What would you do to ward off boredom if you were facing a life behind bars? Despite being resigned to his life sentence in Maitland Gaol, Vietnam War veteran Ken Graham found a focused way to remain resilient. In the late 1980s, recycling whatever timber he could gather from around the gaol, Graham spent five […]
The use of comic or cartoon characters in advertising is well established. Mr Safety Pin, the comic character shown in this poster, was introduced in the early 1950s through a NSW government campaign designed to educate families on electrical safety in the home. When electricity was first introduced, it was primarily used for lighting. As […]
The heavy timber doors creaked on their iron hinges as the warder closed them, sliding the bolts shut, and turning the key in the padlocks to secure the prisoners each night. Installed in 1867, the outer hardwood cell doors of B-Wing at Maitland Gaol (in operation 1848-1998), locked up some of Australia’s worst prisoners. Designed […]
As hundreds of industrial looms clanged and hummed at the National Textiles manufacturing plant at Rutherford, NSW, this small, printed remnant of ‘toile’ furnishing fabric hung silently on the wall in the administration office. It was a ‘trophy’ of a high-quality furnishing textile the staff had woven in 1988 in celebration of the Australian Bicentenary, […]
A pair of moccasin slippers, a latch hook rug and a set of wire clothes pegs—what do they have in common? They were all handmade by patients at Morisset Hospital. From its inception, Morisset Hospital was planned to be a largely self-sufficient community—boasting a farm, gardens, a fishing boat, boot maker’s workshop, a busy kitchen, […]
The professional signwriter who painted this window used valuable gold paint and three-dimensional lettering, to be sure that his sign would be seen. Probably installed about 1890, this shop window from 148 Swan Street, Morpeth, boldly pronounced the name of T. Maynard to customers and passers-by for over 40 years. The proprietor, Thomas Maynard (1863–1939), […]
Sparks flew as the blacksmith pounded his hammer against this iron spike, red hot and just pulled out of the forge. After tapering the short rod to a point, he hammered the top to form a dog head-like projection. Then he marked the head with ‘W W / C C’, the initials of the West […]
At 7pm on 24 October 1860, two hundred people waited in the Maitland School of Arts for the swearing-in of the recently formed Northumberland (West Maitland) Volunteer Rifle Corps’ members. The excited crowd cheered as several uniformed volunteers saluted and took their seats, this ten-page ledger was laid out on the table. That evening, ninety […]
If you had visited Morisset Psychiatric Hospital in the 1930s you may have met Jean Pursehouse wearing this standard-issue nurse’s uniform—a long-sleeved, blue-denim dress, with white buttons and collar. On the long shift from sunrise to sunset, nurses like Jean rolled up the stiff sleeves of these, heavily starched, hardwearing uniforms to get on with […]
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