Early 20th Century Everyday Objects at Miss Porter's House

Spend the afternoon reliving the early twentieth century and marvel at how everyday life in Newcastle has changed.

Newcastle boy Herbert Porter and his wife Florence, children from 19th Century migrants, raised a family in Newcastle West. Their freestanding Edwardian home is now a National Trust museum containing a century of household memorabilia from the early to late 1900s. See household objects from the everyday to the curious purchases: from Florence's competition prize of an early electric frypan, their 1920s portable windup gramophone and the 1930s upright vacuum cleaner.

Children can test their knowledge of the appliances used before ubiquitous electrical household goods by spotting the butter cooler, mincer, flatiron and potato masher. They can imagine what life was like when washboards, soap savers and dolly pegs were common laundry items. Discover why an iron was sad and how 'trees' fitted into shoes to keep their shape.