In 1960, Alderman Keitha Drake, in an address to the Redcliffe Business and Professional Women’s Club, took her audience, and women generally, to task for not evincing more interest in local government. Why, she asked, were there only five female aldermen in all the 130 councils and shires in Queensland? The reasons for this, she believed, were women’s apathy to local government and their failure to recognise their own worth and potential.
All of which may have been true, and one can understand Alderman Drake’s frustration, but women of the pre-feminism era of the early 1960s were still subject to societal expectations and attitudes that militated against their participation in the sort of activism that she herself espoused and lived.
For starters, the women of 65 years ago were still largely, as had been the case for thousands of years, primarily homemakers; marriage and motherhood were what most aspired to or, in the absence of other options, settled for (although, curiously, population statistics for Redcliffe in 1959 reveal one of the lowest rates of marriage in Queensland).
Much of the newspaper advertising of the time reinforced this, particularly that for domestic appliances: a new electric stove being marketed in the Redcliffe Herald would ameliorate “the housewife’s lot …slaving over a hot stove”. In the same paper, a local electrical retailer peddled a new washing machine as an escape from the “lifetime of drudgery” caused by “dad and the kiddies … filling the dirty clothes basket”. Even little girls were targeted. The Southern Electric company’s regular ad in the Herald depicted a small girl presiding over a toys’ tea party with the message “Even little mothers know” … (the importance of the right refrigerator.) In contrast, Rogers Radio and Television marketed TVs to “the man who is satisfied only with the very best”.
Breaking Free and Looking Back
There were other subtle demands on women: to be pretty, charming and easy on the eye. Beauty products and consultations were a staple of the paper’s advertising revenue, Thompson’s Beauty Salon reminding women that “He notices your hair”. And there were beauty pageants: the Miss Australia quest was very popular – dozens of Redcliffe girls entered – not to mention the Redcliffe Sun Girl Quest (reported by the Herald as a “parade of shapely sun girls”).
So, despite Alderman Drake’s urging, in the 1960s, breaking free of the role ordained for most women was not easy. International Women’s Day celebrates both pioneers like her and the changes and advances that have occurred since then to allow many to emulate her.
With thanks to City of Moreton Bay.
Read more stories from our Redcliffe Guide print magazine here:
- Reddy Roundup: Updates from the Community
- What’s Hot Around Town
- Brad’s Business Tips
- Podcast Review: Pop Culture Parenting
- The French Film Festival Brisbane
- Queenfish Scomberoides commersonnianus
- Organic Gardening in March
- Free, Cheap and Local!
- Happitat Brings High-Altitude Thrills to Gold Coast Hinterland
- Be a Tourist in Your Own Backyard
- Local Softball Star Inducted to Hall of Fame
- International Women’s Day Panel Harvest of Agricultural Perspectives
- Jesus Christ Superstar Set to Rock Redcliffe
- Women Unite to Revitalise Redcliffe QCWA Branch
- New Disability Dance Classes For Young Adults
- Redcliffe Business Awards to Return in 2026
- Redcliffe Outrigger Canoe Club Just Oarsome
- Rose Carleo Brings Intimate Blues-Rock Show to Scarborough
- Residents in Dark Over Lights Removal
- Silent Disco a Sensory-Friendly Event
- Live Music and Community Connection This March at Tribe
