Archive for the 'Object of the week' Category

Who wore this Dior?

Published by Melanie Pitkin 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Dior2Photography © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

Haute Couture (or “High Fashion”), as the name suggests, is not for just anyone. It is the pinnacle of fashion, made specifically to the exact dimensions of the wearer, in high quality, luxurious fabrics, virtually all by hand (the seams are machine sewn), and a single garment can take up to 4 months to make. But, when it comes to Haute Couture, you’re not just buying a piece of clothing; you’re buying a piece of art!

So who wore this Dior?

It is a three piece suit of blue wool serge designed by Christian Dior for the Spring 1950 ‘Vertical Line’ collection. It features a bodice with long pencil skirt and swing back jacket. The Museum purchased the outfit from a vendor in London in 1994, who informs us that it was owned by a female member of the Firestone family (founders of the Firestone tyre company) of Detroit, USA.

Of the women in this family, Mrs Elizabeth Parke Firestone is the most thought-of for her expensive taste and fashion sense. Elizabeth (1897-1990) was married to Harvey S. Firestone Jr, son of the founder of the Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company. Her daughter, Martha Firestone, married William Clay Ford Snr, grandson of Henry Ford.

elizfirestoneMrs Elizabeth Parke Firestone, Image courtesy of The Henry Ford Research Center

Between 1915 and 1975, Elizabeth acquired an impressive wardrobe of Haute Couture garments, many of which are now in the collection of the Benson Ford Research Center in Dearborn, Michigan, and gained a reputation for being one of America’s “best dressed women”. Dior and Balenciaga were her preferred designers and amongst the collection is a 1952 Christian Dior red silk faille dress with matching shoes, a sketch for a gown sent for approval in 1956 (Elizabeth often purchased garments without ever having tried them on!) and a stunning 1953 Balenciaga linen print dress.

Some research with the Benson Ford Research Center, however, was unfortunately unable to confirm if Elizabeth was, in fact, the owner of this suit. Their collection of Firestone Family Papers includes several folders of correspondence with Christian Dior, but alas, without any reference to this 1950 piece. However, not all of Elizabeth’s couture collection went to the Center. Some were also sold at auction and some were donated to colleges in Ohio.

europe54Image courtesy of The Henry Ford Research Center

In the meantime, if anyone can shed light on the Firestone family and this particular Dior suit, please let us know.

Next week, I will be taking you inside the suit – looking at the intimate details normally obscured to the eye – and the workmanship involved in making a couture suit, like this, sit absolutely perfectly on the wearer!

First Powered Flight in Australia- Episode 1

Published by Ian Debenham 0 Comments Tags: , , .

George Augustine Taylor in flight

George and Florence Taylor, the first untethered heavier-than-air flights

On December 5, 1909 George Augustine Taylor became the first man in Australia to fly an untethered heavier-than-air craft. On this day he made several flights on Narrabeen beach, north of Sydney, with the longest glide reported as 110 yards (100.6 metres). George’s wife, Florence, also had a fly in the Voisin-inspired biplane glider with its Hargrave box-kite tail, although the stout gentlemen attending the glider held on to the tethers attached to the wing tips lest she fell into the ocean. Even with this attachment, her flight was recorded as 90 yards (82.3 metres) in length and she could rightly claim to be the first woman to pilot a heavier-than-air craft in Australia.

About a hundred people came to watch the aerial antics of the small group of people, friends and associates of George and Florence Taylor, as they took their turn to fly along the beach.

GTaylorPortraitImage courtesy of ADB Online

George was born in August, 1872 at his parent’s home and fruit shop in King Street, Sydney. He was the second of nine children born to George and Annie Maria Taylor. George Augustine’s younger brother, Vincent Patrick, achieved international fame as “Captain Penfold“, a balloonist. George achieved local fame in the building trade and edited a magazine called “Building”, the journal of the Master Builders Association. Taylor was also an artist, writer, publisher and inventor.

At an early age, he developed an interest in aeronautics; flying kites in the domain and eagerly following the work of Lawrence Hargrave, the pioneer of aeronautics in Australia. At the age of 10, he wrote an essay at school titled “The future of the flying machine in Australia’s history”. Later, George progressed to flying model aeroplanes powered by rubber bands. From experiments with these models he learned the basics of aeronautics.

