95/298/1 Film costume, swimsuit, women’s, satin / nylon / sequins, worn by Esther Williams or Edith Motridge as Annette Kellerman in ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’, designed by Helen Rose, made by MGM Studios, USA, 1951-1952. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

Despite being a huge star for MGM in the 1940s and 50s, Esther Williams’ most famous connection to Australia is arguably her role in the film Million Dollar Mermaid where she portrayed the early life of Annette Kellerman.

There were remarkable parallels between the two women, even though Kellerman preceded Williams by some 40 years as a swimming champion and film star.  Both were outstanding swimmers of their generation, with Kellerman winning at state level and Williams making the American Olympic swimming team, though ultimately, neither got the chance to represent their countries. Also at certain points in their respective film careers both suffered considerable injuries when performing stunts as the cameras were rolling.

For Williams, shooting Million Dollar Mermaid in 1952 while wearing a golden crown made of metal and performing a swan dive into a pool from a high platform, her head snapped back when she hit the water, breaking her back and requiring six months in a cast.

With Kellerman it was during the filming of Neptune’s Daughter whilst shooting underwater scenes with Herbert Brenon (who was also the film’s director) in a glass tank. Walter Bernard an eyewitness recounts ‘We saw them take a deep breath and once more go under the water. Hardly had they disappeared when there was a ‘Boom!’ like the echo of a firing cannon and immediately the canvas passage was swept away and tons of water rushed through the smashing glass. Their bodies lay motionless among the wreckage. They were shockingly cut and bleeding and we thought that surely dead.’1 Both recovered from bad cuts to finish the film after lengthy stays in hospital. The scene is recreated in the final scenes of Williams’ film Million Dollar Mermaid.

The Powerhouse Museum holds a number of Esther Williams related items used during her filming career at MGM, including a swimsuit used in the film Million Dollar Mermaid

2000/66/111 Film program on board, ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’, paper/masonite, made in USA, used by Annette Kellerman, 1952. Collection: Powerhouse Museum

A one piece women’s swimsuit designed by Helen Rose and made of coral satin finish (silk). The bodice has a princess line neck with zigzag pattern extending over the bust. The suit is panelled to be tight fitting and has a short skirt made of diamond shaped panels. A sewn-in fabric label has the handwritten words ‘1567 EDITH MOTRIDGE’.  The number refers to Million Dollar Mermaid being MGM’s production number 1567. Edith Motridge worked for MGM as Williams’ swimming double. She was a member of the US swimming team at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games. It is likely that Williams would have worn an identical costume rather than this one.

Williams’ portrayal of Annette in the 1952 film biography carried Kellerman’s story to a new audience. A famous scene from the film is set on RevereBeach in Boston where Kellerman in 1907, went for a swim in her trademark one-piece – hardly eyebrow raising by today’s standards, but shocking enough for the local constabulary to have her arrested. Williams, as Annette, reflects the changing attitude toward what women could wear as acceptable swimming attire in public. This change continued to the present, where looking back, the costume would hardly be considered outrageous.

Written by Einar Docker, 2013

1.The Original Million Dollar Mermaid-The Annette Kellerman Story– Emily Gibson with Barbara Firth, Allen & Unwin, 2005.

Swimming Champ to Film Star, The New York Times.; Sydney Morning Herald, Aljean Harmetz,  – 08/06/2013.

The Million Dollar Mermaid, Esther Williams an autobiography with Digby Diehl, Simon; Schuster.1999.

Nelsons Ridge housing estate, photo by Marinco Kojdanovski 2012

Are baby-boomers responsible for Sydney’s unaffordable housing? It’s becoming a common theme of the property media with story headings like ‘Boomers put super squeeze on first home buyers’. And similar arguments are being made in the planning and architecture world.

Former NSW Government Architect Chris Johnson: ‘The big issue right now for Sydney is the pendulum swing from low density detached housing to more urban apartment living.…With a growing army of ageing baby boomers wanting to protect suburbia, Sydney needs a new swat squad of younger urban dwellers to support the new apartmentia’.

