An interesting souvenir of the opening of the first railway in New South Wales from Sydney to Parramatta Junction is a miniature bucket.
The first train arrives at Parramatta from Sydney in 1855
When the railway was opened on September 22nd, 1855 the proprietor of the Vauxhall Hotel, which still stands today, advertised that he would sell rum at a penny a bucket. The buckets, however, were specially made for the occasion, and were solid wood, except for a small cavity in the top which contained about a teaspoonful of rum.
Men flocked to the hotel to take advantage of the offer, and it is said that they thoroughly enjoyed the joke. The little buckets were treasured as souvenirs of the historic event, and some of them are believed to be still in existence today. (Voice (Hobart, Tas.), Saturday 3 October 1936)
https://timegents.com/2017/07/03/vauxhall-inn-granville/ (Printed with permission)
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The Vauxhall Inn is one of my earliest memories of Sydney. Both my father and g’father had cars and I remember a day when we drove down what was Dog Trap Rd, the railway crossing was still there,