Voisin1Model of Voisin type glider flown at Narrabeen by George Augustine Taylor, December 5, 1909, Photography © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

In April 1909, George formed The Aerial League of Australia and later that year opened the first aeroplane factory in Australia at Surry Hills in Sydney. As well as construction of Hargrave box-kites, Cody war kites and the Voisin-type glider that was used for the first untethered flights, Taylor was also having his powered aeroplane constructed there.

Stay tuned for the next episode on Colin Defries and the first powered flight in Australia!

First Powered Flight in Australia- Intro

Published by Ian Debenham 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

defries1Colin Defries with his Wright Model A ‘The Stella’ at Victoria Park Racecourse, Image courtesy of John Scott

On December 9th this year the Museum will celebrate the centenary of the first powered flight in Australia through a joint meeting with the Royal Aeronautical Society and Aviation Historical Society of NSW and a small foyer showcase display. I understand that, in Victoria, plans are already underway to celebrate the same centenary on March 18th next year. Maybe the South Australians have plans for a similar celebration, the day before, on March 17th? But how can three States claim a national first? It’s a long story but nevertheless an interesting one which includes, of all people, the renowned escapologist and showman, Harry Houdini. If I’ve whetted your interest then this story of claim and counter claim will be unravelled for you over the next few weeks. I did mention that it is a long story!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Published by Erika Dicker 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

jbo c1 013
Unlucky Friday the 13th is apparently the most popular superstition in the world. I, for one, do not have supersititious beliefs, I open umbrellas inside, I like black cats, and I confidently walk under ladders. If you do fear Friday the 13th you have a paraskevidekatriaphobia, and I suggest you cease reading this post immediately.

I dedicate this post to all our readers, may you have an unremarkable Friday the 13th! Here are some superstitious things from our collection:

00206773Toy cat from the Jandaschewsky collection

Superstition: If a black cat walks towards you it brings good luck, if it walks away from you it takes your luck away.

00572622 NSW ambulance service ambulance.

Superstition: Seeing an ambulance is bad luck unless you pinch your nose or hold your breathe until you see a black or brown dog.

00526605 Anatomical model of the human ear.

Superstition: If your right ear itches someone is speaking well of you, if your left ear itches someone is speaking ill of you.

00x07425 Tailor’s scissors

Superstition: If you drop a pair of scissors it means your lover is being unfaithful to you.

2001.125.1-5 Pencil from the Collard and Collard Collection

(This one is dedicated to all those students sitting their HSC exams at the moment)
Superstition: Use the same pencil to take a test that you used for studying as the pencil remembers the answers!

Do you have any little quirks when Friday the 13th comes around? Avoid cracks in the pavement? Throw salt over your shoulder? I want to hear some whacky ones!

Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

On loan from the Smithsonian

Published by Kerrie Dougherty 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

00z27124 Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski, © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

Curators at the Powerhouse not only research information about the artefacts in our own collection, from time to time we assist external colleagues with their object research as well. Satellite propulsion engineer Alan Lawrie, author of histories of the Saturn V and Saturn I rockets, contacted the museum seeking information about the F-1 rocket motor in the Space exhibition. Together with former employees of the Rocketdyne company, which manufactured the F-1, Alan has been researching the location and identification of all the surviving F-1 rocket engines.

The most powerful single chamber liquid fuel rocket engine so far put into service, five F-1 motors were used in the first stage of the Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo missions to the Moon. The only example on public display outside the United States, the museum’s F-1 is on long term loan from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

Unfortunately, the Smithsonian’s records had very little information about the history of this rocket motor and had incorrectly recorded its serial number, making it difficult for Alan to trace the story of this particular engine. Despite the difficulty of accessing the suspended engine, we were able to arrange for photos of the motor’s makers plate, which allowed for the correct identification of its serial number. This enabled a search of the surviving Rocketdyne records to establish the engine’s history.

We now know that the F-1 rocket motor in the Space exhibition was the 25th of 114 research and development F-1 engines produced by Rocketdyne and that it was probably manufactured in 1961. It was test fired 35 times.

Fashions on the Court

Published by Melanie Pitkin 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

oncourtPowerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

Nowadays, watching tennis is as much of a sport as playing it! While there is the game itself, the on court fashion is equally a crowd pleaser. During the Hopman Cup in Perth earlier this year, tennis legend Margaret Court observed that players’ outfits make them “look like they should be on the beach”. She argued that today’s fashion has gone overboard – it is clingy, shows everything and puts the spectators focus on the player’s body rather than on their game. While some may argue that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does highlight the drastic shift in attitudes towards tennis and tennis fashions.

