History Notes - lots of enquiries from 'old' families
History Notes
This week has been another busy one with lots of interesting things happening and more to come. This week we have a street stall just to keep us on our toes.
The countryside seems to be opening up with more visitors to town and I had Dubbo Turner and his daughter, on the doorstep during the week.
Dubbo grew up on Tycolah living in Tycolah Cottage for much of his childhood in the 1940's. Dubbo was the person chasing a copy of "Bakers Dozen" and this time we have found one with thanks to Pam.
Dubbo's daughter, Sharon, is also looking for history- she wants to find a write-up for Gwen Bell when she died in June, 1967. If anyone has a cutting or the actual Barraba Chronicle published in June or July, 1967, please let the museum know as we could copy it for her.
While tidying up some old paper cuttings this week I have found a piece on the 'Quart Pot". Almost every bush worker, drover, camper etc had a quart pot in the early 20th century but where have they gone?
The person who wrote the article in 1974 wrote that you could buy a quart pot in Goodooga and she bought one while she was there. In years gone by there would be quart pots hanging in clusters in stores in western NSW - I wonder if you could find one these days and if you did would anyone under about seventy years old know what to do with it?
Drovers, bush workers and landowners out on their horses would take the quart pot along with the saddle bag and when lunchtime came, water was collected from the creek in the quart pot and placed on a small fire to boil. The owner would then get his lunch and some tea leaves and perhaps sugar out of his tucker bag while he waited for the pot to boil. When the pot boiled, the tea leaves were thrown in and lunch was ready.
Quart pots came in various shapes, were slightly smaller at the top than the bottom, a wire handle was attached to the side to help with removal from the fire and of course there was a fitted top, also with a wire handle to drink the tea from and also to serve as a lid if one had to carry water for lunch.
I think there is one in the museum and I still have my father's Quart Pot. It is still black on the outside from the fire and still has handles and the lid.