CONTEXT
IMAGINING THE WORLD OF THE PLAY Life in 1950s Australia
The 1950s is usually depicted as a conservative, static yet prosperous period, during which Australia enjoyed economic and political stability after the upheavals of two World Wars and the Great Depression.
While this picture holds some truth, it prevents us from seeing the decade for how it really was: a period of complexity, transition and change, particularly in the first half of the decade. People hoped for better times ahead, but continued to live with a degree of anxiety and fear. This was fuelled by the politically intense beginnings of the Cold War (up to 1954), and the uncertainty surrounding economic recovery after World War Two. The government promised economic prosperity, and this did come by the end of the decade, but in the early part of the 1950s Australia continued to struggle with postwar shortages and inflation.
Nonetheless, looking back we can see that this period marked the beginning of two decades of uninterrupted growth for Australia. With a growing population, helped along by an influx of „New Australians‟ (migrants from war-torn Europe), the government confidently embarked upon a series of large infrastructure projects, among them the Snowy Mountains HydroElectric Scheme. This increased prosperity was also reflected on an everyday and domestic level, as households welcomed their first refrigerators and washing machines. Small electrical appliances (such as toasters, kettles, mixmasters and vacuums) also began to be manufactured and sold in large quantities during the 1950s. These new home appliances revolutionised the Australian home, and became a symbol of success, so much so that they were often displayed in living rooms for guests to admire.
However, while advertising images of the time show bright, happy housewives using their new household appliances, not all Australians initially benefited from this growing prosperity. Life didn't changed radically for the working classes of Australia. In 1956, about a quarter of homes in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane still had no refrigerator, two-thirds had no hot running water in the bathroom, and three-quarters had no hot The archetypal 1950s family, The Australian Women‟s Weekly, 16th September 1953 running water in the laundry [John Murphy, Imagining the Fifties, UNSW Press, 2000, p6]. To add to this, as a result of housing shortages after World War Two, many working-class households were made up of more than one family, and this was often not by choice, as households took in boarders to bring in extra income. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll takes place in “Carlton, a now scruffy but once fashionable suburb of Melbourne” [Act One, Scene One]. Carlton in the 1950s was primarily a working class suburb, and a destination for many post-war migrants, particularly Italian and Greek migrants.
In a broad sense, the 1950s was a “crucial period in the development of the Australian identity” [Katharine Brisbane, „Growing Up in Australia‟, introduction to Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Currency Press, 1978, ix]. On a political level, there were the beginnings of a shift away from Britain, while on a social and cultural level Australia became ever more complex and diverse
SUMMER OF THE 17th DOLL 9 BELVOIR TEACHER’S NOTES
The 1950s is usually depicted as a conservative, static yet prosperous period, during which Australia enjoyed economic and political stability after the upheavals of two World Wars and the Great Depression.
While this picture holds some truth, it prevents us from seeing the decade for how it really was: a period of complexity, transition and change, particularly in the first half of the decade. People hoped for better times ahead, but continued to live with a degree of anxiety and fear. This was fuelled by the politically intense beginnings of the Cold War (up to 1954), and the uncertainty surrounding economic recovery after World War Two. The government promised economic prosperity, and this did come by the end of the decade, but in the early part of the 1950s Australia continued to struggle with postwar shortages and inflation.
Nonetheless, looking back we can see that this period marked the beginning of two decades of uninterrupted growth for Australia. With a growing population, helped along by an influx of „New Australians‟ (migrants from war-torn Europe), the government confidently embarked upon a series of large infrastructure projects, among them the Snowy Mountains HydroElectric Scheme. This increased prosperity was also reflected on an everyday and domestic level, as households welcomed their first refrigerators and washing machines. Small electrical appliances (such as toasters, kettles, mixmasters and vacuums) also began to be manufactured and sold in large quantities during the 1950s. These new home appliances revolutionised the Australian home, and became a symbol of success, so much so that they were often displayed in living rooms for guests to admire.