In the last 135 years since women first started playing tennis, we have gone from head to toe coverings to barely there, and both extremes can be seen in the Museum’s collection.

tenniscostumePowerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

This late 19th century example from England comprises a long sleeved tunic jacket and ankle length skirt made from tussore silk. It is more like a fanciful costume than sporting attire and would have been worn with black stockings, laced shoes with a heel, hat and gloves. Fitted on the skirt of this particular example are a number of hooks and eyelets which allowed the wearer to fold up the bottom of the skirt while playing. Some other dresses from this time were even fitted with pockets or an apron for holding the balls, in readiness for serving, or the racquet while socialising off the court. Tennis dresses for women at this time were an indication of a ladies charm and elegance, a far cry from what they stand for today!

TEN-US OPEN-WILLIAMS SERVEImage courtesy of blackperspective.net

Our 21st century example is not really a dress, as such, but a ‘catsuit’! It was designed and made by Puma in 2002 and a similar one to this was worn by Serena Williams (see above) at the US Open in the same year (she beat her own sister in it to win the final!). It is a sleeveless one-piece suit with built in shorts, made of black polyester and a zip front. In other words, there isn’t much material and it’s worn like a second skin. It’s not elegant, but nor was it ever designed to be this way. Instead, it speaks business, strength and confidence and, for Serena Williams, an outfit like this can look very threatening to the opposition, showing off her muscular frame, which is in itself, an excellent strategy for gaining the psychological upper hand in a match.

serenaPowerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

Whether or not the ‘catsuit’ is a tennis fashion faux-pas, however, I am undecided. I think I’ve seen a lot worse on the tennis court – white socks with black sneakers, all over hair beads, the back-to-front cap, black leather knee high boots, one long sleeve and one short sleeve and wearing the same colour top or dress as the surface you’re playing on!

What do you think? Fashion faux-pas or fashion revolution? And, do you think we’ll ever see a revival of the ankle length skirt again!?

In case you’re baffled about which tennis player goes with each fashion faux-pas, here are the answers (L-R): Andre Agassi/Pete Sampras/Lleyton Hewitt, Venus Williams, Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Rafael Nadal.

Early solar car

Published by Margaret Simpson 0 Comments Tags: , , .

solarcar0Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved.

Solar car racing is not new. The Powerhouse Museum has one of the cars that competed in the world’s first transcontinental solar car race, then called the Pentax World Solar Challenge, in 1987. Ours, dubbed Solar Resource, was designed and built by a small team of Sydney engineers headed by Ian Landon Smith in the garage of a North Shore home. Imagine what the locals thought when they took it out for a test drive back in the 80s!

The car managed to average 25.64 km/hr over the 3,000 km race from Darwin to Adelaide. The entrants in the current race are cruising at something like 90 km/hr and can go up to 140 km/hr. Although state-of-the-art at the time, Solar Resource has electro-mechanical control and is really pretty primitive by today’s standards. Solar Resource came first in the private entry class and 7th overall out of a field of 24 starters – but only 11 finished the race.

You don’t have to travel to Adelaide to see a solar car. Ours is on display in the Museum’s Transport exhibition, so come in and check out the 760 solar cells on the fibreglass and Kevlar body and contemplate how far we’ve come in 22 years.

solarcar1Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved.

Death in the Museum- part two- the crematorium

Published by Charles Pickett 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

0022254Photography by Andrew Frolows © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

In the first contribution to Death in the Museum, Erika wrote: ‘coffins have traditionally been made to protect the body, and thus been made out of strong materials such as steel and hardwood’.

It is interesting that this practice survives because most coffins are burned, not buried. Cremation is more popular (is that the word?) than burial in Australia. Cremation was rare in Western societies until the twentieth century – Rookwood Crematorium opened in 1925, Eastern Suburbs (Botany) in 1938, and the practice was not truly mainstream until the 1960s and 1970s. The churches – the Roman Catholic Church, especially – were opposed to cremation, although this opposition is less strident today.

In 1994 the Powerhouse acquired technology and other artefacts from Eastern Suburbs Crematorium. It seemed worthwhile to document this major change in funeral ritual and practice. In addition, technological efficiency and certainty were main arguments for cremation – mourners received the tangible remains of their loved one, rather than a site for its slow decomposition.

