leisure

Things to do in the dark, ideas for Earth Hour

Published by Anni Turnbull 0 Comments Tags: , .

2007/30/1-29/21 Christmas card, Phoebe, Wilfrid and Charlotte Rolfe to Dahl and Geoffrey Collings and family, paper/ink, Dahl and Geoffrey Collings, Killcare Heights, New South Wales, Australia, 1946

Saturday 31st March, 8:30-9:30 is Earth hour and it gives us a chance to turn off the lights and do things we may not normally do. More than 2 million individuals and 2,000 businesses in Sydney took part in the First Earth hour in 2007. Earth Hour has grown to millions of people in over 5000 cities across 135 countries.
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A fun map for Mercator’s 500th birthday

Published by Debbie Rudder 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

Powerhouse Museum Collection. Object A7624.

This map, drawn according to Mercator’s principle in 1795, is part of a board game. Spin a number, embark on a virtual journey heading south-east from the Azores, experience success and setbacks, learn some geography, and perhaps win by being first to arrive in London, the city where Bowles Geographical Game of the World was created.

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Sydney Mardi Gras: a daring, dazzling and defiant display of difference

Published by Anne-Marie Van de Ven 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

96/305/2 'Cotton Blossom' costume designed, made and worn by Ron Muncaster, for 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

Over the next 4 weeks, if the rain abates and the sun shines, the city of Sydney will come to life as 1000s of men and women fly into Sydney from around Australia and the world for the 2012 Sydney Mardi Gras which kicked off last Sunday with the annual Victoria Park Fair Day. This festival follows close on the heels of its New Orleans counterpart.

The Powerhouse Museum‘s collection includes a number of objects related to this internationally significant Sydney event, including David McDiarmid’s iconic poster for the 1988 Mardi Gras which places Australia on top of the world.

95/339/10 Poster designed by David McDiarmid for 1988 Sydney Gay Mardi Gras. Gift of Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Limited, 1995. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

The design of this and other Mardi Gras posters captures something of the exuberance and the spectacular costume and float designs associated with the Mardi Gras parade.

This year Mardi Gras celebrates its 35th anniversary by welcoming the return of Kylie Minogue and singer/songwriter Sam Sparrow. Both will perform at Mardigrasland, the bejewelled party environment set to take over Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter for the final days of the 2012 party season. As part of Mardi Gras’ earlier 20th anniversary celebrations, the Museum mounted an exhibition titled Absolutely Mardi Gras: costume and design of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras (1997).

The 2012 Mardi Gras program is packed with events like the Fair Day, Drag Races, a Youth Festival, Pool Party, etc but its the Mardi Gras Parade (7.45 to 10pm, 3 March) and the After-Parade Party at Mardigrasland (10pm -8am, 3-4 March) which form the key spots on the calendar for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersexed communities to get together to celebrate differences and commonalities with friends, family and community supporters.

95/172/1 Costume designed by Peter Tully, for 1990 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

Peter Tully (1947-1992) the designer of the 1995 Mardi Gras costume illustrated above was creative director for Mardi Gras from 1982-1986. Under his tenure, the Mardi Gras workshop was founded and the Sydney Mardi Gras transformed from a political march to a cultural event. Tully and Ron Muncaster (1936- ), were two of Mardi Gras’ most spectacular costume designers. Muncaster’s ‘Cotton Blossom’ costume for the 1994 Parade is illustrated at the top of this post.

98/173/6 and 95/339/3-1, Preparatory collage (on left) by David McDiarmid for the 1990 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras poster (right). Collage, gift of the Estate of the late David McDiarmid, 1998; Poster, gift of Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Limited, 1995. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

The Museum’s collection also includes the original artwork that is a conceptual collage for the 1990 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. This poster was also designed by David McDiarmid (1952-1995).

The Museum’s Mardi Gras collection has been developing over a 25 year period, mainly as gifts of the organisers, the artists or their family and friends. These wonderful objects shine a light on the history of Sydney Mardi Gras and the aspirations and concerns of the Mardi Gras organisers and participants. The poster collection includes all Mardi Gras posters from 1981 to 1998, but we are still missing the three earliest posters (1978, 1979 and 1980) and have also not yet acquired the posters from 1999 through to 2012. If readers have copies of any of these missing posters in good condition, especially the earlier designs, and be willing to donate them to the collection, please contact the curator at annem@phm.gov.au or 92170161.

