This certificate photograph shows a display of Sunrise Eggs at the Annual Show in Newcastle. It’s dated February 1940. The stall is decorated with advertisements produced by the New South Wales Egg Marketing Board:
From scientifically – fed hens. Tested for freshness. Graded for size and weight…and branded. You get new laid eggs perfect for eating and cooking in the new orange and blue carton.
By the end of the nineteenth century most people in Australia kept a few fowls for home use. Chickens needed a chicken coop or house in which to lay and sit on their eggs, where they were shut up at night, safe from predators, such as foxes. The chickens fed on kitchen scraps and spare grains, and any seeds, insects or the morsel they could find in the yard.
At this time there was still no attempt at commercial poultry farming. Even in the first decades of the twentieth century the few commercial egg producers were a novelty and their production was considered a hazardous livelihood. Vet Science was yet to become involved in the industry, facilities were primitive and methods of husbandry trial-and-error. Nevertheless, as the population of cities increased egg production grew with farms being located close to the suburbs to ensure fresh first-grade “Suburban new-laid eggs”. Eggs which arrived from country areas were stale or of unreliable quality.
During the economic depression of the 1930s egg production increased as large numbers of the unemployed took up poultry farming. Controlled egg production increased during the Second World War so too did the importance and relevance of the Egg Marketing Board. Scientific breeding, improved poultry nutrition and the introduction of the inhumane cage system further increased production by the 1960s.
Newcastle Annual Show certificate photograph, 1940
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Post by Margaret Simpson, Curator
Put a plug in it!
Have you ever bought one of those ‘one size fits all’ plugs? only to go home and find that you have been sold a lie, the plug doesn’t quite do the job.
Well believe it or not, the objects in the photo above are actually plugs, and guaranteed to fit the job they were designed for! Well they are not quite plugs, rather they are patterns for plugs that fit the bottom of the boiler of a 38 locomotive. As you may know, we have a 38 locomotive (3830) and whilst restoring it at the Eveleigh workshop the team salvaged these plug patterns, so that new plugs for the boiler could be cast
Why are they in the workshop?
The Museum was recently contacted by the owner of the 3801 locomotive, which is being restored. Their boiler is currently being remade in Germany, and a ‘one size fits all’ plug will just not do!. They have asked us for these plug patterns to be sent to them so that they can make perfectly fitting plugs for the boiler.
Photography and post by Erika Dicker, Assistant Curator
© All rights reserved
On 1 January Sydney celebrated Australia becoming a Federation by hosting a grand procession through its streets. Erected on the corner of Park and College Street the Federation ‘German Arch’ was the point where the procession turned to make their way to Centennial Park. Funded by the German citizens of Sydney it was designed by C. Mullen and was 16.2 metres high and 13.2 metres wide. At its apex was a representation of an eagle over 2.4 metres high and 4.2 metres wide and weighing over 250 kilograms.
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Post by Geoff Barker, Assistant Curator
Each year around the world, International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.
This photograph shows women from the Save Our Sons group protesting against conscription during the Vietnam war. SOS was established in Sydney in 1965 and mostly comprised women whose sons were old enough to be subject to national service.
Photography in all its forms influenced public opinion about the war and photographs like this one captured that process of change as these women followed the example of other groups and took their message to the streets.
Photographer David Mist wrote of this tumultuous time in his 1969 publication, ‘Sydney, a book of photographs’:
Protest is becoming a part of life in Sydney. Trade unions, peace groups, religious organisations and students march to demonstrate their causes.
Photography by David Mist
© All rights reserved
In the 1890s, Sydney photographer Charles Kerry introduced his ‘Squatters’ Service’, travelling by train and horseback to homesteads all over New South Wales. Negatives were developed on the spot, contact prints shown to the client and orders taken that were later filled from Sydney. Many of the images were also made available to the public for purchase from the Kerry studio.
This man clearly considered the station’s collie dogs important enough to be included in his portrait photograph. Collies were working dogs; intelligent, energetic and generally used for herding sheep. They were also favoured by Queen Victoria, who had a pet collie called Sharp. The royal patronage that made the dogs fashionable as companion animals may also have raised the status of working collies such as these.
