Women at work: Swallow and Ariell Biscuit Factory

Swallow and Ariell Biscuit Factory was a major employer of women in Port Melbourne throughout its operation. Types of labour at the factory were largely divided along gender lines, with packaging and presentation undertaken by a larger proportion of women, while heavy mixing and larger-scale production work was undertaken by men. Women workers formed a number of social organisations which actively supported the Port Melbourne community. The most notable of these, the Busy Bees, who were involved in fundraising during the First World War, raising money for the war effort at Industrial League football games, as well as making care packages of knitted goods and food for care packages for soldiers. The Busy Bees were active well into the 1920s, when they directed their efforts towards a range of local and international causes, including raising money for Melbourne’s Women’s Hospital, and donating hand-sewn “garments for destitute Japanese children.”

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