Bringing electricity was a gradual job. Holes for the poles were dug by hand by crews of five and six workers, slowly moving across the countryside to get the grid in place. More than one worker was injured when a pole fell over while being erected. Houses were wired for light even before the lines were strung and connected, and anticipation was high. After weeks, and sometimes months of hearing that the lights were coming, that day when the power flowed was a memorable one indeed. For one family in Spa Springs that moment came on New Year’s Eve. Parents and children waited all morning. They waited into the afternoon. Three men arrived to hook up the junction box, and create an entrance for the power to flow into the house. The excitement of the children is a vivid memory today, six decades later. It came to be supper time, but supper was on hold. Then the switch was thrown, and the lights came on; there was jubilation/

“It was a big change,” people say, “but not overnight, it was a gradual change for sure. It took a lot of getting used to.” 

For many, life followed the same pattern as when they had been using lamps, because “We didn’t know what it would cost.” When supper was over, the kitchen light was turned off, and everyone went into the living room and turned that light on. With children in the house, there were arguments about whose turn it was to flip the switch.

Yet even keeping the pattern of gathering where the light was on, simply having that light made life a little easier. “It was such a convenience to be able to see into every corner of the room, not just the area around the lamp,” says someone. “It’s unbelievable to have lots of light. To be able to sit and read,” says another. “Six of us kids, trying to study for school, sitting around the table with one kerosene lamp. In winter there was no daylight-saving time” “Having lights let us stay up later in the evening than we had with the lamps.”

Access to water was affected by the power coming on. For those who were used to carrying water from a long-handled pump, here was a chance eliminate some of the heavy work. “We got running water very soon, a single cold tap in the pantry.” That was Progress.

Yet the job that seems to have been most affected by the coming of the power grid, was laundering clothes. It is true that some people had washing machines before then. Harry Parker in Victoria Vale sold gas washers that stood on the verandah, and were powered with a kind of outboard motor. Yet even where these existed, the first appliance purchased was usually an electric washing machine. “After three babies, and washing on a washboard, you want to believe I had a washer when the fourth one came along,” says one woman. 

The coming of electricity made refrigerators a real possibility for many families. For those who could, an electric appliance brought them right up to the minute. Others had the opportunity to purchase a kerosene driven refrigerator, which were suddenly much more available. “The refrigerator made a difference in how much pickling and preserving we had to do. We didn’t need such big gardens. But it was two or three years before we could save up to get one. It’s hard to imagine now. Now we even have a microwave and a clothes-dryer.”