Meals | National Museum of Australia

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‘The meals never varied ...’

What do you want to eat? Did you have enough to eat as child? Our memories of food from childhood are often clear and intense ... what we hated and loved.

Here are some memories of mealtimes from people who spent time in children’s homes and institutions in Australia from the 1920s to 1980s.

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'Breakfast, plate of porridge with milk but no sugar, two rounds of bread and dripping, one glass of milk ... Dinner, mutton stew with rice [pudding] and tapioca, alternate days except Sunday when it was dried apricots and custard ... Evening meal at 5 pm. Two rounds bread and dripping, two rounds bread and jam ... The meals never varied the three years I was there as far as I remember', attributed to 'Graham Budd, Northcote Farm School, Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, 1940s'. - click to view larger image

Black and white Polaroid photo showing five toddlers sitting at a small, wooden rectangular table. Each of the children wears a white bib and eats from a small bowl. Another child sits in a high chair, visible through a doorway at the far end of the shot. Typeritten text under the photo reads: 'Children at Montrose Infants Home, Burwood, 1949', and along the left side reads 'State Library of New South Wales'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I went to one of the kids from schools place to have a meal, he had parents. His mother asked me what I would like to eat and I just cried, never in my life had someone asked me what I would like to eat', attributed to 'Peter Martin, St Vincent’s Home, South Melbourne, Victoria, 1960s'. - click to view larger image

A dining room with numerous groups of young boys seated at round tables. The boys wear coats, shorts and have bare feet. A man and a woman stand at the far end of the room. Each of the tables is set, with a vase of flowers at the centre. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'I must say that overall I was happy at St Augustine's for I was never hungry', attributed to 'Charlie Walker, St Augustine's Orphanage, Geelong, Victoria, 1940s, 'Charlie the Ratbag Orphan', by Charlie Walker, 2012.' - click to view larger image

An image of a black and white Polaroid photo of boys sitting around a table eating a meal. There is a middle-aged woman serving at the end of the table. Typewritten text below reads 'Boys eating breakfast at Fairbridge Farm School, Molong, New South Wales, 1954'. 'National Archives of Australia' is typed along the left side. - click to view larger image

Black and white photo showing three young girls icecream in metal bowls. A young Aboriginal girl on the right is crying. The girl at centre holds a spoon with icecream to her mouth, and a girl partially visible on the left stares at the distressed girl. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'Hunger pains were always with us ... I used to always offer to do the dishes so that I could scrape the pots and eat the scraps', attributed to 'Douglas Mann, Parkerville Children’s Home, Parkerville, Western Australia, 1950s, 'Orphans of the Living', by Joanna Penglase, 2005'. - click to view larger image

A silver-coloured metal jug with a rounded handle and pouring lip. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'You could tell what day of the week it was by what we were eating', attributed to 'Submission 18, Senate Inquiry, 2004, Ballarat Orphanage, Ballarat, Victoria, date unknown'. - click to view larger image

A white oval ceramic platter with an emblem on the rim that includes the text 'ET NOVA ET VETERA'. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'The nuns had the best foods. They gave us the stuff that was donated — it had weevils in it. I remember vomiting it up. They made me eat my own vomit.', attributed to 'Juanita Burr, St Joseph’s, Neerkol, Queensland, 1950s'. - click to view larger image

Black and white image showing a group of girls in a dining room, standing with hands together and eyes closed. - click to view larger image

Polaroid photograph showing three tables of children sitting down to eat a meal. The girls wear black tops and checked aprons, and the boys wear dark suit coats. Each table has a vase of flowers at the centre. Typewritten text below reads 'Mealtime at Dalwood Children's Home, Seaforth, New South Wales, 1941'. 'State Library of New South Wales' is typed at the left side. - click to view larger image

Black and white photo showing groups of teenage girls seated at various sized tables. The girls wear a uniform and are being supervised by a woman who stands at the centre of the image. - click to view larger image

An image of a black and white Polaroid photo of girls sitting around a table eating a meal. Bright light shines through the window at the end of the table. Typewritten text below reads 'Dining room at Newcastle Girls Home, New South Wales, July 1938'. 'State Library of New South Wales' is typed along the left side. - click to view larger image

Colour photo showing a dining room with four small, brown veneer-topped tabled tables with chairs of orange moulded plastic. Two groups of three small children sit at the central tables. A larger table sits to the left. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'An arm or a hand would receive a sharp rap with a whippy stick ... Talking in the dining room was not permitted either', attributed to 'Margaret Shields, Glastonbury Orphanage, Geelong, Victoria, 1950s, 'The Way it Was', Glastonbury Child and Family Service, 1995'. - click to view larger image

A circular gong in shades of brown, engraved with a bird and with leaf patterns, suspended by a string from a timber frame. - click to view larger image

Exhibition graphic panel that reads: 'Tracy would never eat the morning porridge, and as a result had to stand in the corner in her nightie with a lump of porridge in her mouth. There she stayed all morning …' attributed to 'Joanna Penglase, Children's Home, Sydney, 1950s, 'Orphans of the Living', by Joanna Penglase, 2005'. - click to view larger image

Colour photo showing a woman standing behind a wooden chair in a gallery space, with a large black and white photo and various objects visible on the wall behind. - click to view larger image

Black and white photo showing a group of boys, sitting eating from small metal bowls. - click to view larger image

Black and white photo showing groups of young boys seated on long wooden benches at long tables, covered with white tablecloths. An adult stands at a servery window at the far end of the room. - click to view larger image

Black and white photo showing groups of teenage boys seated at dining tables. The tables are covered with checked tablecloths. The boys wear a uniform of short-sleeved shirts and shorts. They wear socks, but no shoes. - click to view larger image

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