However, while advertising images of the time show bright, happy housewives using their new household appliances, not all Australians initially benefited from this growing prosperity. Life didn't changed radically for the working classes of Australia. In 1956, about a quarter of homes in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane still had no refrigerator, two-thirds had no hot running water in the bathroom, and three-quarters had no hot The archetypal 1950s family, The Australian Women‟s Weekly, 16th September 1953 running water in the laundry [John Murphy, Imagining the Fifties, UNSW Press, 2000, p6]. To add to this, as a result of housing shortages after World War Two, many working-class households were made up of more than one family, and this was often not by choice, as households took in boarders to bring in extra income. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll takes place in “Carlton, a now scruffy but once fashionable suburb of Melbourne” [Act One, Scene One]. Carlton in the 1950s was primarily a working class suburb, and a destination for many post-war migrants, particularly Italian and Greek migrants.
In a broad sense, the 1950s was a “crucial period in the development of the Australian identity” [Katharine Brisbane, „Growing Up in Australia‟, introduction to Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Currency Press, 1978, ix]. On a political level, there were the beginnings of a shift away from Britain, while on a social and cultural level Australia became ever more complex and diverse
SUMMER OF THE 17th DOLL 9 BELVOIR TEACHER’S NOTES
The Canecutters
A note from Summer of the Seventeenth Doll playwright Ray Lawler
‘The world of itinerant cane-cutters in Australia is now a thing of the past – together with the sort of hotel that catered for male drinkers only in the public bars, and relegated female customers to the side entrance marked ‘Ladies’ Parlour’. Indeed, so much has changed in terms of social attitudes and working practices since “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll”:was written in 1953, that I thought it might be interesting to take a backward glance.
‘Cane-cutting, for instance. A team of itinerant cane-cutters would come together at the beginning of the season, usually assembled by a recognised leader known as a ganger, on the understanding that the team would stay together for the seven-month season. The team would consist of eight or nine men, often young single males or older drifters, travelling by truck from cane farm to cane farm, cutting the harvest by hand at piece-work rates or for an agreed sum for the overall crop. The success of a full season would depend very much on the success and organisational ability of the ganger. He had to fulfil many functions, be able to bargain with the cane farmers on the team’s behalf, make sure that the pay and working conditions were satisfactory, and that the barracks supplied for the living quarters were of reasonable standard. On the team level, he would need to ensure the team was well-fed – a cook usually travelled as a member of the team – that they were kept as fit and well as possible, and that the morale of the team wasn’t undermined by the loneliness and circumstances of their nomadic life. Once a leader was known for these qualities, he would be a top ganger, and I saw Roo very much as this sort of man.’
‘The world of itinerant cane-cutters in Australia is now a thing of the past – together with the sort of hotel that catered for male drinkers only in the public bars, and relegated female customers to the side entrance marked ‘Ladies’ Parlour’. Indeed, so much has changed in terms of social attitudes and working practices since “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll”:was written in 1953, that I thought it might be interesting to take a backward glance.
‘Cane-cutting, for instance. A team of itinerant cane-cutters would come together at the beginning of the season, usually assembled by a recognised leader known as a ganger, on the understanding that the team would stay together for the seven-month season. The team would consist of eight or nine men, often young single males or older drifters, travelling by truck from cane farm to cane farm, cutting the harvest by hand at piece-work rates or for an agreed sum for the overall crop. The success of a full season would depend very much on the success and organisational ability of the ganger. He had to fulfil many functions, be able to bargain with the cane farmers on the team’s behalf, make sure that the pay and working conditions were satisfactory, and that the barracks supplied for the living quarters were of reasonable standard. On the team level, he would need to ensure the team was well-fed – a cook usually travelled as a member of the team – that they were kept as fit and well as possible, and that the morale of the team wasn’t undermined by the loneliness and circumstances of their nomadic life. Once a leader was known for these qualities, he would be a top ganger, and I saw Roo very much as this sort of man.’