Margaret Fulton

Fulton was born in Nairn in the Scottish Highlands on 6 October 1924. When she was three, her parents emigrated to Australia, settling in Glen Innes, New South Wales.{{cite web |last1=Cairncross |first1=Lynne |title=Margaret Fulton was Australia's 'first domestic goddess' |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/margaret-fulton-was-australia-s-first-domestic-goddess-20190724-p52adw.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=24 July 2019 |language=en |date=24 July 2019}} She was a Girl Guide as a child and leader of the Magpie Patrol in Glen Innes. In her time as a Guide she learned to cook over a campfire.{{Cite web|last=Martin|first=Lisa|date=2010-02-28|title=Girl Guides celebrate centenary|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/girl-guides-celebrate-centenary-20100228-patz.html|access-date=2021-03-27|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}

She began as a cooking teacher at the Overseas Corporation in 1947 and was later promoted to sales manager. She was "partially responsible for the introduction of the pressure cooker to Australia".{{cite news | first = Matt | last = Preston | title = The fire in Fulton's belly | date = 16 September 2003 |url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/16/1063625010892.html?from=storyrhs/Interview: | work = The Age | access-date = 2 September 2013}}

In 1954, Fulton, then a "home economist for a leading firm of cereal manufacturers", gave a talk on "cooking with ready-to-eat cereals". She told the audience that "with more wives and mothers working, speed and ease in food preparation is a 'must'". She continued, "Many women have no training in homemaking, and packaged and ready-prepared foods, like cereals, cake, pastry and biscuit mixes, canned and frozen foods, make life easier". A selection of "hot muffins made with bran" were handed out, and Fulton told the listeners that "These are quick and easy to make and most economical".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52962275 |title=Cereals Make Cooking Economical And Easy. |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=2 November 1954 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=14 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

In 1956, over four days, Fulton provided French cooking demonstrations.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41857918 |title=Food with a French accent. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=16 May 1956 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=66 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Each day was organised with a different "well-known French hostess, resident in Sydney" who "planned a menu, contributed the recipes, helped with the cooking, and arranged the table setting".

Fulton began to appear in advertisements in the late 1950s. She promoted Johnson's Glo-coat floor polish and Johnson's Pride surface polish from her "well appointed Sydney kitchen" in March 1957.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48201951 |title=Advertising. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=13 March 1957 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=24 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Later that year readers of The Australian Women's Weekly were told "Margaret Fulton, expert Home Economist" believed Sellotape "is so dependable" in a full-page colour advertisement, which also offered Fulton's handy hints for using the product such as sealing plastic bags "for deep-freezing foods" and binding pot handles.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47210253 |title=Advertising. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=19 June 1957 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=48 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} In 1959, Fulton told readers she used Sellotape "each week for sticking my hundreds of recipe clippings into reference books".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103101341 |title=Advertising. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=21 September 1959 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Prospective buyers of Woman's Day magazine in July 1964 were promised an "8-page liftout" from Fulton, who was known for her Tuesday cookery class at Sydney's Bistro.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105834350 |title=Advertising. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=20 July 1964 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Her regular contributions continued throughout the decade with 1968's lift-out full-colour recipe guide to Italian food, which was described by the magazine as "our most exciting ... ever!".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107059988 |title=Advertising. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=27 June 1968 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=18 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

The Margaret Fulton Cookbook was published by Paul Hamlyn in 1968 and was an instant success. By 1978 it had sold "more than two-thirds of a million copies".{{Cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110919751 |title=The difference between books and merchandise |last=Dunlevy |first=Maurice |date=28 October 1978 |work=The Canberra Times |access-date=2 September 2013 |publisher=National Library of Australia |page=14}}

File:Chinese fried rice.jpg in Australia]]

She returned to the Italian theme with the publication of her Italian Cookbook in 1973.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110739311 |title=Life Style The Home Cooking the Italian way |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=25 July 1973 |accessdate=2 September 2013 |page=18 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} The Canberra Times said the recipes were "simple, tested ... and where necessary adapted to suit the local scene"; however, Fulton was "able to add authenticity to the book by taking a trip to Italy and checking the fare at first hand". The author was quoted as recommending that cooks "look for the specialty ingredients in a good delicatessen or gourmet section of a large retail stores. Use only the best quality Italian olive oil and when using grating cheese like Parmesan or Romano, buy it in wedges and grate it as you need it."

