Media: hardcover 160 pages
Author: M. Murray
Year: 2010

Illustrated with sketches, B/W photographs and reproductions of old print advertisements.

The hints and ideas in this collection belong to a time and a generation of Australian women when making the best of things, living within one's means, turning one's hand to any task and lending a helping hand to others were the accepted practices of everyday life. It was a time when reusing and recycling were prompted as much by practical necessity as by gratitude for the bounty of the land, when women kept their families in good health, and well fed and clothed, with homegrown food and hand-made garments.

These household hints show how ordinary, humble and familiar materials at hand in the home can be put to a variety of uses. Most of these items are just as readily available now as they were in the past and their former uses are worthy of imitation and as relevant in application today as they were back then.

In many ways, their lives were richer than many in this day and age, and this gorgeous handbook will inspire readers to turn their hand to practical tasks which leave a lighter imprint on the earth. A novel way of presenting a slice of social history.