There are two sides to this argument. One is simply that baby boomers are the generation most able to afford Sydney real estate. The other, more important issue is that new housing development is being stymied by the boomers’ defense of low-density, low-rise suburbia on heritage and liveability grounds. Hence the housing shortage – Sydney needs to double its current construction rate to about 30,000 new dwellings a year to reduce the pressure of demand and spiralling prices.

That demand, by the way is not primarily caused by population increase; households today typically include fewer people so we need more housing per capita. The type of residences in demand is changing: families with children now form only one fifth of new households. Couples without children (or without children at home) and single person homes are now the major housing markets.

Powerhouse Museum collection: Architectural model, Nelsons Ridge housing estate, Gift of Porter Models, 2013.

In any case it’s not that hard these days to design and build houses with good energy efficiency and other sustainable outcomes. This is a model of a streetscape at Nelsons Ridge, a new housing estate near Greystanes in western Sydney. Developed by Lend Lease, Nelsons Ridge features many architect-designed project houses, smaller and more eco-efficient than most ‘McMansions’. It also features pedestrian-friendly streets, parks, a shopping centre and other social infrastructure.

However Nelson’s Ridge is largely dependent on private car transport, undermining its sustainability credentials. Politicians and others like to promote the virtues of new suburbs, 1950s style. But today more than 70 per cent of new housing is built within existing suburbs. Rather than move to new suburbs, most Sydneysiders prefer to live closer to jobs, schools, shopping and entertainment. Commuting has lost its allure.

Most of Sydney’s new apartment precincts are built near railway stations and other urban infrastructure at St Leonards, Rhodes, Strathfield, Wolli Creek, Hurstville and elsewhere. Ideally, these projects encourage public transport use and revitalise local shopping and employment. Baby boomers are a prime market for these developments – the boomers are actually well-represented on both sides of this argument.

I’m doing new content for a couple of showcases in the Museum’s Ecologic exhibition on the theme of urban sustainability – so I have been thinking about these sort of issues. There’s no doubt that a big issue for today’s urban thinkers is:  how to increase the density and affordability of existing suburbs while retaining and increasing their liveability and sustainability?

Older suburbs close to the cbd mostly have good public transport and well-established social infrastructure. This is the battle ground of boomers v the rest. From the 1960s the boomers repopulated the inner city, for decades derided as ‘slums’. As a card-carrying baby boomer I’m old enough to remember dinner-party boasts of miniscule prices for terraces and bungalows followed quickly by spectacular windfall gains. (I didn’t get in property until I was in my 40s so I missed that part of the boomer dream).

As a result, according to the Melbourne art critic and academic Robert Nelson, ‘the suburbs have grown consistently and inexorably…By expressing this as a choice of lifestyle, we fail to acknowledge that many have been denied choice by established, inner suburbs. Inner suburbs have made the choice for the outer city by jealously protecting their own low-density living’.

Things are unlikely to change if housing choices remain restricted to single-family houses or apartment blocks. Baby boomers are not the only demographic anxious to protect yards and other green spaces. Fortunately, as Tone Wheeler points out, ‘we are now building a far greater range of housing, including duplexes, townhouses, and low-rise, medium-rise and high-rise dwellings in response to changing demographics. Consumers are demanding more housing choice, and planning policies are struggling to catch up’. The challenge is to gain acceptance of these new housing types in the suburbs.

V-House suburban apartment building by Long Bao Tran, 2013.

In the Ecologic exhibition I’m planning to include some student projects from the UTS Adapturbia Masters course taught by Adam Russell of DRAW Architects. These projects address the issue of designing higher density and sustainability into existing suburban blocks while retaining their character.

Above is Long Boa Tran’s concept of a low-rise apartment building which would make much better use of a suburban apartment than the traditional ‘six-pack’ walk-up. It’s double-V footprint would maximise common greenspace around a flexible, low-energy building.