In contrast to many of the distinctively Australian rural images produced by the Kerry studio, this photograph, due to the man’s clothing, the wet ground and the overcast weather, has a curiously European atmosphere.
Photography by Kerry & Co. Tyrrell Collection
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This wonderful and creative image was taken by one of the members in our group on Flickr, Me and the Powerhouse Museum . This group on Flickr is a place for our visitors to share the images they take whilst visiting the Museum. This particular shot was taken by Erik K Veland whilst he was visiting the Museum in 2007. We recently posted another great image on Photo of the Day that he had shared to the group titled ‘light experiment’.
If you are visiting the Museum we would love you to share your photos of your experience in our group on Flickr.
Photography by Erik K Veland
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic
This photograph, by Henry King, shows the aviary that was situated in Sydney’s Botanic Gardens from 1856 until 1940. The initial bird collection included cockatoos, parrots, pigeons, sparrows, finches, Chinese pheasants, ducks, quails, English skylarks, blackbirds, thrushes and a black macaw. Although difficult and expensive to maintain, (many of the birds died, escaped or were stolen), the aviary was a popular attraction.
In this careful composition King uses architecture as a framing device and extended depth of field to create a sense of perspective. Two figures, a man positioned midway and a woman with an umbrella near the end of the avenue, help to draw the viewer’s eye into the image and to give scale to their surroundings.
Many of King’s best known views of Sydney date from the 1880s and by 1890 his work was held in high regard throughout the colonies. Melbourne photographer John William Lindt stated in print on his letterhead of 1891: ‘Sole Agents for Henry King’s celebrated views of New South Wales.’
The Powerhouse Museum Tyrrell collection includes 1,334 photographs by Henry King.
Photography by Henry King. Tyrrell Collection.
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A century or more ago, building roads was a time-consuming business. Bullock teams hauled stone road rollers one way, then the other, to compact the earth. Corrugations on the rollers maximised the pressure.
Infrastructure like roads is very important to the wellbeing of a society. In Australia goods are often transported by road across the country. However, wear and tear caused by heavy vehicles means roads need constant, expensive maintenance. Rail could offer a good alternative as fuel prices rise and road transport becomes more costly.
Photography by Henry King Studio
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Post by Sandra McEwen, Principal Curator
Continuing on the theme of trains – the above photo from the Tyrrell collection depicts a section of the Wolgan Valley railway, a private line built to transport shale oil and other products from the mines and refinery in the Wolgan Valley at Newnes up to the Main Western Railway line on the ridge top at Newnes Junction, 8 km east of Lithgow, NSW. The line was built in 1907 by J.D. Simpson to the design of Henry Deane (1847-1924) and operated by the Commonwealth Oil Corporation. The line featured tunnels, sharp bends and steep cliffs and special Shay steam locomotives were required to operate on it. Passengers as well as freight made the hair-raising journey. The line closed in 1932 and the track was removed in 1943. The route of the old railway can still be seen, both by car up to one of the tunnels and then on foot.
Detailed history of the construction of the line can be found in Deane’s paper “The Wolgan Valley Railway – its construction”, originaly presented to the Sydney University Engineering Society in 1910 and later reproduced in a book published by the Australian Railway Historical Society in 1979 and subsequently reprinted in 2004. Kerry’s postcard depicting the same location is on the cover of the book and bears the following caption:
Some of the problems in constructing the Wolgan Valley Railway are evident in this early photo. Here, a Newnes-bound train passes under the cliffs as the line enters the Wolgan Valley. The cliffs have been undercut and the rubble added to the already existing steep talus slope, making just enough room for the railway.
Photography by Kerry & Co, Tyrrell collection
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Post by Iwona Hetherington and Margaret Simpson, Curator
There is only four weeks left to enter our photography competition Trainspotting. All entries have to be either posted to Flickr or sent in by post by the 31st of March. For your chance to win one of our prizes you can enter images into six categories including: steam trains, diesel electric or electric trains, night shot, railway infrastructure, trainspotting and railway workers. Our group on Flickr, dedicated to photography competitions, has so far received over 600 entries and we are enjoying going through these daily.
This night shot was taken by our photographer Marinco Kojdanovski in July last year and shows Locomotive 3265 steam trial at Eveleigh railway workshop.
Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0
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