Summary

Hall curtains made by Country Women's Association (CWA) members between 1935 and 1940 at Birregurra, Victoria. Members were given a sugar bag and asked to embroider it or beautify it in some way. New Zealand motifs in one of the curtains may be because donor of the land for the CWA hall, Mrs Robert Ramsay, came from New Zealand.

The curtains were used in the CWA hall at Birregurra from around 1939. The curtains were used to divide off a 'stage' in the hall: the CWA presented dramatic performances and had a choir which occasionally performed in the hall. They were used until (probably) some time in the 1960s, when they were stored in a box in the hall.

A similar set of curtains was made several years later in Deans Marsh, for the community hall. Motifs in these curtains are more 'English'. According to Mrs Stewart of Deans Marsh, this variety reflects a difference in status - the Birregurra women are 'wives of farm labourers'; the Deans Marsh women were considered wealthier and perhaps had closer ties to Britain.

Minute Books of the Birregurra CWA do not appear to have survived. A letter from the Branch Secretary on 9 October 1991 suggests that the curtains were hung circa 1939, with some later additions.

Physical Description

A pair of curtains made from hessian bags, embroidered, sewn together and backed, by members of the Birregurra Country Women's Association from the Birregurra C.W.A. Hall. Motifs include Australian flora and fauna, English embroidery patterns, C.W.A. emblems, other animals and abstract patterns.

More Information