In contrast William Cai proposes a flexible three-story structure designed for suburban backyards. Adaptable for one or two bedrooms it could comfortably accommodate numerous one and two person households within existing suburbs.

Adaptable urban living unit by William Cai, 2013.

Charles Pickett, curator

Cobb and Co. coach. Powerhouse Museum collection. H3875.

When most people think of travel by horse-drawn coach in Australia, during the nineteenth century, the name which immediately springs to mind is Cobb and Co.  So who was Cobb and Co? The Cobb and Co Telegraph Line of Royal Mail Coaches, as they were properly known at the time, was formed in 1853 by Freeman Cobb in Victoria to operate horse-drawn mail and passenger coaches between Melbourne and the nearby goldfields. However, under James Rutherford’s management from 1861, the company quickly established its supremacy over other coaching lines and spread to other states. Cobb and Co. provided Australia’s first wide-spread public transport system throughout the country.

For seventy years Cobb and Co provided a service renowned for its speed and reliability to get the mail through on time, often contending with adverse weather conditions of drought and flood. An extensive network of change stations was developed at 28 to 48 km intervals where fresh horses replaced tired ones. The horses were specially bred. Teams of five horses were used with an additional two to provide extra pulling power when needed. This unusual arrangement was devised by Rutherford himself and enabled the driver to manoeuver all his horses with only two sets of reins. (Drivers used the western European style of one-hand driving). The horse teams were matched by colour, were active, strong and bred for the purpose. So skilled were the drivers that they could part the team to avoid obstacles.

Mail coach crossing waterlogged ground, George Bell (attributed), published by Kerry and Co, Sydney, 1890-1900. Powerhouse Museum collection. 85/1284-338

However, it was the development of the “thoroughbrace” coach (suspension of the coach on leather straps), ideally suited to Australian conditions, which was the single greatest contributing factor to the company’s success. The coaches were mounted on a cradle suspended on two thoroughbraces. These consisted of up to thirteen strips of leather sewn together which gave the coach a swaying motion. The thoroughbraces made the coaches ideal on our rough tracks but the passengers often complained of coach sickness, almost like sea sickness, because of the rolling and pitching action. But coach travel was far from romantic. The discomfort of riding inside a dark coach all night saw considerable demand for the box seat next to driver, and passengers offered money for this privilege. Some passengers preferred to sit outside in a thunderstorm, exposed to the elements, rather than being jolted inside the coach, hitting their heads on the roof. Pity the poor female passengers then who always had to travel inside. Male passengers would open the stock gates, and at night a “gate watch” was organised to make sure someone was awake to answer the driver’s call of “gate, gate, oh”. All the passengers got off and walked over stretches too steep or hazardous to ride. Although coach travel was very uncomfortable, the vehicles were extraordinarily resilient and accidents relatively rare.

‘Coaching on Cliff Road’, near Scarborough, NSW, Kerry and Co, Sydney, c. 1884-1917. Powerhouse Museum collection. 85/1284-155.

The Museum has an eight-passenger Cobb and Co coach made in 1890. It was built at Cobb and Co’s Charleville workshops in Queensland and was last on the road around Blackall. Four passengers traveled inside the coach, two more sat up on the box seat with driver and other two perched on a roof seat. Under the box seat was the boot used to carry valuables and sometimes gold. This made the coach a target for ambush by bushrangers. Straw was laid on the floor to keep passengers’ feet warm and occasionally to hide small valuables from bushrangers. Mail and parcels were carried in large wicker baskets on the coaches’ roof while luggage was also strapped to the luggage compartment at the back. Passengers were only allowed 6 kg! The coaches had two brakes attached to the rear wheels. It was the job of the off-side box seat passenger to work the second brake lever when it was needed.

Strong box from a Cobb and Co. coach, c. 1870. It would have contained registered post, gold and valuables. Powerhouse Museum collection. Gift of Australia Post, NSW Headquarters, 1998. 98/2/39.