Post by Anne-Marie Van de Ven

Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop and problem gambling

Published by Debbie Rudder 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

People around the world are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’s birth on 7 February. Australia’s librarians have named 2012 as National Year of Reading, so we can celebrate the bicentenary with extra enthusiasm.

Powerhouse Museum Collection. Gift of Mr and Mrs Handcock and Martha Lennard, 1921.

This plaque features an appropriately vivid but depressing scene in the shop imagined by Dickens as the home of Little Nell and her grandfather. Along with the bucket-loads of Dickens-branded merchandise available today, it is testament to the popularity of his tragicomic novel The Old Curiosity Shop, which has been in print continuously since 1841.

The earthenware transfer-printed hand-tinted plaque was made by William Adams and Sons of Tunstall, England, between 1896 and 1921. In the 1930s or 1940s Waddingtons made a set of playing cards that ironically bore an illustration of the shop, the girl, and her grandfather, who was addicted to gambling on card games. Today’s fans might prefer to buy a t-shirt or bumper sticker asking ‘What would Little Nell do?’

In considering why Dickens’s stories are of interest to Australians today, we can point to his rich array of characters and situations. We can make parallels between the episodic and dramatic nature of his novels and the current popularity of TV serials that share this approach. Or we can reflect on Dickens as a commentator on issues that are still relevant today.

The issue at the core of The Old Curiosity Shop is problem gambling, which amplifies Nell’s poverty and leads to her travels, tribulations, starvation and death. The same issue is important in Australia today, both socially and politically, but the current focus is on poker machines rather than cards. Gambling addicts still borrow and steal to feed their habit, families still lose their homes because of the losses incurred, but poker machines are promoted as fun for players, providers of jobs and a means of raising funds for community projects.

Powerhouse Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs Shirley Nutt, 2008.

Of course, many players readily control their outlays, but problem gamblers provide an unhealthy share of the profits made by clubs, pubs and State governments. The best solution might be to restrict payouts. I wager not many of today’s gamblers would be tempted to pour streams of cash into this early poker machine just to win a few cigars.

Powerhouse Museum Collection.

Bold multicolour graphics, coloured symbols on the spinning reels, and the prospect of a cash payout made this 1930s machine more inviting. Although poker machines were illegal in Australia at the time, their use in NSW clubs was tolerated. Today, poker machines are big business in several States, and the lure of huge jackpots makes dazzling video poker machines even more seductive.

Powerhouse Museum Collection.

In 1956 poker machines were legalised in NSW. This 1950s poker machine, made in Sydney, appears to have paid a maximum of 10 shillings on a bet of sixpence. The player could pull the handle and anticipate the thrill of seeing twenty sixpences clattering into the chrome tray. Above the tray, the lined and curved chrome fascia mimics the cars of its day. Some players imagined they were in the driver’s seat, able to improve their odds by pulling the handle of the ‘one-armed bandit’ in a special way.

The symbols on this machine’s reels are playing cards – which takes us back to Nell’s grandfather, the ruinous risks he took in the hope of winning at cards, and his zealous certainty that the odds would soon turn in his favour. Charles Dickens was indeed a master storyteller, and his stories still speak forcefully to us today.

Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Pelz Nicol and Father Christmas

Published by Anni Turnbull 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Although many countries call Father Christmas by other names the tradition of making Christmas decorations have familiar characters and colours, often rotund male figures with long white beards dressed in red and white. I found these delightful and somewhat unusual representations in our collection. They are part of a larger donation from the Monica Piddington Memorial Trust and were a gift from the Jindera Pioneer Museum to the Powerhouse Museum in in 1970.

