Names

Improvisation Collection

Home-made items collection

Home Made Treasures

IDs

WAM 28

Offline Only

Descriptions

A large and diverse collection of home-made improvised items ranging from home-made furniture, domestic items, infant care materials, toys through to militaria

The improvisation collection features a diverse collection of home-made improvised items ranging from home-made furniture, domestic items, infant care materials, toys through to militaria. The tyranny of distance, wartime or depression conditions, hard times or simply creative desires have provided the impetus for the creation of the items in this collection. Often cleverly made from found materials and recycled objects the collection includes items from different periods and places in Western Australia. Examples include a 1920s kerosene packing case school desk from Tambellup, an 1860s whalebone chair from the Pilbara and intricate wood and tin model locomotives made in Pemberton during World War Two. Most items are well provenanced and reflect the period and circumstances of their manufacture. For example the collection includes an elaborate metal canoe made purely for creative purposes before World War One, used by two generations to sail the Swan River to rag dolls sold on street corners in Perth to raise an income during the 1930s depression. These "home-made treasures" celebrate the power to "make-do" in a variety of circumstances and periods in Australia's past.

Some material may be subject to copyright.

Many of these items are from the ECU Museum of Childhood Collection gifted to the WA Museum in 2009. Many were featured in the national touring exhibition 'Home-made Treasures'.

Subjects

Domestic war effort; Economic depressions; Found objects; Recycling; World wars

Economic depression; Home front; Poverty; Recycling (waste, etc.); Wars

ECU Museum of Childhood; Western Australian Museum

Found materials; Great Depression; Home-made; Improvisation; Improvised; Recycled materials; Wartime; World War One; World war Two

Coverage Spatial

Western Australia

Coverage Temporal

1860

2010

Related Collections

Dates

2012-05-30 23:42

2011-03-25 16:45