The son of one of the earliest Ukrainian Jewish migrants to Broken Hill, Ralph Krantz (1879-1948) was a central figure in the town’s entertainment industry in the mid-1920s. He bought the Crystal Theatre and roller skating rink in 1924, adding a glittering jewel to his empire’s crown in 1926 – a dance and supper club […]
In the nineteenth century, among the traditions migrants brought to NSW was music. This included European band music and as many regional centres established town bands were formed. By the late nineteenth century the village of Eugowra, in the state’s central west, had its own town band. Among its members was Harry Esperance who rose […]
Broken Hill’s Amalgamated Miners Association (AMA) and the Barrier Labour Foundation (BLF) instigated badge show days in 1913. The wearing of badges was compulsory for all members and instigated to boost union membership and prevent ‘scabs’ (non-union labour) from entering or working on the mines. Mining managers had hired scabs during the long 1909 strike, […]
In Australia throughout the twentieth century wedding dresses were often kept as a reminders of a woman’s transition to her new life as a wife, and for most women, mother. As a historic garment, a wedding dress can tell us a number of things, including information about the wearer and the times in which it […]
Coiled straw work, also known as lip work, has a long tradition and is practiced by many cultures from around the world, including Anglo-Celtic cultures. Margaret Casey, who was born to an Irish father and English mother, learnt and used the coiled straw technique to craft this sun-hat in the 1880s. She made it from […]
Barrett’s Ice Cream, the ‘Cream of the West’, was sold during the mid-1960s in this round blue-and-white tin. Barretts also packaged their ice cream in a waxed, rectangular cardboard container known as ‘The Brick’. For obvious reasons, this once-familiar packaging has not survived. Barrett’s Orange-based ice cream business was founded by Walter E. Barrett in […]
In 2006 a number of Qing Dynasty coins were uncovered at the northern end of Fitzmaurice Street in Wagga Wagga. Originating in China they are tangible evidence of the Chinese ‘camp’ located there, alongside the Murrumbidgee River, in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. The story behind the coins reveal one of the many […]
Pastoralist Sir Thomas Elder was the first to import camels to Australia for breeding in the 1860s. By the time of the boom in 1888, cameleers and their camel trains were a familiar sight in and around Broken Hill. Known collectively as ‘Afghans,’ the cameleers were mainly from Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Cameleers were essential […]
Although there was one pub for every 182 people in Broken Hill during the boom of 1888 the presence of the temperance movement was strong, presenting a distinct and often overlooked contrast to the commonly-held image of a hard-drinking outback mining town. The youth and single status of many of Broken Hill’s early miners, combined […]
Around 1905 Walter Bennett installed this impressive cash register at his general store, located on Pym Street in Millthorpe, near Orange. Marketed as the ‘incorruptible cashier’, the solid and beautifully designed register, made of brass and timber, took pride of place on Walter’s shop counter. With each sale the mute machine came to life, when […]
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