A housewife or hussif is a a rollup cloth case containing sewing equipment - needles, pins, safety pins, buttons and thread - used as a sewing kit by men and women in the field to alter or mend their own clothing. They were rolled up and tied with the tapes for easy transport and storage. Also referred to as a pocket-housewife - a cloth case with compartments for carrying needles, thread and other basic sewing equipment, usually rolled up and fastened with a tie.

Ted Frost grew up on a Waikato farm. He enlisted for service in 1940 joining the 7th NZ Anti-tank regiment. He served in Greece (was in one of the last groups to get off Greece), North Africa (wounded at Sidi Rezegh) and Italy. On his discharge from the army Ted bought a dairy farm at Te Hoe in the Waikato. He met and married his wife Honour Marshdale in 1946.

This is part of a collection including personal gear - a knitted skull cap made by Ted or by one of his mates, sewing kits, souvenir cloths, and souvenir badges, together with a selection of photographs and papers documenting Ted's war service and rehabilitation.