Make Do and Mend

8 July 2011 - May 2012

Age-old recycling tips featured in a new exhibition at Portland Basin Museum in Ashton. 

Inspired by the current need to save money and protect the environment, this exhibition drew on local people’s experiences during the Second World War.

New materials were scarce and cotton, metal, wood and paper were diverted to aid the war effort. The skilled people who made goods such as clothes, pans and furniture were drafted into essential war work. People were encouraged to 'make do and mend' with what they already had.

This exhibition looked at some of the ways we salvaged and reused materials in the past, from clothes made out of parachutes to toys made out of pins and thread. This thrifty approach continued well after the end of wartime rationing. It is only in the past thirty years or so that people have stopped darning socks and mending shoes, opting to buy new instead.

However, repairing and up-cycling is enjoying a revival and people are once again looking at how they can ‘make do and mend’.