Overview
Grandad and Grandma O’Hara
In 2011, Te Papa was gifted a wonderful range of children’s dresses and homemade dress-ups from the 1950s and 60s. Many of the garments were made by Grandma (Winnie) O’Hara, a wonderful home-sewer who was the family matriarch. In the following, Shelley Venimore remembers her grandparents and the stories of a rural life unique to New Zealand farming families.
Te Awatahi
I used to stay with Grandad and Grandma on their dairy farm, called Te Awatahi, for most of the school holidays. They lived about four miles west of Tinui where I lived. Both Grandma and Grandad milked the cows. They sold the cream which was collected from the gate and the skim milk was given to the pigs. Haymaking was an extended family affair that occurred between Christmas and New Year most years, weather permitting. Grandad was Irish and I remember him chanting old Irish ditties to me as he rested between the two milkings that occurred each day.
Grandma was very matter of fact. What she said, went, no questions asked! Never one for close emotional relationships or small talk, she was a very hard worker. Her house was always spotless and I remember her saying that it is very important to have a scrubbed front and back step because that is what you will be judged by. She scrubbed her step with sandsoap regularly and always wore an apron around the house, her own pattern of course. I still have one of her original aprons and the pattern which I treasure.
Show days
I remember Grandma would make summer dresses for my mother, Maureen and me each year and we would proudly wear them for the first time to the Carterton Show. It is still held every year in October, so the weather can never be trusted. We usually wore our new dresses and had the car boot full of winter clothes, gumboots, and rain gear in case the weather turned foul – often the case!
The Masterton Show in February was also a highlight. Mum packed a picnic which always included a bacon and egg pie, wrapped in screeds of newspaper so it would still be warm at lunch time.
Another annual excursion was a New Year’s trip to the beach, usually Riversdale, for a picnic. Mum has always loved the beach and when we were kids we had a few holidays over the New Year with Grandma and Grandad in a tent at Riversdale. Dad stayed home to look after the farm on these occasions. Mum took us for long walks on the beach, and when I say long, one day we ended up at Uriti Point, about 2 ½ miles from Riversdale.
Home sewing
Grandma was the oldest of 10 children. She studied dressmaking at nights at the local Technical College after she left school. My mother reports that Grandma made all of their clothes when she and Auntie Nan were children, including their coats, singlets, petticoats, and dresses, even evening wear as they grew older.
Grandma made Maureen and I two pleated woollen tartan skirts for the winter. They had straps over the shoulders so they wouldn’t need to be altered as we grew. The first ones were red and the second ones were green, both the same. We wore these skirts for many years with cream vyella (cotton and wool blend) blouses, red cardigans, and red ribbons in our hair. My mother recalls being criticised for the extravagance of these skirts but she justifies the choice because they lasted so well.
Town life
When Grandad had a heart scare, their dairy farming venture ended and they moved to town. Grandad took a job with the local auctioneer. He was very social and jovial, someone that everybody loved. He was a real character and very popular with the children. He would dress up and do funny tricks for them. He played the mouth organ and violin by ear. My mother also reports that he could play the piano for local dances as well. Grandad also used to frequent the local dump and collect bits of broken bikes which he made into pedal bikes, pedal cars, and rocking horses for children. Grandma had little time for Grandad’s jovial ways and made it known that she did not approve.
After my grandparents moved to town, Grandma worked in the local whiteware factory, assembling motors for washing machines. This was the Norge Factory, which provided her with an income so she could visit Aunty Nancy in America. Aunty Nancy is my mother’s younger sister who married an American marine she had met during the World War II. She married him after the war and accompanied him to America where she still lives. We maintain a close relationship with her children, especially the two oldest, Michael and Patricia. Michael was born in New Zealand before Aunty Nan left.