In October 1973, Fulton was appointed to the federal government's Interim Commission on Consumer Standards, which was formed to "reach as many groups as possible" and "find the areas where action" on standards was "most urgent".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110753544 |title=First meeting of consumer body |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=24 October 1973 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=9 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Interviewed in 1975, Fulton provided Italian and Chinese-style recipes for readers. She included in her advice for "young people setting up home for the first time" that they should "buy a couple of really good saucepans and, if possible, invest in an iron oven casserole ... they last a lifetime and these days are so attractive that they can be taken to the table".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116344878 |title=Cooking expert visits |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=30 April 1975 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=14 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Following on from the popularity of late 1970s BBC television drama series The Duchess of Duke Street, set in London between 1900 and 1925, Fulton had a primetime television cooking show of 5-minute episodes based on recipes from the era.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110885754 |title=Channel 3. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=3 March 1978 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=20 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

In 1979, her interest in Chinese cuisine led to her leading a planned 23-day gourmet food tour, which would include "the finest restaurants" of Guangzhou, Shanghai, Jinan, Qingdao, Kunming and Beijing.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110601842 |title=Margaret Fulton to lead tour. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=1 October 1979 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Fulton said the tour would also visit "historical sites... communes, universities, factories and handcraft institutes". She also hoped there would be "a chance to see acupuncture procedures in a Chinese hospital".

Fulton was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours "In recognition of service to the media as a journalist and writer in the field of cookery".{{cite web | url = https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883127 | title = It's An Honour | access-date = 2 September 2013 | author = Australian Government | archive-date = 24 July 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190724070807/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883127 | url-status = live }}

Fulton's encouragement of Chinese cuisine was recognised as a contributor to the development of Sydney's Chinatown, where "few non-Chinese" had ventured "before the 1950s".{{cite news |last=Sarno |first=Tony |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118202202 |title=The lords of Chinatown |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=2 February 1986 |accessdate=2 September 2013 |page=50 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Fulton was one of the writers who "began serving up Chinese recipes to Menzies' Australia" (recalling the era of Robert Menzies as prime minister from 1949 to 1966) and, as a result, Chinatown's "few eating houses were seen as a welcome alternative to the spartan cuisine of the times".

In 1998, Fulton was added to the list of 100 Australian Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/nsw/NationalLivingTreasures |title=National Living Treasures |access-date=2 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129093613/http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/nsw/NationalLivingTreasures |archivedate=29 January 2013 }} The same year, a packaged meals business venture 'Margaret Fulton's kitchen' failed. Fulton had been involved in it with 'Sydney food luminary' Anders Ousback.{{cite news | first = Anthony | last = Dennis | title = Gourmet's take-away dream collapses | date = 4 June 2004 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/03/1086203566174.html?from=storyrhs | work = Sydney Morning Herald | access-date = 2 September 2013}}

In 2006, The Bulletin named Fulton in their list of "The 100 most influential Australians".{{cite news | title = The 100 most influential Australians | date = 27 June 2006 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/the-100-most-influential-australians/2006/06/26/1151174135442.html | work = Sydney Morning Herald | access-date = 2 September 2013}} In the citation they described her as someone who "changed the way Australians ate at home". She is, they wrote, "Australia's original domestic goddess. No cookery writer since can claim her blanket influence ... Fulton turned us into foodies."{{cite journal | title = The 100 most influential Australians | journal = Bulletin with Newsweek | date = 4 July 2006 | volume = 124 | issue = 6527 | pages = 49–105 }}

Interviewed by The Australian Women's Weekly in 2009, Fulton said:

{{blockquote|Scarcely a week passes when I'm not invited to speak at a food industry or fundraising function and I always try to accept. At my age, being asked to pass on what I've learned is a pleasure and a privilege.{{cite journal | title = Forever Young | journal = The Australian Women's Weekly | date = 1 October 2009 | first = Larry | last = Writer | volume = 79 | issue = 10 | pages = 108–110}}}}

