In the late 1800s and early 1900s, cordial making factories sprung up across central-west NSW. With modern single-use plastic bottles yet to be invented, many drinks were sold in glass or ceramic bottles, usually with a cork stopper or stamped metal cap. These particular ceramic bottles contained drinks that were produced by James Herbert Clarke’s […]
In the 1920s, the children’s doll market was booming. The recent development of celluloid had changed everything – instead of relying on delicate and expensive porcelain, celluloid was tough, easily moulded, affordable, and high quality. During this time, the German and Japanese doll industries were particularly active, and many dolls and parts were imported to […]
In the 1870s, an English engineer and inventor, Hiram Codd (1838-1887), designed and patented an ingenious bottle design for fizzy drinks. Codd’s design ensured drinks would stay fizzy thanks to thick glass walls and a pinched neck holding a glass marble. To work, this style of bottle was filled upside down. When full, the pressure […]
If you’re a woman under seventy years old, chances are you have never darned a stocking. You probably never even owned a pair. But stockings were once considered compulsory attire and a well-dressed woman would not go out in public without them. That changed during World War II, when the silk and nylon used to […]
During the 1930s, the Great Depression meant that one in three Australian breadwinners were out of work, and many families struggled to survive. It was during this time that this cabinet was used to store books at a school, as indicated by the typewritten page pasted inside the door which was sent home with pupils […]
What do wild black panthers and pretty sapphires have in common? This pelican pick! In 1872, some local miners discovered tin in the Glen Innes Highlands area, on Ngoorabul country in rural NSW. Being on top of one of the world’s richest mineral belts, other resources including arsenic and precious stones like sapphires, emeralds and […]
Picture this 1980s Aussie campground scene – snags sizzling on smoking barbeques, tents pitched shoulder to shoulder, blokes wearing stubby shorts guzzling beer from tinnies, larrikinism a-plenty, and hour after hour of roaring V8 engines on the nearby racetrack. This picture had become a common sight since motor races began happening on the Mt Panorama […]
These six wrought iron arches are disused and laying flat now but, back in the 1870s, they were part of a rail bridge that caused John Whitton a big headache. Whitton was Engineer in Chief of NSW Government Railways and was tasked with building the train line from Sydney to Bathurst. At the time, spending […]
The horses whinnied restlessly as the coachman, Jim Lowe, prepared their harnesses. Nearby, hanging at the entrance of the Cobb & Co booking office, this lantern beamed brightly like a beacon in the pre-dawn darkness. The passengers had been called for at their lodgings half an hour before – their coach was ready to make […]
This diminutive model of No. 1 steam locomotive represents a train with a very big place in history. The No. 1 locomotive was made in England by Robert Stephenson and Company and was one of four steam locomotives shipped to Australia in January 1855. Its arrival heralded the start of rail service in New South […]
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