Strenuous task of housework in the year 1900 The way we were

IT’S safe to say that the 20th century was the era of domestic convenience, a phrase that means different things in First and Third World communities. In the year 1900 many South African housewives relied on wood, coal, paraffin and (sometimes) gas for cooking, lighting and heating, and there were few labour-saving devices in the kitchen.

Domestic workers were employed to do the laborious and unpleasant household tasks. They were retained for at least 50 years after the introduction of vacuum cleaners, washing machines and iceboxes in the years following the expansion of the suburban power grid between the two world wars.

Writing in 1901, the capable spinster Hildagonda Duckitt (1839-1905), described the daily routine in her cottage in Wynberg, where she and one servant managed a small house, a garden and a poultry run.

The maid lit two “good” paraffin stoves at 6.30am to provide cans of hot water for baths, and then boiled another kettle and made porridge in a pot placed on an asbestos sheet over the flame to prevent burning. Next, she tidied the dining room, laid the table and prepared breakfast, which included bacon and coffee.

Hilda and her sister said prayers before the meal and afterwards saw the butcher who came to the house for orders. A pedlar often called with a cartload of vegetables and the Damara women living at Constantia sometimes brought baskets of greens to the kitchen door.

Firewood (used with coke to heat the oven) was also delivered, but it was expensive.

Most people made toast in front of a fire, but Hilda recommended making it over the low flame of a paraffin stove, having wiped the appliance carefully beforehand. In this way a slice could be toasted in a few minutes without the bother of lighting a fire, and even the daintiest person would be unable to detect any taste of oil.

The ladies then watered the ferns and flower beds while the maid cleaned the rooms and attended to the kitchen.

Many housewives did their own dressmaking, but the laundry was seldom washed at home. It was usually sent out to “Malay women” who worked in the municipal wash-houses, rather than to the few commercial laundries.

Hilda, who was renowned as a fairly thrifty cook, was assisted by her diligent maid, who had been trained to make “very nice bread and simple puddings”. Salaries for general maids of colour varied between £1 and £2 a month, depending on skills and experience.

“Bought eggs” were sometimes far from fresh, so Hilda paid considerable attention to the hygiene of her 140m2 poultry run, which contained a cock and 12 laying hens who were fed mealies, barley, oats and a hot mash of bran and scraps every day.

She also raised about 50 chickens for the table each year.