Cobb and Co  reigned supreme throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, but from 1902 the company’s diminishing profits were attributed to drought conditions, extensions to the railways in Queensland and the introduction of the motor car and later aircraft. The last horse-drawn Cobb and Co coach service to operate was between Surat and Yeulba (now Yuleba) in Queensland on 14 August 1924.

In England, as soon as the railways were introduced there in the 1830s coaching services were brought to a premature close. In Australia it was different. Here, coaching services developed concurrently with railways from the 1850s and flourished both in competition and by providing complementary services. The Cobb and Co services have much to account for this. Their operation encouraged settlement and the development of effective communication networks especially in remote country areas of eastern Australia.

Post by Margaret Simpson, Curator, Transport

Powerhouse Museum object 85/2580-94. Finlayson Toy Collection, purchased 1985.

When the author of this blog’s first ‘evocative object’ post asked me to think about what object from the Museum’s collection evoked strong emotions, a few childhood memories flashed through my mind – my first football with its strong smell of fresh leather and my first cricket bat, which I associate with another strong smell, linseed oil – but if I had to choose the earliest special thing from my early childhood it would have to be my pedal car.

I spent my childhood in Beaumaris, a southern suburb of Melbourne. In the late 1950s and early 1960s it was a quiet little spot with asphalt roads , concrete paths and gutters slowly being built on the sandy soil. I inherited my pedal car from my older cousins who no doubt had given it a good workout. Even though it wasn’t brand new I must have been proud of it, especially as toys and other personal possessions were few and far between.

Paul in his pedal car. Photo courtesy of Paul Wilson.

It was also the first time that I had some control over how I moved around under my own steam other than by walking or running. But in saying that I was probably only able to drive it around our front and back yards, so my universe was limited.

From the pedal car I graduated to a three-wheel trike, another hand-me-down from my cousins, on which I could tear up and down the footpath outside our house, and then on my seventh birthday I was given a brand new two-wheel red Malvern Star bike. Maybe there were training wheels in those days, but I can’t remember them. On the day of my birthday party I can vividly recall trying to ride around our back yard while all the other kids watched, falling off the bike and getting back on until suddenly my brain connected with my body and I could negotiate the whole backyard without falling off, albeit in a slightly wobbly fashion. Phew!

From then on I was able to ride my bike to school or around my suburb, so my personal world had expanded even further. Many years on I have received great enjoyment from watching my daughter experience the joy of movement on trikes and two wheelers. Most of us have memories involving pedal power, and I would be interested to hear about yours.

Written by Paul Wilson, Archivist

This painting is another botanical illustration by Agard Hagman from 1887.

The first curator of the Museum of Applied and Sciences was the botanist Joseph Maiden who later became Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens. In 1887 Australia’s natural resources were little explored. A major focus for the museum during it’s early years was the collection of Australian plants and the investigation of their potential for commercial purposes. During the late 1880s many drawings were commissioned from Agard Hagman.

Not a great deal is known about the artist. Museum records note that he was a was civil engineer who came to Australia from Sweden in 1885 onboard the ship ‘Sorata’. He returned to Sweden in 1891. He is registered as working at Tattersall’s Chambers, Hunter Street in the Sands Directory, 1888. Agard Hagman provided engineering drawings as well as botanical illustrations to the Museum.

A selection of Hagman’s drawings were exhibited at the Colonial International Exhibition, 1888 in Melbourne. A note in the New South Wales Catalogue of Exhibitions states: ‘Each drawing is 3 ft. 3 in by 2 ft 2 in., and is framed and glazed. Scale, three times natural size. In each case the fullest information (in large bold type) is affixed to the drawings themselves. In all cases the drawings have been made from fresh flowering or fruiting specimens, under the immediate supervision of the Curator, who certifies to their botanical correctness’.

This painting shows the species Tristania laurina, and it is titled as a timber tree. This species still has the same scientific name but it’s common name is usually the Water Gum. Today is it widely planted in Australia as an ornamental street tree and garden plant.

