How Australia’s Rarest Stamp Escaped an Inferno. On 29 September 1936, William Vanneck, the right honourable Lord Huntingfield and governor of Victoria, paid a ceremonial visit to the Commonwealth Stamp Printers in Melbourne to mark the first printing of a new twopenny stamp featuring an etched portrait of King Edward VIII in his naval uniform, …
In 1922 the struggling Fred Walker Company hired a chemist, Dr. Cyril P. Callister, to develop a food spread made from readily available leftover brewer’s yeast extract, a natural source of Vitamin B. In a stroke of marketing genius, the company ran a nation-wide competition asking the Australian public to name the spread. Fred Walker’s…
Archie Priddle had already achieved national prominence when he enlisted in the A.I.F. in January 1915. Tall, strikingly handsome with fair hair and blue eyes, Priddle competed in a series of swimming and sculling races against celebrated New Zealand champion, Paddy Hannan. Their contests excited national attention with hundreds of pounds being offered in prize…
I’m 87 years of age and I have realised I still have so many unanswered questions! I never found out who let the dogs out . . . the way to get to Sesame Street . . . why Dora doesn’t just use Google Maps . . . why we don’t ever see the headline…
On the morning of 2 September 1922, Henry Hertzberg Lawson died, aged 55 years, of cerebral haemorrhage in Abbotsford, at the home of his dear friend and housekeeper, Isabel Byers. He was given a state funeral; the first person to be granted a NSW state funeral (traditionally reserved for Governors, Chief Justices, etc.) on the…
Burial service for parrot One of the strangest graves in the ancient Western Road cemetery at Parramatta (NSW) is that of a parrot. For twenty years the bird entertained travelers at one of the hotels, and the wife of the hotel keeper become so attached to it that when it died she purchased a grave, hired a mourning coach…
CALCULATOR: The simplest form of calculating machine is the wooden counting frame, or abacus, with moving beads strung on wires which represent units, tens, hundreds and so on. This device has been used in China for thousands of years – it is so ancient that its exact time and place of invention are unknown. The…
The iconic Menin Gate lions, past which thousands of Australian and other allied forces marched on their way to the Western Front battlefields, have been returned to Australia from Belgium and are back on display at the Australian War Memorial. From 1822 the stone sculptures bearing the Ypres coat of arms stood at the entrance…
When the 20th century was new, Australians took active part in most of their amusements. At home they would play musical instruments, or they would play cards or other games, they would watch magic lantern shows, or they would read. If they went out it was likely to be to a dance, unless it was…
In better quality late Victorian and Edwardian bedrooms, grand old wardrobes and dressing tables were flanked by fancy chairs and perhaps a small side table. At each side of the double bed would be small matching cabinets. Very important for those times was a place to hide the chamberpot. The essential toilet set of jug…
The idea to build this health centre was conceived by Alderman Brice Mutton when Mayor of Concord and, in 1943, the council invited tenders for the “construction of a baby health centre at Central Park, Concord. Plans and specifications may be inspected at the Council’s office. Tenders close 9th February”. Three hundred people, including mothers…
One hundred years ago Norman Lindsay wrote the classic Australian children’s book “The Magic Pudding”. The artist himself called the book a “little bundle of piffle” and wrote it only to win a wager with Bertram Stevens. Australian author and artist Norman Lindsay wrote this jolly fable in response to a friend who claimed that…
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