The introduction of electricity into the home created a boom in labour saving devices. From the start of the twentieth century, these devices were marketed strongly towards women, who did the majority of work in the home. Electric washing machines, like the machine shown here, along with vacuums, hair dryers and clothing irons all entered […]
One Monday evening in May 1916, such a large crowd had gathered at the Morpeth School of Arts that many people could not gain admission. It seemed the whole town had turned up for the formal presentation to their popular postmaster, John Buckley (1865-1929), who was being transferred to Gosford. The crowd applauded loudly as […]
At the start of WWII a British military intelligence division formed to support the war effort. One of their key objectives was to assist prisoners of war to escape if caught behind enemy lines. A range of escape and evade equipment was created, including silk maps, of which the creator Clayton Hutton described as ‘the […]
In 1873, when shepherding in a lonely valley at Mulla Creek on Kamilaroi Country near Tamworth, 17-year-old Bridget Coleman (1856-1873) was assaulted and strangled. The lock of hair shown here is Bridget’s. Bridget’s brother Thomas, who was minding the sheep with her, discovered Bridget’s bloodied body lying face-down. Alarmed at the sight of her lifeless […]
Mention an Australian summer and ice-cold drinks, ice creams, icy poles and ice cubes all spring to mind. But, this hasn’t always been the case. Before 1857, ice was shipped to Australia from America. After then, it was manufactured in Melbourne and shipped all around the Australian colonies. An ice works was eventually constructed and […]
After dark, the noises made by marsupials of the Australian bush can be truly terrifying. From rumbles and groaning grunts, to chitterings and screaming barks, the night time bush sometimes sounds alive with monsters. The Zygomaturus trilobus is a complicated name for what was an ancestor of today’s wombat. Wombats though are much smaller. Coming […]
The Inebriates Act of 1912 enabled involuntary admission of alcohol dependent people to institutional, or hospital, care. From 1929, Morisset Hospital was one of seven public facilities in NSW authorised to receive ‘inebriates’ into the dedicated Ward 1. Within professional circles alcoholism was viewed as a disease to be cured rather than a crime to […]
In 1911, Headlie Taylor (1883-1957) was ready to build the machine of his dreams. Having taught himself the skills to make his famous Header Harvester, Taylor co-opted the family blacksmith shop to begin his work. This shed had been built by his father in the 1880s, about the time the family purchased their property near […]
Think of running your fingers through your hair and this is the simple idea behind the Headlie Taylor’s crop lifter. It has been claimed that this invention not only saved the bumper 1920 Australian wheat crop but secured the reputation of the Taylor Header Harvester in the process. Patented in 1917, early designs were made […]
Morriset Hospital was designed to feel more like a hospital and less like a jail for its patients and staff. With its lovely bushland setting and manicured gardens bounded by an expansive lake, most patients were free to roam the grounds in their leisure time, communing with nature. And despite the lack of guarded fences, […]
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