Post by Lynne McNairn, Digital Services

Reference: Yesterday’s tomorrows: the Powerhouse Museum and its precursors 1880-2005 by Graeme Davison and Kimberley Webber (eds)

Powerhouse Museum collection: Architectural model, China Central TV Headquarters, designed by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren of OMA, ECADI, Arup, England, made by Micromodel, Beijing, China, 2004-2008. Gift of Arup Sydney.

Thanks to Arup Sydney we acquired a model of the China Central TV headquarters in Beijing. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, its a sophisticated and controversial attempt to reinvent the office tower. Architects, journos and others have debated its pros and cons at length.

But in Beijing they can’t be fussed with that. To taxi-drivers, commuters and all manner of smarty-pants, Rem’s masterpiece is just the Big Trousers.

Now the Big Pants is gaining a friend, no less than a new headquarters for the People’s Daily, China’s state-owned daily newspaper. Although the new building is still under construction its appearance is already obvious. I don’t need to tell you what it’s being called on the streets of Beijing.

The People’s Daily headquarters, Beijing. Copyright Weibo.com

So much fun is being had at its expense that China’s version of Twitter – Weibo – is blocking photos of it. This happened shortly after images appeared on the web of the Big Trousers and the Big Penis Photoshopped together. The Chinese Communist Party is not famous for it’s sense of humour and like the CCTV building the People’s Daily tower will be home to one of the centres of information control in China.

Accusations of phallic worship are a frequent put down for tall buildings so perhaps its nice to finally see a literal phallic statement, although the architect denies any such intention.

Building nicknames have a long history and can be both affectionate – the Coat Hanger for the Harbour Bridge – or contemptuous – the Toaster apartments at east Circular Quay. In Sydney we used to have the Black Stump (the now-demolished State Office Block) and Governor Macquarie Tower is sometimes called the Egg Crate thanks to the vertical blades at the top.

I can’t think of many others (am happy to receive suggestions) which is probably because we have nothing quite comparable to the Big Trousers or its thrusting friend. Sydney architecture is either too polite or simply too dull. Even when it tries to make a statement (for example the designs proposed for the ‘iconic’ Barangaroo casino) the results are usually limp. Decidedly flaccid in fact.  Possibly a good thing, but then again…

Charles Pickett, curator

Model of the Sydney ferry, Lady Woodward, of 1970. Powerhouse Museum collection. Gift of State Transit Sydney Ferries, 1993. 93/373/1

The ferries of Sydney are as synonymous to tourists and locals alike as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Ferries provided Sydney with its earliest public transport system. Over 20 years before steam railways began here in 1855, Sydney was using steam ferries to carry passengers, goods, vehicles and livestock across and around the harbour. Ferry services enabled suburban development on the harbour foreshores by taking Sydneysiders to and from work during the week and to picnic grounds on the weekends.

They were used to inspect the latest ship entering Port Jackson, took prospective land buyers to inaccessible harbour locations and became the unofficial symbol of Sydney before construction of the Harbour Bridge. Once the Bridge opened in 1932, the inner-harbour fleet virtually withered overnight. However, petrol shortages and transport restrictions during the Second World War extended the life of the ferry services for a short time. Even old, laid up ferries were used and larger ones were even taken over as substitute warships. After the war years the ferries were in trouble with competition from private cars and buses. In 1951 the government took over inner harbour services followed by the Manly run in 1974.

Manly ferry

Crossing The Heads in a Manly ferry as the swell rolls through from the open sea is always the most memorable part of a trip to Manly. My brother was a ferry commuter in the 1970s. He says that you could always tell the regulars from the tourists as the former had their heads buried in the Sun or the Mirror as the sea water washed over the decks, casually lifting their feet to keep dry while the tourists were terrified. This was taken to extremes however one night in 1923

… the Burra Bra was dipping and rising, then burying her nose into the swells, spray flying over the bridge and water running all over the lower deck. She was halfway across The Heads when one mighty wave slammed into her on the port quarter, a massive wall of solid water, disintegrating with an explosive roar… Dozens of windows were broken, seats with passengers on them, were wrenched from their fastenings and slid across the rolling decks, the sliding doors on the port side were stove in and shattered, leaving the sea to pour into the lower decks… four people were injured, one badly.

