Betty Pawson (née Graefe)

My school days started at the Unley Infant School and, after completing upper two, the family shifted to Western Australia to live. My father worked for David Shearer (they made agricultural machinery) and was transferred to WA to work for E S Wigg & Son who were agents for Shearer’s implements. I attended Cottesloe Primary School from grades three to six then went to Princess May Girls School in Fremantle for grade seven. After years my mother wanted to return to South Australia and at the end of 1938 the family did return here.

When I enrolled at Unley Central School in December 1938, Miss Sellars gave me a test to ascertain which grade I had achieved in Western Australia. I was put in second year. Western Australia’s standards must have been higher than standards in South Australia. Miss Sellars was a small person and very pleasant and softly spoken but could be firm and strict when necessary. Students didn’t have much contact with her unless sent to her over some misdemeanour.

In 1940 this school then became the Unley Junior Girls Technical School. Miss Sellars was headmistress and Miss Ruth Gibson, deputy headmistress. The school was a two storey building which still stands in the grounds of the Unley Primary School. An interesting point is that the primary school had a boys’ and girls’ school.

Miss Gibson was a very firm teacher. She took assembly (each morning I think) and kept students informed of rules and anything affecting the school. In those days we saluted the flag but I cannot recall if it was the Australian Flag or the Union Jack. I think it was the Union Jack as the Australian flag was not used a great deal in those days. The home-makers’ class had Miss Gibson for their general subjects and they all liked her as a teacher.

There was no school canteen and it was usual for students to bring their own cut lunch. Mondays was the most popular day for buying lunches as bread would be stale after the weekend. There was a small shop opposite the school and six pence would buy a pie or pasty and a cake. Also available were the penny and halfpenny sweets trays. They comprised a mixture of sweets, some four a penny, and we spent endless time making sure we got value for money when we were fortunate to have money to spend. Another special was an iceblock with a piece of chocolate in the centre. Lunch time talk was of families, some school subjects, usually when exams were coming up, and of course boys got a mention. Teachers were discussed from time to time and generally they were all well liked.

As regards the range of subjects at a central school, the titles household arithmetic and elementary business practice do not conjure up any specific lessons. I just recall doing arithmetic as separate from bookkeeping. I am afraid physical culture activities are quite vague. As far as I recall there was no equipment at the school and no sport – we may have just done some form of exercise.

The whole school assembled for singing once a week. I don’t know why it was taught, it may have carried over from primary schools as the 1,000 voice choirs were a big feature. Singing did not continue when the school became a tech.

English literature was not my favourite subject perhaps because we studied Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar for two years in a row. I found it very heavy going.

Two courses were available to students; commercial or home-makers. Home-makers concentrated on dressmaking and millinery. The commercial teacher was Miss Waterhouse. From memory I don’t think the class was very large, about 12 or 15 students. I really enjoyed the commercial subjects. We had old Underwood typewriters and, so we could learn to touch type, we had to make a material skirt to tie around the machine so we couldn’t see the keys. This system worked very well. At the finish of the course I could type 45 words per minute and take shorthand dictation at 120 words per minute. Bookkeeping covered all stages to compiling a balance sheet. When the school changed to a tech more emphasis was placed on the subjects that were to carry you into the work force. As an extra subject a student had the choice of studying drawing, dressmaking or cookery. From memory most of the class chose drawing.

Copies of the certificates I received show the subjects available at the school. Cooking and laundry were accommodated in an old cottage. This is also in use, the other side of the boys’ school. The Central School Certificate certified that Betty Graefe ‘has attended regularly at the Home-making Department of the Unley Central Girls School for a period of two years, that her ‘Conduct, Character and Diligence’ have been satisfactory and that she has completed the prescribed course of study in English literature, geography, history, household arithmetic, elementary business practice, hygiene, physical culture, singing, art, dressmaking, cookery, laundering. housewifery, household management, bookkeeping, shorthand and typewriting.’ The inspector who countersigned this certificate was Adelaide Miethke.

