Bessie O’Leary came late to the state of matrimony. In 1951 she and her sister Margaret were elderly spinsters living a quiet, respectable life in Bowen Terrace, New Farm; a suburb of Brisbane. However, at 71, Bessie met and married an 80 year old ‘Prince Charming’. Walter
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Payray was a star Tasmanian pacer in the early 1950s. He was owned by Mrs G.A. Young of Launceston, and trained by her husband Gerald. (It’s a sign of those times that I am unable to discover Mrs Young’s first name!) The pacer had won interstate races
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In 1924, Australian sculptor Frank ‘Guy’ Lynch created a piece called The Satyr. The half man, half beast of Greek mythology represents lustfulness and uninhibited revelry. It was acquired for £125 by the Art Gallery of NSW, after being exhibited at Sydney’s Anthony Horden Gallery. The sculpture
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Fireworks, the manufacture and art of displaying them, were a passion for English born Charles Knight. Exactly when he arrived in Tasmania is unknown, but it seems he had learned his craft at the famous Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens of London, in the 1840s. Knight established a fireworks
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Sydney Harbour has been the centre of fireworks displays from the very early days of the colony. In December 1855 they were used to mark the Fall of Sebastopol, during the Crimean War. Military victories of the ‘mother country’ were celebrated with joy and pride by the
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Punch seems the ideal Christmas party drink for Australia; so refreshing and festive, plus the perfect way to make use of summer fruits. My partner Rob and I inherited a heavy crystal punch bowl from Rob’s grandmother. She lived in Adelaide, and used it at 1930s tennis
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Red net Christmas stockings…no, not this kind Santa. 😎 I mean those cardboard and mesh ones stuffed full of trashy novelties. How I loved them. I particularly remember Chinese finger traps, blow out whistles adorned with a feather, flip books, tin patty pans and tilt toys with
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On Christmas Eve 1925, Evelyn Hobson told her parents and siblings that she was going on holiday for a few days to Manly, a favourite destination for Sydneysiders. Christmas Eve seems an odd time to choose, but Evelyn was 27 years old and gainfully employed as a
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Written by British born Australian writer Maggie Joel, The Second-Last Woman in England is a novel centred on class, snobbery and hypocrisy in post war England as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth looms. It was published in 2010. Unusually, the prologue reveals that as the royal family
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Did you ever wonder when the elusive 1930 Australian penny became so sought after? For some reason it wasn’t immediately valuable, even though very few were struck due to the Great Depression and the cancellation of orders from the Commonwealth Government. However, it is thought that 1,000
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