Upper deck and loading ramp of the Many ferry, Baragoola, by Hamish Stewart, taken during the last months of its operation, 1983. Powerhouse Museum Collection. P3379.

Graeme Andrews in his book “Sydney Ferries” tells of other Sydney commuters  travelling on the Manly ferries in the 1930s:

On the business hour ferries there were often twenty or more men balanced along the lower rail as the ferry eased to her (Sydney) berth. A whole ‘boarding party’ made the leap from ferry to wharf. Occasionally someone ‘went in the drink’. ‘Jumping for it’ was less popular when the ferry was leaving Sydney. The five minute bell clanged, and deckhands cried out ‘hurry on please’ as the upper gang plank was removed. The lines were taken away as the bottom planks were removed – telegraphs tinkled and the screw frothed – then a whir of turnstile, running feet, a flying leap and success – or not! Sometimes a briefcase went to Manly and back in the care of a deckhand while its owner waited, sheepishly, for that ferry to return – having baulked at the last second.

Post by Margaret Simpson, Curator, Transport

H5580-1 Radio, portable TR-1 radio receiver, plastic / metal, designed by Painter, Teague & Petertil, made by Regency Division IDEA Inc, USA, 1954-1956

This Regency TR-1 transistor radio was one of the earliest portable radios imported into Australia. It is significant for the way it combines science, design, and culture: the solid state physics that led to the development of the transistor; the aesthetics and functionality of the plastic radio body; and the portability that took radio out of the home and made listening to it more often an individual experience rather than a group activity.

Until the 1920s most radios sold in Australia were imported, but after that date increasing numbers were manufactured locally. All were battery-operated until the introduction of mains operation in1928, but the early batteries were large, as were the radios. The number of broadcast transmitters in Australia increased from eight in 1924 to 31 by 1930.

Some of the first compact radios were produced in Australia at this time. They were made to be installed in cars, but were virtually unusable while moving due to interference from the engine and electrical system. Other problems included bulky valves, overheating and high power demand, which could drain a car’s battery. In the 1930s and 1940s the size and power consumption of car radios decreased, while the introduction of the ferrite rod aerial improved reception.

H5580-7 Packaging for transistor radio, paper, made by Regency Division IDEA Inc, America, 1955-1964

A major development came in 1948 when US scientists William Shockley, Walter Brattain and John Bordeen invented the world’s first solid-state amplifier, which they named a ‘transistor’. Capable of carrying out the same function as a valve but much smaller and not prone to overheating, the transistor opened up new possibilities for smaller radios and new directions in radio design.

In July 1954 the Texas Instruments and Industrial Development Engineering Associates (I.D.E.A.) companies embarked on a six month project to produce a pocket-sized radio for the Christmas market. The result was the Regency TR-1, the world’s first pocket transistor radio. Over one hundred thousand, in a range of colours, were sold during its first year of manufacture.

H5580-2 Transistor radio, plastic / metal, made by Regency Division IDEA Inc, America, 1954-1958

The radio was designed by the firm of Painter, Teague and Petertil whose final design was an excellent reflection of modernity. Aside from the sleek simplicity of its lines, the other standout feature was its distinctive grille, which was copied by almost all pocket radios that followed the TR-1. The design was recognised by the Industrial Design Society of New York, and in 1955 the radio was included in the American Art and Design Exhibition in Paris.

Geoff Barker, Curatorial, 2013

References
Handy, R., Erbe, M., Antonier, A., ‘Made in Japan, Transistor Radios of the 1950s and 1960s”, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1993
Musico,W., T., ‘Australian radio; the Technical Story, 1923-1983′, Kangaroo Press, 1984

The author, Paul Donnelly collecting pottery on the survey,
November 2012. Photo:Meg Danes

Archaeology and the Powerhouse Museum go back a long way. The most obvious examples are exhibitions focussing on archaeological material including ‘1000 Years of the Olympic Games‘, ‘The Great Wall of China‘, and the recent, ‘Spirit of Jang-in‘ from Korea. Less well known is the Museum’s participation and support of archaeological excavations over the past four decades, with the most recent being the revived excavations at Zagora, on the island of Andros in Greece.

