One of my strongest childhood memories is helping Mum bottle apricots during the summer school holidays. In the backyard of our Melbourne home stood two apricot trees, probably planted when the house was built in the 1930s. Gnarled with age yet faithfully pruned by Dad each year, they rewarded us with baskets of fruit. My younger sister and I were in charge of picking — one of us scrambling up the trunk for the higher fruit — before moving on to the washing, cutting, and removing of pips.
(Not us but you get the picture!)
Then came the careful packing into Fowlers jars, covering with syrup (some with a discreet splash of brandy), and lowering into the unmistakably 1970s brown plastic Fowlers Vacola water bath.
Those bottled apricots became a year-round treat, spooned over Weeties at breakfast or served with cream for dessert. When I left home at 17, I couldn’t face another apricot — not until more than a decade later, while pregnant with my third child, when I suddenly craved anything apricot.
The ingenious Fowlers system was first developed in 1915 in Melbourne by 27-year-old Joseph Fowler, an English migrant. The company, Fowlers Vacola Manufacturing Co. Ltd., was officially registered in 1934 — the “Vacola” part referring to the vacuum seal that made the system so reliable.
Unlike American Mason jars, which use threaded lids, the Fowlers system relies on glass jars, single-use rubber rings, and pressed metal lids. During the canning process, the jars are sealed while hot and sterile, with metal tension clips holding the lids in place until a vacuum forms. The rubber rings had to be replaced every few years, and lids often went astray, but the jars themselves lasted for decades.
The water bath we used in the 1970s was electric, made of beige and brown plastic — you simply plugged it in and left it to do its job. Earlier models, like this one, were made of tin and sat on the stovetop, most likely wood-fired. They required hours of careful attention, with the temperature monitored using a curved sterilising thermometer that slotted neatly into its own holder.
Remarkably, Fowlers Vacola is still produced in Melbourne today. Since Covid sparked a renewed enthusiasm for self-sufficiency and “back-to-basics” living, the brand has enjoyed a revival. You can find out more about their story and products at: fowlersvacola.com.au