The cremation process at Botany is now fully automated, partly to reduce atmospheric pollution and furnace fuel consumption. The artefacts acquired by the Powerhouse included a 1938 ‘charging’ machine – a wheeled trolley used to transfer coffins from the funeral chapels to the furnace (as seen in the photo above). The coffins were loaded and unloaded with manual assistance by Crematorium staff.

We also acquired a converted coffee grinder, used to ensure that the funery ashes attained a fine consistency.
94_225_1
With possibly an excess of curatorial zeal the acquiring curator, Eddie Butler-Bowdon, organised a photographic trip to Botany to record the crematorium works in action. Museum photographer Andrew Frolows’ images are memorable, capturing an experience quite different to that on the other side of the funeral chapel wall. 0022252002225100222550022256

An occasional debate occurs regarding the environment consequences of cremation and burial. This usually involves comparing the energy input and pollution output of a crematorium against that of indefinitely maintaining a cemetery.

Yet at a personal level the industrial violence of cremation was the abiding impression. Perhaps this is merely a new variant of the Victorian fear – dramatised in literature and music – of being buried alive. The most important consideration, perhaps, is the experience of the mourners, not that of curators (who are paid to be nosy).

We’d like to know your experiences and thoughts of cremation. Would you like to be cremated or buried?

A Snowy souvenir

Published by Rudder Debbie 0 Comments Tags: , , .

00503679 Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved.

The 60th anniversary of the launch of the Snowy Mountains Scheme will be celebrated on 17 October 2009. Such grand engineering projects tend to generate tourism – and souvenirs to remind tourists of their visit. They also remind us of the public relations exercises that help publicly funded projects reach their goals rather than be cut short by politicians. So which souvenir would a family with three young boys be likely to purchase in Cooma: a tea towel, teaspoon, pennant, or a map and cross section of the Scheme?

The Longworth family purchased this souvenir, and a moulded plastic topographic map of the area, for their educational value as well as to help them remember their journey and the experience of seeing the monumental Scheme transform the landscape. Ironically these souvenirs had long been forgotten when one of the Longworth boys finally tidied his boyhood bedroom in 1999 and discovered them behind his old wardrobe.

This object is a moulded plastic representation of two major cross sections of the mountains, showing reservoirs, tunnels, pumping stations and power stations. It has added historical value, when compared to representations of the completed Scheme, because it shows Kosciusko Reservoir and Power Station, which were never built – for cost and environmental reasons rather than loss of political will.

We’d love to hear if anyone else remembers these Snowy souvenirs?

Debbie Rudder

Ps: The Museum will have a small display in our foyer to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the scheme, don’t forget to have a look if you are coming to visit.

Skylab debris

Published by Kerrie Dougherty 1 Comment Tags: .

00549776Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved.

With all the media attention focussed on the Apollo 11 Moon landing 40th anniversary, another space anniversary of particular interest to Australia passed un-noticed in July. Thirty years ago, in the early hours of July 12, 1979, the United States’ first space station, Skylab, re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and broke up scattering debris across the southern Indian Ocean and the south-eastern part of Western Australia. Launched in 1973, Skylab had been home to three crews of astronauts in 73-74.

Although the heaviest fragments of the station fell into the Indian Ocean, a large amount of Skylab debris fell in a swath from the coastal town of Esperance to the Nullarbor Plain, beyond the community of Balladonia. One of the pieces that landed on the Nullarbor was a large cylindrical oxygen tank that burst on striking the ground, breaking into two fragments which bounced in different directions. The largest fragment, the main body of the tank, ultimately found its way into the special Skylab collection of the Esperance Museum. The smaller piece, the end cap of the oxygen tank, remained undiscovered until the early 1990s when it was found by a stockman.

The circular lid had landed with its insulated exterior to the ground, so that its curved shape formed a shallow dish that caught rainwater, turning it into a very unusual drinking bowl for the cattle and native animals of the area. In fact, it was seeing animals drinking at a place where there should have been no water available that led to its discovery.

As you can see in the image, the end cap is torn and bent as a result of being ripped away from the rest of the tank and its exterior is covered by a composite insulation material with a woven fibreglass outer surface.

October 4th to 10th is World Space Week!