For many years, women’s institutions have been a staple in Canadian towns. Women would gather at these institutions to participate in formal domestic education and develop a single voice to advocate in the fields of education, family health, and community service to enhance the lives of the families in their towns. The women would help plan community activities, raise funds for needy families, and teach the women in the group about standard women’s domestic duties at the time. The women’s institutes in Surrey were instrumental in the planning and execution of the fall fairs. They frequently prepared various displays at fairs, compiled prize lists, and catered the entire event. Oftentimes the catering was used as an advertisement to encourage the public to attend. The fact that these women would be cooking was a simple enticement for the public to attend these gatherings. Despite the fact that their efforts were critical to the fair’s success, credit for the fairs themselves was frequently given to the male institutions that also participated. As evidenced by numerous articles in local newspapers before and after the fairs, the Surrey Farmers’ Institution received the most attention, appreciation, and recognition for the fair’s organization. Although the Surrey Farmers Institution performed a significant role, the critical effort of the women’s institution in feeding hundreds of people went completely unrecognized in these same articles. The only time the Women’s Institution was mentioned was in ads, as previously stated.
In the 1930s, women’s roles in society were significantly different than they are today, with the expectation that they would stay at home and be good spouses and mothers. Women in British Columbia were granted the right to vote in 1917, with the exception of Asian and indigenous women. Until 1929, when the British Privy Council decided that women could be nominated to the Senate of Canada, they were not considered “persons.” Women’s acceptance as equal participants in Canadian culture was still in its early stages. This could explain why the women’s institutions’ work was overlooked at the fall fair, as well as at so many other local events in Canada at the time.