In 2014 Fulton appeared on an Australian postage stamp as part of the 'Australia Post Legends Awards'. Chef Neil Perry, Kylie Kwong, Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer also featured in the same stamp series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/margaret-fulton-maggie-beer-stephanie-alexander-neil-perry-and-kylie-kwong-to-feature-on-australia-post-stamps/news-story/01bbe339c1621e870500c814c3ed3451|title=Cooking legends' stamp of approval|date=2014-01-16|website=NewsComAu|access-date=2019-08-21}}

Fulton died on 24 July 2019 at the age of 94. No cause was given. On 30 July, the NSW Premier announced that Fulton's family had been offered a State memorial service for Fulton, which the family accepted.{{cite news |title=State Memorial Service for Ms Margaret Fulton OAM |url=https://www.nsw.gov.au/your-government/the-premier/media-releases-from-the-premier/state-memorial-service-for-ms-margaret-fulton-oam/ |accessdate=24 August 2019 |publisher=NSW Government |date=30 July 2019}}

Fulton had one daughter, Suzanne Gibbs, and two granddaughters, Kate Gibbs and Louise Keats, all of whom pursued careers in food. Kate Gibbs wrote two cookbooks and wrote a third book about Margaret's life, titled "Margaret and Me".{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/margaret-fulton-kate-gibbs-margaret-and-me-cookbook-is-a-recipe-for-life-20150430-1mww4x.html|title=Margaret Fulton: Kate Gibbs' Margaret and Me cookbook is a recipe for life|last=Hardy|first=Karen|date=2015-04-30|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2019-08-21}}

Louise Keats explored Fulton's impact on her own childhood in her illustrated children's storybook "My Grandma's Kitchen".{{Cite web|url=https://louisekeats.com/books/my-grandmas-kitchen/|title=My Grandma's Kitchen|website=Louise Keats|access-date=2019-08-14}} Fulton supported Keats' food career including by sending her to the Le Cordon Bleu school of cookery.{{Cite news|url=https://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/lifestyle/margaret-fultons-granddaughter-reveals-that-their-family-is-baked-in-tradition/news-story/49efc9fab83d53f604f3dbf26734b47d|title=Geelong Advertiser|date=26 May 2014}} Keats later studied nutrition at Deakin University and authored five more cookbooks, crediting Fulton for inspiring her passion for food and cooking.{{Cite web|url=https://www.childmags.com.au/louise-fulton-keats-on-motherhood-and-a-family-food-legacy/|title=Family Food Legacy|date=17 September 2017}}

• 1983 – Medal of the Order of Australia[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883127] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724070807/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883127 |date=24 July 2019 }}, 12 December 2006
• 1986 – 'diploma of honour' from Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118105276 |title=Champagne toast to Fulton's skills. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=6 March 1986 |access-date=2 September 2013 |page=7 The Good Times, a supplement to The Canberra Times |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Fulton wrote many books, including:

• The Margaret Fulton Cookbook (various editions)
• Encyclopaedia of Food and Cookery{{cite news |last1=Wahlquist |first1=Calla |title=Open thread: what did Margaret Fulton teach you about cooking? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/jul/24/open-thread-what-did-margaret-fulton-teach-you-about-cooking |access-date=24 July 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=24 July 2019}}

{{reflist}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040614034615/http://margaretfulton.com.au/ Official website]
• {{IMDb name|4052692}}
• [https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/australian-biography-margaret-fulton Australian Biography Online]
• [http://www.abc.net.au:80/rn/breakfast/stories/2007/1910849.htm 1 May 2007, ABC call for "Favourite Margaret Fulton Memory"]

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Category:1924 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:Australian cookbook writers

Category:Australian columnists

Category:Australian journalists

Category:Australian women journalists

Category:Australian women writers

Category:Australian television chefs

Category:People from Nairn

Category:British emigrants to Australia

Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia

Category:Australian women food writers

Category:Australian women columnists

Category:Australian women chefs