawell

Blue bags were used for whitening laundry during washing.Cylindrical piece of laundry blue, wrapped in white paper, printed in red. Also 2 pieces in cardboard box.Reckitt's blue bagreckitts blue bag, clothes washing, laundry goods, laundering

The little blue bag was stirred around in the final rinse water on washday. It disguised any hint of yellow and helped the household linen look whiter than white. The main ingredients were synthetic ultramarine and baking soda, and the original "squares" weighed an ounce and cost 1 penny. Reckitt’s had been in the blue and starch business in Hull, England, even before they started importing French ultramarine in the 1850s to make the new blue rinse additive at their English factory. These blue bags, being alkaline , were useful to ease the pain of wasp, ant and insect bites. Reckitts blue bags were an essential part of washday for early settlers in Moorabbin Shire and continued to be used throughout 20thC.Laundry blue bags (2), 'Reckitt's' Blue Bag, paper-wrap made by Reckitt and Colman (Australia) Ltd, Australia, c 2oth C. Made of powdered ultramarine and baking soda. RECKITT& COLMAN PTY.LIMITED SYDNEY AUSTRALIA / Reckitt's Bag Blue / Squeeze the bag in the last rinse / & stir. This keeps your linen white / / RECKITT & COLMAN PTY. LIMITED SYDNEY AUSTRALIA. Red & white stripes Regd.reckitts pty ltd., hull u.k., moorabbin, bentleigh, early settlers, pioneers, laundry equipment, linen, clothing, washing aids

Reckitt's Bag Blue - Four knob pack - Cardboard container with four knobs, each in a paper wrapped bag, and made of powdered ultramarine and baking sodaReckitt's Bag Blue / Four knob pack / Out of the blue comes the whitest wash / Prevents yellowing Keeps your clothes dazzling white Squeeze the bag in the last rinse & stir. This keeps your linen white. Robin starch for better starching.

This little bag of "whitener" additive for the washing of white clothes was manufactured in Hull in the United Kingdom mid and later 1900's. The Manufacturer, Ricketts, was one of the first manufacturers to employ women in equal proportions with males (a rarity before 1914). This product was used to improve the appearance of white fabrics. This ability to use a product that would "whiten" clothes chemically rather than the "hard boiling" of clothes was a time saver and a lot easier on the fabrics. This is a boon to rural families where time was of the essence (boiling took time). The blue coloring was introduced because the white colour perception is enhanced by the blue (fadeable and not permanent). The "washing machine industry" of the late 1900's emphasised "whitening" agents that were not so haphazard in producing blue stains, and allowed a "gentle" washing action. This item is very significant in detailing the early 1900's rural household domestic "chore" of washing white clothes to a "social" standard of cleanliness. White shirts were the mark cleanliness that those outside of the family judged the family unit by. The best clothes were worn to church on Sundays. Hard and mostly rural activities/work in the Kiewa Valley encompassing farming, crop cultivation, cattle/sheep and "field work" to do with the SEC Vic Hydro Scheme involved provided a stain prone environment. As appearances, of clothing, was on the whole not significant it was a different scenario at social and religious scenes. The ability to attain "brilliant" white shirts, dresses and bonnets by a less drastic method to that of "boiling" of clothes in vats, was a boon of that "era". The anti establishment revolt came later in the 1950's onward took longer to migrate from the cities and larger rural townships to eventually sneak into the Kiewa valley.This "blue bag" is a whitening agent wrapped in flannel or muslin, or sold ready bagged (1 ounce).It was used in the final rinse to "whiten white coloured clothes" The string was used to facilitate finger grip onto the "bag" after the wash had finished for easy removal to stop the hand and other surfaces from being stained by the blue colour residue drips.domestic and commercial laundries, starch and whitening additive, washing brightener

Commonly used when washing whites in a copper to whiten the materialPaper wrapping printed in red on white paper, enclosing blue material"Robin starch for better starching" "Remove label, wrap block in flannel and stir in the last rinse"laundry item, reckitts blue bag

Housewives waxed their floors to clean, shine and preseve their lino floors.Use by residents of the Kiewa Valley. Waxing floors was common in the 1950s.Round red and blue tin with white and black print. Contains some wax.Fisher's Extra Rich Wax Net 375g 'cleans, shines, preserves, your floors' Manufacturers: Reckitts Household Division, Sydney 10046Dfloor wax, reckitts, fisher's wax

Reckitt & Sons' opened a branch in Sydney in1886. Brasso was developed by Reckitt & Sons in 1905. In 1938 Reckitt and Sons merged with J. and J. Colman to become Reckitt and Colman Ltd.Brasso was used by most Housewives for cleaning and polishing Kitchen Equipment in the City of Moorabbin during 20thC Metal container with blue sun burst effect, with a red circle with 'BRASSO' printed, in white and blue, inside. The instructions are printed on the back. FRONT: 'BRASSO' Back: Picture of the Royal Coat of Arms - By appointment to Her Majesty Queen ElizabethII. Suppliers of Metal Polish Reckitt & Colman Ltd. BRASSO Metal Polish for polishing Brass, Copper, Zinc, Steel, Pewter etc. SHAKE WELL Apply with a soft cloth. Polish off with a dry, soft cloth preferably before the polish has completely dried. DO NOT PLACE THIS TIN CLOSE TO THE FIRE Made in Australia by Reckitt & Colman (Australia) Ltd. No. 6 - Contents 6½ Fl oz when packed. brasso, metal polish

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