Tag Archive for 'Antarctica'

History Week 2012 Threads – what Mawson wore in Antarctica

Published on September 8, 2012 by Margaret Simpson in Adventurers, Fashion, Costume and Dress, History week and Object of the week. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
It is thought this photograph of an ice-filled face in a Burberry helmet is of the meteorologist, C.T. Madigan, on Dr Douglas Mawson's 1911-1914 Antarctic expedition. Part of the John George Hunter collection of photographs of Antarctica, 1911-1914, courtesy of Flickr.

It is thought this ice-filled face in a Burberry helmet is the meteorologist, C.T. Madigan, on  Mawson’s  expedition.  John George Hunter collection of photographs of Antarctica, 1911-1914, courtesy of Flickr.

In earlier blogs I have written with great enthusiasm about the sledges and food taken on Dr Douglas Mawson’s 1911-1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE). Now I find myself similarly excited about some of the clothing from this expedition in our collection. Two items are particularly interesting, a windproof helmet and large pair of over trousers. Both were made by the famous London clothing firm, Burberry. In 1911 each member of Mawson’s expedition was fitted out with two Burberry polar outfits at a cost of 100 pounds each member. One suit comprised three pieces: trousers, blouse-jacket and helmet, whilst the other was made of two; the blouse-jacket and helmet being combined.

Continue reading ‘History Week 2012 Threads – what Mawson wore in Antarctica’

Extreme South, James Castrission and Justin Jones’ Antarctic adventure

Published on August 2, 2012 by Margaret Simpson in Adventurers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

 

Australian adventurer, Justin Jones, on the record-breaking Antarctic expedition 2011-2012. Photo courtesy of James Castrission and Justin Jones.

Australian adventurer, Justin Jones, on the record-breaking Antarctic expedition 2011-2012. Photo courtesy of James Castrission and Justin Jones.

 We came to probe its mystery, to reduce this land to terms of science, but there is always the indefinable, which holds aloof yet which rivets our souls”…

wrote the Australian geologist and explorer Sir Douglas Mawson of Antarctica, that majestic yet formidable continent located at the southernmost point of our planet, in his 1930 book ‘The Home of the Blizzard’.

My own closest brush with Antarctica thus far was earlier this year. It involved spying minute icebergs from the porthole of a rumbling Boeing 747 as it fought the trade winds, performing a semi circular loop between Sydney and Johannesburg over the Southern Ocean, near the edge of the Antarctic continent. Thus until recently I couldn’t even imagine what it must feel like to experience the mixed sense of wonderment, reverence and foreboding that Mawson, and many travellers to Antarctica since, have expressed of their first hand contact with this majestic and severe frozen continent.
Continue reading ‘Extreme South, James Castrission and Justin Jones’ Antarctic adventure’