A musical instrument? Some sort of animal horn? Not quite! You might be surprised to learn that this is actually a historical hearing aid. Known as an ‘ear trumpet,’ these devices were used to help people hear better. By holding the narrow end close to the ear, the wider end would collect and funnel sound […]
With the smell of buttery popcorn in the air and cold Passiona fizzing in eager hands, everyone got settled into their seats. Rows of sturdy, wooden folding chairs filled the Iluka Memorial Hall as Iluka’s own picture show man, Frank Clancy, prepared to project the latest film on the big screen. Born in 1905, Frank […]
By the 1890s, Iluka had already earned a strong reputation for its oysters, fished from the Clarence River and shipped to Sydney. Soon, prawns and fish like flathead, snapper, and bream followed, expanding Iluka’s fishing industry, and drawing in more fishermen to the region. As Iluka grew, so did the challenge of keeping catches fresh […]
When Dancing Lady screened in Australian cinemas in 1934, promotional fans were distributed featuring a portrait of the lead actress, Joan Crawford. Serving a similar purpose to the imagery on popcorn buckets today, these fans were intended to generate excitement for new releases. This particular fan was produced and distributed by T. J. Dorgan’s North […]
When Hebe Prindable took this large oval-shaped basket down from the wall of his shed, to hand to the Iluka Museum, he knew it was worth more than the weight of the fish it once carried. Hebe himslelf used this very basket, along with other members of his family – the Prindables. The basket was […]
Owned and operated by ‘Bill’ Hickey (William 1886–1973) from the 1910s to 1955, the timber launch known as Beryl was used to transfer people, goods, and the mail, across the Clarence River from Yamba to Iluka. She ran this route in tandem with her sister motor-launch the Phfrane (pronounced Fray-nee), also owned by Bill. Europeam […]
In the early 1900s, the newly minted nation of Australia was besieged by a plague of rabbits. The fleet-footed creatures knew no borders and their spread had been unwittingly assisted by pastoralists waging war on dingoes, which had removed a predator from the food chain. Used in Spring Plains, near Narrabri, in the 1920s, this […]
The Clyde Engineering Co. began with ‘Hudson Brothers,’ a small woodworking shop in the Sydney suburb of Redfern in 1855, with William Henry Hudson at its helm. Initially, Hudson Brothers focused on woodworking; the company designed and manufactured windmills and ploughs, and landed iconic projects like the Great Hall at Sydney University and the Garden […]
Founded in 1909, Guiding is a global movement aimed at empowering girls to become leaders in their communities. The Brownies, aged seven to ten, were the youngest members of the Australian Guiding community until 1996, when the name was dispensed with, a new Guiding Program was introduced, and all members became known as Guides. It’s […]
Trained as a medical doctor, Henry Stephens (1796-1864) relocated his rural medical practice to London in 1829 and started experimenting with inks and transparent stains for timber. Stephens’ tinkering bore fruit when he invented an indelible ink that wrote in blue and dried black. His work was groundbreaking; until then, inks were neither permanent nor […]
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