Summary

Alternative Name(s): Throws

Two sheer table covers, made around1955 from a debutante dress worn by Elizabeth Euphemia Saunders around 1949.

The table covers were used at the family home in Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, to cover food to protect it from flies during service. They may have been used for the wedding breakfast of James Farr Saunders (Elizabeth's brother) and Margaret Witton in 1955.

Elizabeth Euphemia made her debut around 1949, and saved the handmade organza flowers that decorated her dress. She hoped to marry, and gathered a glory box in a wooden trunk, made by a local man who also made the bathroom cupboards from recycled wooden radios. Its contents included a decorated sewing basket, kitchen canisters and a washing up bowl. It is likely that she gathered more items, such as napery, a housecoat made by her mother (offcuts also saved) and aprons, which did not fit in the box. Although Elizabeth never married she kept the box and its contents intact.

Part of a collection of objects, documents and photographs from the Saunders family home in Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne. Elizabeth Jane Taylor Saunders (nee Elliott) (1894-1971) and James (Jimmy) Farr Saunders (1888-1974) bought the house in 1928, financed by the State Savings Bank of Victoria. James was a stevedore, working on the Melbourne docks, notably Station Pier. Elizabeth Jane was a skilled seamstress, making clothing for her family, mending, creating soft furnishings such as cushions and blankets, and doing decorative needlework. They had five children, of whom four survived to adulthood. After Elizabeth and James passed away their daughter Elizabeth Euphemia, a dental nurse and later language teacher, became the sole occupant of the house, carefully preserving its contents as decades passed.

Physical Description

Two pieces of sheer fabric.

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