Last year’s season was a survey of the site and the Powerhouse Museum returns mid-September 2013 represented by me, a curator and trained archaeologist, and Irma Havlicek of Web Services. We will join the team of archaeologists from the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens (AAIA) and the University of Sydney (USyd) on the project made possible through an Australian Research Council (ARC) ‘Discovery Grant’, and the support of the Archaeological Society at Athens. A major role of the Powerhouse involvement was the website component which details the daily life and many activities on a dig. Each season leads to what we hope will be a fascinating exhibition at the Museum showing how people lived at this unique site nearly 3,000 years ago.

Team members (Uni of Sydney) Steve Vasilakis and Rudy
Alagich on survey at the a steep part of the site, 2012. Photo: Paul Donnelly

Zagora is a uniquely well-preserved ancient settlement of 6.7 hectares whose remains date to around 950-700 BC and to date only 10% of the area has been excavated so there is much still to be discovered. This period, known as the ‘Golden Age’, is revered for the development of the city-state (polis) and democracy, the burgeoning of philosophy and the sciences, and the flourishing of theatre – all of which have had a huge influence on western civilisation. Might the migration of people from Zagora have contributed to, or been caused by, the process that led to the development of the Greek city-states and culminated in the flourishing of Athens around the 5th century BC? We hope to better answer this and many other questions as each season unfolds.

Cyclamen eek out an existence in a sheltered crevice.
Photo: Paul Donnelly

The Zagora website is updated regularly with news and developments towards the season but really gets going when we’re digging. Please join us ‘on-site’ at Zagora via the blog from September 21, and don’t forget to comment, console (if it’s raining or windy or both) encourage, or ask questions!

Paul (and Irma, currently in France)

The early morning trip to Zagora was not always welcoming.
Photo: Paul Donnelly

Written by Dr Paul Donelly, Curator, Design and Society

Sectioned XP Ford Falcon, Powerhouse Museum Collection. Gift of the Ford Motor Company of Australia, 1966. B1644

On 23 May, 2013, Australians were stunned to learn that Ford was to finish production of cars in Australia in 2016. The first Ford cars were sold in Australia in 1904 and a sales office opened in Melbourne in 1909, established by Ford of Canada. In the same year a local manufacturing plant was established in Victoria, at Geelong, 70 km SW of Melbourne. The Broadmeadows assembly plant, 16 km N of Melbourne, was opened in 1958 and an engine machine shop built in the expanded plant two years later. This enabled production to almost double from 50,000 to 90,000 units in 1961.

The Powerhouse Museum has one of the iconic Fords of the twentieth century, a Ford Falcon XP, Deluxe Fordomatic, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan, made by the Ford Motor Company of Australia at Broadmeadows in 1965. What’s really interesting about this car is that it was sectioned for display at a motor show in Melbourne, after which Ford donated it to the Museum. The sectioning shows not only the internal workings of the engine but also the construction of the body, upholstery, tyres, brakes and paintwork.

Specifications

Model: XP Falcon deluxe sedan Fordomatic 3S

Gearbox: 3 speed automatic (Borg-Warner)

Engine: “Pursuit 170″ water cooled, overhead valve

Cylinders: 6 in line

Bore & stroke: 3.68 in x 3.126 in (89 mm x 75 mm)

Capacity: 170 cu in. (2786 cc)

Compression ratio: 8.7:1

Maximum torque: 156 lb/ft (211 Nm) at 2400 rpm

Maximum power: 121 bhp (90 kW) at 4400 rpm

Top speed: about 95 mph (153 km/h)

Brakes: 9 inch (22.9 cm) drums front and rear

Fuel system: single throat carburettor

Fuel tank: 11.7 gals (53.2 litres)

Steering: recirculating ball, ratio 27:1

Wheels and tyres: pressed steel disc wheels with safety rims

Rear axle ratio: 3.50:1

Performance: 0-60 mph (0-96.6 kph) in 14.5 seconds

Boot lid of the Falcon showing the paint layers.