Monica Piddington (1899-1967 )was born at Narrandera, NSW, and became a kindergarten teacher. In the 1930s she went on to become the first director of the famous Sydney Playways educational toy shop which opened in Dalley Street, near Circular Quay, and was owned by the Kindergarten Union. Apparently Monica travelled around the world collecting toys of ‘superior design, craftsmanship and quality’ making them available to Australian teachers, parents and children. Many of her toys seem to mainly come from Scandinavian countries. In the 1960s the shop moved to Clarence Street. After the Kindergarten Union decided to sell the business, it was taken over by the staff, all Early Childhood graduates, and re-opened as the Play House Toy Shop which operated from 1989 until 2007.

Post by Anni Turnbull

R.I.P. Colonel Sherman T Potter (actor Harry Morgan) 1915-2011

Published by Rebecca Bower 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

2003/111/34-5 Detail of cast of M*A*S*H from toy packaging, 1978. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

Like most Australians in the 1970s, my family were addicted to MASH, the witty and acerbic television show about life in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Every night at 7pm we would eat our dinner in front of the telly watching the antics of Hawkeye, Klinger, Hot Lips Houlihan, Frank Burns, Radar and others at the 4077th. I am sure it never occurred to me that the program gave substance to a real event. What did I know or care about the Korean War?

When the lovable commander of the camp, Colonel Henry Blake died, I was devastated. I cried during that episode and bitterly resented the new guy who was cast to replace him. I didn’t like the curmudgeonly Colonel Sherman T Potter and I suspect I wasn’t the only one. He was – dare I say it – old! He didn’t seem to fit the pace of the show in my nine year old mind. Morgan was quoted as saying of himself

I don’t know just why they called me, to be perfectly frank. In the third year, I played a sort of crazy general in one episode, and they liked me.

Progressively though, as his character developed and settled into the show ‘Sherm’ became one of my favourite characters. He had a twinkle in his eye and a cheeky grin, he loved his horse and when he lost his temper it made me laugh. His character certainly struck a chord with the audience. Morgan won an Emmy in 1980 for his portrayal of Potter. When the final episode of MASH aired in 1983 it is reputed to have been one of the most watched shows in US television history. The death of Harry Morgan at the grand age of 96 is a great loss to the film and television world and MASH lovers everywhere.

Toy, M*A*S*H Head Quarters, licenced from the television show 'M*A*S*H', 1981. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

We have a number of toys in the Powerhouse Museum collection that were made under licence in 1978 to the MASH television show. They feature a picture of the cast, including Colonel Potter, on the packaging and probably date to Season 6 of the television show. These toys are part of a much larger group that were assembled by a private collector, who was quite particular in what he acquired. He only collected toy vehicles and robots licensed from television, film, comics books and so on. He never opened the packaging and did not play with the toys, so when they came to the Museum’s collection they were still in mint condition.

Collection of toy army vehicles licenced from the tv show M*A*S*H, 1978. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

Merchandising associated with successful television shows was not a new phenomenon. As early as the 1960s toy companies recognised the marketing opportunity of linking with popular tv programs. An ubiquitous product with a label linking it to a particular show could sell for more money than one without. This phenomenon really exploded in the 1980s with the boom in mass production and the increased use of plastic in toy construction. For popular culture junkies of a certain age, *cough*, these old style toys are a way of remembering the favourite programs of their youth.

But I digress. For people of my generation their first exposure to Harry Morgan was through Sherman T Potter and MASH. For my parents’ generation and older he was much more widely known for his roles in westerns, war and gangster films from the 1940s onwards and was a constant presence on American television from the 1950s. His career didn’t end with MASH. For the next two decades Morgan continued to be active in film and television. Harry Morgan had a long and varied career. For me though, he will always be Colonel Sherman T Potter and will live on in MASH reruns in perpetuity.

History Week: Picnics

Published by Anni Turnbull 1 Comment Tags: , , .

The history of picnics goes back to medieval times in England and Europe when elaborate outdoor feasts were enjoyed by the wealthy. Medieval hunting feasts and Renaissance era country banquets were the forerunners of the casual outdoor picnics we enjoy today. These feasts would traditionally serve cold meats like hams, baked meats and pastries. Now accessible to most people, the contemporary picnic can contains an extraordinary diversity of food from tabouli and hummus to spring rolls, pies and prawns.

