By Beaudesert Historical Museum
We have all seen the stressed hordes of people flocking to supermarkets when god forbid it will be shut for a day, and these humans cannot get what they want, when they want it . They load their trolleys to the brim like there will never be food on supermarket shelves again.
A book by Brian Ward at Beaudesert Historical Museum tells of a much different attitude – of only shopping for food staples every six months in Brisbane. In the 1870s to 1890s Beaudesert was a ‘private town’ with a population of 25; the outlying pioneering settlers grew maize, raised pigs which were later slaughtered and bacon cured.
Twice a year they would load their drays with their produce including butter to sell and head off for the long trip to Brisbane. Three days each way and one day for the deals and purchases to be made of all the food and provisions.
Quite often certain items of food would runout before the next biannual shopping trip. They would then have to go without. When flour ran out, they would roast corn to a certain degree, then grind it in a hand turned grist mill. The bread and porridge that was made from the meal, was not palatable in the slightest.
The pace of shopping for groceries sped up a bit and the arduous trip to Brisbane was eliminated when Claus Platell and Peel Caswell started a carrying business. On a regular basis they would buy the settlers produce from them, then on sell in Brisbane and return with provisions for the settlers to purchase.
