Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved
Yes, it’s that time of year again…Movember! This annual charity event is responsible for handlebar and Fu Manchu moustaches around Australia, and indeed the world, each November. Originating in Melbourne in 2003, Movember aims to promote awareness and raises much-needed funds for men’s health issues, with a focus on prostate cancer and depression.
The first rule of Movember is to obviously begin the month with a clean-shaven face. One of the more interesting A-category objects in our collection comprises two folding cut-throat razors owned by John Fletcher Hargrave, father of aviation pioneer Lawrence Hargrave.
Photography Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved
The blades are made from a section of recycled iron salvaged from one of the piles of old London Bridge, reputedly driven into the bed of the River Thames by King William Rufus in 1100. The use of iron shoes to manufacture items such as razor blades, tools and surgical instruments was quite common after the old London Bridge was demolished in 1830.
Given to J.F. Hargrave by his father at sixteen years of age, the razors are accompanied by a handmade silk bag and an envelope on which the provenance of the blades is handwritten.
The blades are significant due to their association with Lawrence Hargrave. The blades were passed to him upon his father’s death in 1885 and were kept in the family until they were kindly donated to the Powerhouse Museum by Mrs Helen Gray, Lawrence’s eldest daughter, in 1963.
So, at the end of the month when the Man of Movember has been crowned and the Tom Selleck wannabes go home, I’m sure a set like this will come in handy.
Kate Scott
Registrar
Name
Ian Debenham
What is your specialty area?
In a former life, I was a Licence Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with Qantas who left and obtained an Honours Degree in Ancient History – Roman economic history to be precise. At the Museum, I work primarily with the aviation collection and, because of a long association with boats, I look after the maritime collection. I have also had a long association with cars and I assist my colleague Andrew Grant in this collection area.
How long have you been working at the Museum?
Almost thirty years now, although I had an uncle who worked at the Museum as an Assistant Botanist, so some of my earliest and my most treasured memories are of visiting behind-the-scenes at the Museum. It’s like I have been here forever!
Favourite object in the collection?
With such a long memory of the Museum, it’s hard to identify a favourite object especially, too, when we have such icons as the Hargrave collection, the Boulton and Watt engine and No.1 locomotive. There is also our fantastic collection of aero engines to consider, but I’d have to say, that the Boeing PB2B-2 Catalina “Frigate Bird II” is very dear to my heart because I like large round engined metal aeroplanes; I’ve met several of the crew who went with it to South America and back and I have met members of Sir P G Taylor’s family who are all delightful people. Sadly, I didn’t get to meet ‘P G’; a real hero in my opinion. The flight of “Frigate Bird II” from Sydney to Valparaiso, Chile and back was a great achievement.
What piece of research or exhibition are you most proud of in your career at the Museum?
The research that forged a definite link between Lawrence Hargrave’s box kite and the Wright Brother’s “Flyer”. The evolution of the design moved from the Hargrave box kite through Octave Chanute’s “ladder kite” to his “Katydid” and thus the biplane glider, whose layout formed the basis of the “Flyer”. For years people have searched for this link, but I found it! Hargrave was no longer the ‘old kite flyer’, but he was a necessary link in the development of the successful aeroplane. History had denied him that richly deserved accolade for so long.
Photography by Sotha Bourn © Powerhouse Museum all rights reserved
Name
Melanie Pitkin
What is your speciality area?
My academic background is in Ancient History and Egyptology so my main specialty area is actually Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period history. But, at the Museum I work mostly with our International Decorative Arts and Design collection (e.g. fashion, furniture, posters, ceramics and coins), and have developed a particularly strong interest in Central Asian and Middle Eastern textiles. I also dabble in transport history and the work of the aviation pioneer Lawrence Hargrave.
How long have you been working at the Museum?
Almost 3 years. But, before joining the Museum full-time, I volunteered with Anne Watson, former Curator of Architecture and Design.
What is your favourite object in the collection?
Well, there are a few. I love haute couture and the Museum’s fashion collection, especially the Balenciaga evening dress and Christian Lacroix shoes. For obvious reasons, I’m also attached to our small and select archaeology collection including our Egyptian ushabtis figures, Greek amphora vase and collection of daily life objects from Medieval and Roman Britain. In fact, this list of objects seems to evolve daily – so watch this space!
What piece of research or exhibition are you most proud of in your career at the Museum?
In 2007 I researched and documented the Museum’s Lawrence Hargrave collection and was able to expose the many thought patterns and processes involved behind his work for the first time. This man was not just ingenious for his contributions towards the first powered, controlled flight with his box kites (you can see the replicas of these hanging above Locomotive No 1 in the Museum), but he experimented with pretty much everything – engines, animal movement and propulsion, steam turbines, curved and flat surfaces and solar heating! I also loved my involvement with the development of the Powerhouse Discovery Centre: Collection Stores at Castle Hill.