 The Ford Falcon range commenced in September 1960 with the XK and by 1962 the 100,000th Falcon had been built. The car and its successor, the XL, were based on a Canadian design with some minor modifications. With the following model, the XM in 1964, a more serious attempt at designing and making a car for Australian conditions was achieved, culminating in the XP with its torque box chassis which ran the entire length of the body, improved suspension and shock absorbers. In that year a durability trial organised by Bill Bourke, who was marketing the car for Ford Australia, saw five standard XP Falcons race around the clock for nine days over the rough and twisting 4 km dirt track of the You Yangs Proving Ground, Ford’s new test track, between Melbourne and Geelong, aiming to cover 70,000 miles (112,651 km) at an average of 70 mph (112.7 kph). Although several of the cars rolled over, they averaged 71.3 mph (114.7 kph). Even Henry Ford II flew in for the event. The publicity stunt established 49 Australian endurance records and established the Falcon’s reputation as a tough family car. It was ordered by fleet managers, the police and for taxi fleets. The XP was named “Wheels” Magazine’s “Car of the Year” in 1965, the first Australian-made car to win this accolade, and the model turned the tide for Ford Australia as a serious competitor to Holden.

The ‘Pursuit 170′ engine of the Falcon.

A total of 70,998 XP’s were made between February 1965 and September 1966. Thirteen models were produced over that time: standard, deluxe, Futura and Fairmont sedans; standard, deluxe, Squire and Fairmont station wagons; deluxe and Futura 2-door hardtops; standard and deluxe utilities; and a van.

The XP’s selling points for dealers at the time included a one-piece 8-inch (20.3 cm) deep chromed steel wrap-around bumper; engine insulation under the bonnet, a choice of three engines (the 96 hp “144″ engine, the “Pursuit 170″ and the “Super Pursuit 200″); a choice of manual, 2-speed “Fordomatic” automatic and 3-speed “Fordomatic 3S” automatic transmissions; a range of high-fashion colours including new metallic “diamond lustre”; massive chassis reinforcement members called “torque-boxes”; safety grooves in the wheel rims; self-adjusting brakes; chrome drip mouldings; classic large round Falcon tail lights; the spare wheel positioned upright in a well in the boot; vinyl seats and trim; interior insulation against heat and cold; ribbed floor mats, a zone of toughened glass in the front windscreen in front of the driver; 2-speed electric windscreen wipers; an illuminated selector quadrant on the steering column; and a dome lamp in the centre roof turret.

Sectioned interior detailing of the Falcon.

Accessories included an “auto-portable” transistor radio; fresh air heater and ventilating system; stainless-steel wheel covers and wheel discs; chromed locking fuel tank caps; deluxe rear vision mirrors; and windshield washers. Made in an era before car air-conditioning, the car could come with a range of accessories to combat the Australian heat, including exterior sun visors for the front windscreen; a Venetian blind for the rear window; and a weather shield for the driver’s window.

The Falcon XP was the first Ford to challenge Holden’s grip on the family car market. It epitomised the post-war attitude to cars in an era of prosperity; they were no longer cherished family heirlooms, but instead were consumer items.

“65 Falcon Produce Review Booklet”, (issued to Ford dealers), Product Training Dept, Ford of Australia, [1965].

Ford Falcon Registered Owner’s Manual, [1965].

Wright, John. “The History of Ford Falcon 1969-1994″, Ford Motor Company Limited Australia, 1994.

‘The XP Series Falcon 1965-66′ in “Restored Cars”, No. 162, Jan-Feb 2004, p.40.

Post by Margaret Simpson, Curator, Transport