A year later, December 1940, conduct, character and diligence were no longer in capital letters. The emphasis in the Technical Schools Intermediate Technical Certificate was on ‘the Three Year Course of study, in this instance, of English, arithmetic, drawing, shorthand, typewriting and bookkeeping.’ The Education Department now had a Superintendent of Technical Education. G.S. McDonald countersigned the new certificate that could be used for either boys’ or girls’ technical schools.

I can’t remember having masses of homework but we heard of high school students spending two or three hours doing homework each night. In 1939 we didn’t have much of a choice of activities. The local theatres had Saturday matinees and they were mainly attended by children. It was quite common for children to go to the movies without a parent. I think we had a fair amount of freedom and gained responsibility at an early age.

In Western Australia I remember going to the beach for a swim at around eight years of age with my older sister (three years older) without parental control. We knew the rules and followed them as did our friends and we didn’t get into trouble. There were chores to be done such as the dreaded washing up, making the bed and when I was 13 years simple ironing and household cleaning. Boys’ chores were mowing the lawn and chopping wood. There was a definite line of what chores boys and girls did.

The Girl Guide and Scout movements were active. I joined the Brownies, then the Guides in WA but didn’t continue when we returned to South Australia. It took some adjusting when we came back and my new friends weren’t involved with the Guides so I didn’t continue.

The war did not seem to have any impact on my schooling. The war just seemed so far away and at 14 years of age one didn’t realise how serious it was. Communications were not what they are today. The news on the radio was up-to-date and also the newspapers with the written word and pictures, but films – newsreels – were shown at the movie theatres before the movie and could be weeks old. You didn’t get the graphic effect of something that had happened just hours before as you do now. While I was at school we didn’t have any air raid practices. The School Comfort Fund was formed and I remember each student was asked to donate two pence each week. Parcels of food were sent to people in England.

The radio didn’t play a great part in life. It must be remembered they were not portable back in 1939. It catered for adults more than teenagers. The music played was light classical, singers such as Peter Dawson and Enrico Caruso, songs from movies and of course news services. I can’t recall any advertisements but I should think they had them. My first recollection of really listening to the radio was when I was 16. My boyfriend (my husband) and I listened to the ‘Green Hornet’ on Saturday nights before going to the movies.

Going to the movies (pictures or flicks) was a special treat not a regular thing. All businesses operated Saturday mornings so most activities were on Sunday. It was usual to go to church in the morning and relatives quite often visited in the afternoon or we went for walks around the Unley area.

In the early years of the war I had two brothers who worked for Richards’ car plant, Dodge and Chrysler cars (Le Cornu’s now occupies the site), one sister married to a telegraphist with the PMG, another a housekeeper in the country and a third sister worked in the canteen at the Hendon Munitions Factory. My father worked for Lightburn’s (a small workshop on Unley Road) making some type of components for the war effort. After the war Lightburn’s expanded and made cement mixers and washing machines.

I enjoyed my two years at the school and received a good grounding in commercial subjects. On leaving school I was employed by Griffiths Bros, tea and coffee merchants, doing clerical work, switchboard and typing. Later I was employed in a temporary position with the Sales Tax Department where I used my typing and shorthand skills.

My four daughters went to tech school. They attended Vermont Girls Tech High School, the eldest started about 1965 and the youngest around 1970. They were not brilliant students and I chose a tech school so they could do dressmaking and home science as well as the commercial subjects. They are all competent at sewing and three are excellent cooks, the fourth is more interested in handicraft and needlework though she is still a good basic cook. They all went into office work and their commercial skills stood them in good stead. Two are still working in an office, one for a local council and the other at SGIC. The eldest works at a sports centre. The other daughter does the books for her husband’s business as well as her sewing and craft activities. The tech school gave them the opportunity to learn more than I could teach them in their areas of interest.

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