Suchergebnisse

Abstract
This article will draw on the material culture collections of GLAM institutions to relate the under-researched and entwined histories of the Australian dried fruits industry and the post-First World War soldier settlement scheme. Using cookbooks, marketing posters, sheet music, newspapers, photographs and government reports, this article will show how popular culture was harnessed to support struggling returned soldiers. In so doing, Australian dried fruits became a symbol for nationalism, patriotism, nutrition and household economy. In the early 1920s, Australians were consuming less than a quarter of the 65,000 tonnes of dried fruit produced each year, much of which was grown and harvested by returned soldiers. Many soldier settlers were struggling to farm their grants of land successfully. Those that could reap a harvest were dismayed to find no market for it. Responding to this situation, the Victorian Dried Fruits Board commissioned Miss Flora Pell to write A Sunshine Cookery Book, which contained 50 recipes (all using dried fruits) 'for the modern table'. The foreword to this free cookbook was patriotic and moralistic. 'Housewives' were urged to support returned soldiers by buying Australian currants, sultanas and raisins and cooking with them every day. As well as showing their patriotism by supporting returned soldiers, they were also encouraged to do their duty by their families, and feed them dried fruits, which were nutritious and economical. Food choices were political, even in the 1920s.

Abstract
This article draws on four true stories of long distance relationships to discuss how the tangible evidence of long distance love has changed over the past 130 years. The medium for expressing love has passed from hand-written letters and carte de viste portraits to the digital era, which has had a profound effect on the nature and style of communication. The way these respective couples 'beat the distance' and the significance of the different modes of contact is examined. Today, romantic communications take on added significance if they are needed as proof of a committed relationship for partner visa applications. After World War II, travelling for love became an international phenomenon, when an estimated 15,000 Australian war brides crossed the seas to join the men they had met during the war. The ideal of romantic love and the feminist response to it is briefly examined. While the material culture of long distance love has evolved to be more immediate, it is not necessarily more intimate nor satisfying.