Glass negative, quarter plate, Palmer's Mystery Hike No. 4, Tom Lennon, Sydney, Australia, 7 August 1932

In 1932 five mystery hikes around Sydney were organised by the railways, with the department store F.J. Palmer and Sons as the commercial sponsor. Hikers purchased a two-shilling train ticket and joined a train from Central Station to a mystery destination. The hikes, held on Sundays, were enormously popular. The third Mystery Hike from Cowan Station to the Hawkesbury River on 24 July 1932 used 12 trains to carry almost 8,000 participants.

Mystery Hike No. 4 was held at Stanwell Park on 7 August 1932. This photo shows the wedding ceremony that took place in front of the crowd of walkers. The bridal couple are being showered with confetti by other members of the bridal party. At left centre is a Cinesound Review newsreel camera. The couple were Ivy Springett and Henry Hillier of Woolwich and they were married by Rev. Goss of Croydon. (Reference: Melissa Harper. The Ways of the bushwalker: on foot in Australia. Sydney, UNSW Press, 2007 pp. 179-192].

Photographed: Lennon, Tom; Sydney; 1932

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1932

81 mm

105 mm