Museum Metadata Exchange

Names

Name PrimaryArnott, Mills and Ware Collection

IDs

ID LocalWAM 22

ID UriOffline Only

Descriptions

Brief DescriptionThe Arnott, Mills and Ware Collection is an extensive collection of over 250 items used at the Arnotts Mills and Ware biscuit factory, South Terrace, South Fremantle, Western Australia. It consists of tools, cooking implements, cake and biscuit tins, labels and biscuit wrappers, uniforms, posters, price lists, operators' log books, promotional material and photographs collected when the factory closed in 1992.

Full DescriptionThe Arnott, Mills and Ware Collection is extensive collection (over 250 items) of tools, cooking implements, cake and biscuit tins, labels and biscuit wrappers, uniforms, posters, price lists, operators' log books, promotional material and photographs collected when the biscuit factory closed in 1992. At the time of the factory's closure, the WA Museum was involved in documenting the story of the factory and its workers both photographically and through an oral history program. This related documentation is accessible through the State Library of Western Australia and the Fremantle City Council's Local History Collection. Mills and Ware, later Arnott, Mills and Ware, operated for nearly 100 years in South Fremantle. For much of its life, it had been one of the largest single employers of women in an industrial enterprise in Western Australia and, following the period of mass migration after the Second World War, a large employer of workers from non-English speaking backgrounds - initially from southern Europe and more recently from South East Asia. At the time of closure, 90% of the workforce were women and 75% were born overseas. Fourteen languages were spoken in the factory. It also held a very significant place in the Fremantle community; generations of Fremantle residents had worked there and all in its vicinity enjoyed the sweet aroma of baking biscuits and cakes. It is the most comprehensive documented collection from a large industrial enterprise in Western Australia.

RightsSome material may be subject to copyright.

AccessAvailable by appointment - http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/about/contact-us

NoteRelated External Collections: State Library of Western Australia and Fremantle City Council Library Local History Collection

Subjects

aptAdvertisements; Containers & packing equipment; Documents; Food; Food production industry; Migrants; Photography

scotAdvertising; Companies; Cooking utensils; Employment; Food preparation; Migrants; Packaging; Photography; Record keeping; Women

localArnott, Mills and Ware; Cake and biscuit factory; Food industry; Fremantle; Migrant labour; Mills and Ware; Post-war migration; South Fremantle; Western Australia; Women's employment; Women's work

person_orgArnott, Mills and Ware; Mills and Ware; Western Australian Museum

pontContainers; Cooking equipment; Documents; Photographs; Uniforms

Coverage Spatial

TextSouth Fremantle; Western Australia; Fremantle

Coverage Temporal

From1890

To1992

Related Collections

isPartof

Dates

Date Record Updated2012-05-30 23:42

Date Created in MME2011-03-25 15:20