Laundry
The washing was done in a big copper pot under which a fire was lit to heat the water and boil the clothes. It was all stirred with a wooden stick.
Bathroom
The toilet was outside. Instead of toilet paper, newspaper was used. The more wealthy people had old phone directories to use.
Kitchen
There were no fridges till the 50’s, so in the 20’s a Coolgardie Safe was used. Then in the 30’s an ice-box was used commonly. The kitchens had wood fire stoves and, in order to judge when the temperature was hot enough, the cook would wave her hand around in the oven.
Every mum made cupcakes and some mothers, instead of using butter, used fat drippings in their cakes.
There were very few pre-prepared items, meaning that shopping lists usually consisted only of sugar, flour, tea, and salt. It was possible to buy cake at the baker’s, where they would cut of the desired amount from large slabs.
Garden
As a little boy my father would collect the manure from the road and put it on the billy cart to take back to the veggie garden.
There were chook pens in the yard and lots of homes had a ‘sleep out’ in the yard that the older children slept in.
Only one person in the street owned a car.
