Historical information

This "home made" squeegee was manufactured in the mid to late 1900's by an ingenuous dairyman as a solution to the removal of cow "pats" from the concrete floors of his "milking" sheds. The tea tree made squeegee (being made from nature's anti bacterial material) was an excellent hygienic implement to use.

Significance

This "home made" wooden squeegee is very significant to the Kiewa Valley and its surrounding regions because it highlights the natural ingenuity found in the pioneer farmer, grazier and other rural folk. It demonstrates the "mother of invention and adaptation" is very strong in rural areas where "off the shelf" products were a rare quantity. Part of the natural psyche of the rural Australian inhabitants is the ability to produce inventions that overcome physical restrictive conditions, "the man/woman of all trades" is an apt description of the pioneers of yesteryear and of those to come.

Physical description

The squeegee handle is a long branch made from a tea tree, inserted into the upper flat side of a slab of tea tree wood which is flat on one side and curved on the other, the natural curve of the tree trunk. This squeegee was used on dairies for removing cow manure.