Kerosene Tin Hut

Preserved on the grounds of the Morven Historical Museum is this tin hut composed of flattened kerosene “kero” tins, a testament to outback ingenuity. Built as housing during the Great Depression of the 1930s, these huts were common homes.

During the 1920s and 1930s, kerosene had many uses around the house such as powering heaters, lanterns, fridges, and stoves.

With no work to be had and no steady income during the Great Depression, many people lost their homes and were forced to make do as best they could. Some built their own huts using saplings for the frame, along with flattened and folded kerosene tins for the walls and roof.

This example is one of the five kerosene tin huts constructed on the Morven Town Common during this period. The hut has sapling timber (small tree trunks) for beams and flattened kerosene tins as cladding.