Pleasures amid hardship

Press, 5 December 1981, Page 16

Pleasures amid hardship

Victoria’s Daughters: New Zealand Women of the Thirties. By Eve Ebbett. Reed, 1981. 165 pp. Illustrations. $19.95.

(Reviewed by

Joan Curry)

Enough has been written about the thirties for us to know that it was a time when life was pared down to the bare bones. People were cold and hungry and desperate. This book offers an over-all view of the 1930 s as seen from the women's angle. It gives us a chance to see what women wore, what they thought, how they looked, what they did and how they managed. Women were offered as much silly fashion advice then as they have always been. For instance, they were advised to change from high to low heels gradually to avoid the risk of a nervous breakdown or even insanity, and they were reminded that smiling caused wrinkles. They wore the clothes we giggled at 20 years ago and which are eagerly sought in second-hand shops today. In the 'Bos the trendy young snatch up the beaded bags, the droopy dresses and even the disgusting fox furs of half a century ago and give them new life. Women in the thirties were preoccupied with giving new life to old things — recycling is not a modern concept. Waste was immoral and women of pioneering stock were prepared to make-do and mend. They shared hints on how to make soap, mend net curtains, make furniture out of wooden boxes, be creative with cotton reels.

One woman made a hooked rug from the silky brown hair clipped from the tails of countless cows. Another borrowed a Maori skill and made hats from lace bark. There were some brave economies. One woman was given to dyeing her hair with brown shoe polish which melted and ran down her neck in hot weather.

Women in the thirties had special problems not faced by men. In a period of serious unemployment they constituted a largely disposable labour force and the social' climate was such that they accepted this and other inequalities without much question. Women missed out on education because they were obliged to sacrifice any opportunities in favour of their brothers. They had too many babies and didn't know how to avoid pregnancies. The Welfare State was still a dream, there were no medical or welfare benefits, and the moral climate made the notion of a domestic purposes benefit unthinkable.

In view of the hardships it might seem surprising that people talk so cheerfully about their experiences during the Depression. There is an underlying pride in challenges faced and accepted, a sense of having passed some test. It seems that laughter came easily and so did singing around the house; small pleasures meant much and small kindnesses were valued and remembered. The State did not seem to care for its people, but people cared for each other.