Amy Hill’s memory of being photographed is dulled by a haze of teenage angst. During the school holidays she had dyed her ginger hair to purple then back to what felt like a decidedly unnatural, rule-abiding maroon. During the term Amy’s art teacher approached the class to ask if they would be interested in being […]
The Ulladulla Refrigerating Butter Company of Milton, established in 1896, was famous for churning the choicest butter. It was smooth, firm textured, even grained and was just the right shade of straw yellow. In 1926, the company also began making aged cheddar cheese, packing the rounds into timber crates like this, separated by fine timber […]
The sound echoed around the forest as Ernie Drury’s axe struck the timber to chop a notch in the trunk of a giant Eucalypt at Shallow Crossing, on the Clyde River, near Nelligen. It was the 1930s, so without an electric chainsaw, he needed this light timber springboard to reach higher above the flared roots […]
On arriving back to home to Coniston in the 1940s, Doris Grace Hall (née Garrad) (1909-2001) likely took this fine bone china sugar bowl and creamer jug from her suitcase, carefully shifted other pieces around in her china cabinet, and proudly placed them on the shelf. Perhaps they always remained there, never to be filled […]
Mollymook’s fresh, salty breezes and relaxed atmosphere must have constantly reminded Joy Crewes why she and her husband John had moved there in the early 1950s. These keen amateur golfers had left Sydney behind to manage the Molly Moke Country Club, with its guesthouse and golf course overlooking the town’s popular beach. So, it must […]
It was a proud moment for Gordon Lindsay when he was presented with this trophy for breaking his schools’ record for the under 14 ‘hop, step and jump’ (triple jump). It was 13 December 1939, and though it was a hot evening, every seat in the West Maitland Town Hall was filled for the annual […]
A traditionalist in painting style, and an artist who worked primarily in oils, Joshua Smith (1905-1995) was a finalist in the 1937 Archibald Prize for this portrait of his father, titled J.W.A Smith. Prior to the 1940s, the Australian art scene was dominated by conservative artists. Though Sydney boasted progressive creative circles and ideas traditional art […]
While the clay was still wet, a potter carefully impressed a stamp with the words ‘JAMES TAYLOR / MORPETH’ into the medallion on the collar of this two-gallon (3.8 litre) stoneware bottle. It was probably just one in a large batch of identical bottles that were fired in the kilns that day. The bottle was […]
When lecturing on the advancements made in electric light technology to 1882, Rookes Crompton (1845-1940), the inventor and maker of the current indicator shown here, told his electrical engineering colleagues that with ‘more light’ darkness could be determined at will, rather than controlled by the cycle of night and day. From early childhood Crompton was […]
When a young shepherdess named Bridget Coleman (1856-1873) was murdered at Moonbi near Tamworth in 1873, David Wiley (1815-1876), a stranger to her, penned a poem about this crime. In the simply titled poem ‘Bridget Coleman’, Wiley expressed deep dissatisfaction that authorities did not find and bring to justice Bridget’s brutal killer. But why did […]
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