2008/165/1-70 Glass plate negative (1 of 193), picnic at Freshwater photographer possibly Arthur Phillips, Australia, 1895
Collection: Powerhouse Museum

This is one of the Museum’s earliest images of a picnic, it’s from a glass plate negative depicting a picnic scene at Freshwater, with young men and women and a small child. Ida Phillips, the photographer’s sister, is at the far right and the man in front of her holding her hand, is probably Joe Hindwood, her husband. (Married 1900). The woman second from left is holding a cigarette. Cricket stumps and bat are visible on one side, and inscribed on a billy in the foreground is the text ‘Freshwater 1895 AP’ To the right of the billy is an early picnic hamper, similar to the one in the Museum’s collection.

85/2502 Picnic hamper, motoring, leather case / wicker / bone / glass / paper/ porcelain, used by Major A U John, maker unknown, England, 1910-1930 Collection: Powerhouse Museum

The image below depicts a stylish if uncomfortable looking picnic with its participants wearing their best hats and using porcelain tea cups. I noticed the children and adults appear to be sitting directly on the ground in the bush.

1890s picnic in the trees Collection: Powerhouse Museum

Devices to aid the picnicker, often adaptations of household items like baskets, cups and plates were offered for sale in the ‘Store Catalogues’ of the late 1800s and early 1900s, like those of Anthony Hordens and later David Jones.

The picnic case shown below is a Victorian era case around the mid to late 1800s made out of wicker work.

A7665 Picnic basket. Wicker work. Fitted with tins, china & utensils. Victorian. (LC).

The popularity of picnics in the 20th century ran parallel with the rise of access to transport systems, from rail to bike and most significantly the motor car. As well as family and bush walking picnics there were company picnic days like ones organised by Wunderlich Limited from the early 1900s.

A7437-28 Photographs, Photographic prints, Wunderlich Limited, Redfern, New South Wales, Australia, c 1899 - 1976 Collection: Powerhouse Museum

The rise of the picnic basket or case reflects Australians’ increased leisure time and, the desire to bring domestic comforts into weekend or holiday pursuits like picnics, barbecues, camping and caravanning.

The 1950s picnic set pictured below has various components that reflect the changes in and development of the then ‘new plastics’ now so much part of everything we buy. The suitcase fabric is made from Rexine, a polyvinyl upholstery cloth, made by Armonde Ltd, Leather Cloth and ICI in the late 1940s and represented in the Museum’s important plastics collection. The plastic used in the cups and saucers is also of particular interest, being Bandalasta, the name given to a series of early plastic wares made from a synthetic resin by British chemists in 1920s. The Trademarked Thermos contained in this set is also clad in Bandalasta.

2010/87 Picnic case and contents, Rexine cloth / metal / plastic/ glass, made by Brexton, England, 1950s, used Australia, 1950-1989 Collection : Powerhouse Museum

Cool Tartan

Published by Lynne McNairn 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

Collection: Powerhouse Museum

Recently I stopped to look at a Highland Pipe Band who were playing in the Corso at Manly. It was a hot and sticky Sydney summer day and the heavy tartan kilts looked out of place although the band members were wearing short sleeved shirts and did not have jackets. It brought to mind these cooler bricks in our collection.

…cooler bricks, along with eskies and barbecues, reflect the evolution of Australian leisure activities. The cooler bricks can be used to illustrate the increasing popularity of picnics, barbecues, camping and caravanning that resulted from the increased mobility made possible as the motor car became more affordable. These cooler bricks document a technological and commercial response to the need to keep food and drinks cold while travelling.

Tartan remains a popular theme for picnic accessories. In the 1960s when these bricks were made they would have matched the tartan esky and of course the still essential tartan picnic rug. This image is from Arthur H Gillott Pty Ltd transport archive, 1919 – 1998 and shows Mr and Mrs Arthur E. Gillott at a staff picnic in Middle Harbour, Sydney c.1980s – tartan blanket in hand.

Arthur H Gillorr archive. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

I’m sure the band members were looking forward to a cool drink and perhaps a lie down in the shade on a comfy tartan rug!