Last week, my father-in-law inexplicably sent us a book called “The Weekly Times Farmers’ Handbook”. Written in 1947, it offers a wealth of information for Australian farmers, with articles on cultivating mushrooms, determining the age of a horse by examining their teeth, and curing pigs who have come down with pneumonia by feeding them “milk and pollard” (a bran and wheat blend), and rubbing their chests with a mixture of mustard and vinegar!
Pages are punctuated with hand-drawn diagrams of shearing shed layouts, crow catchers and sparrow traps, and pig nose-ringing techniques. Perhaps the most fascinating insight into farming life in the 1940’s however comes from the advertising pages sprinkled throughout the book.
“Way” seamless milk cans, manufactured in Melbourne, are touted as being “the best in world”. “Sunshine milkers”, made in Sunshine, Victoria offer “outstanding features” such as reduced vacuum and hygienic elevation! McPherson’s pumps, also produced in Melbourne give farmers “splendid hand pumps for general work on the farm.”
These companies were filling needs that were with our farming communities 80 years ago, and continue to this day, but with products fully manufactured to individual specifications right here in Australia. With countries now considering their “home-made” options more than ever, perhaps a re-visit to sources such as the 1947 Farmers’ Handbook could offer a source of inspiration.
