Kiwi polish was first produced in 1908 by Melbourne business partners Hamilton McKellan and William Ramsay. The name Kiwi was a tribute to Ramsay’s New Zealand born wife. For two reasons the product was a major improvement on the old boot blacking (remember Charles Dickens working in
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In 1933, two trained Alsatians, Tess and Harada, joined the New South Wales Police Force. Almost immediately they were earning their keep, apprehending criminals and tracking people lost in the bush. Tess in particular would go on to perform amazing feats of detection. She was adored by
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The saying goes that life is a lottery, and in nineteenth century Sydney two men promised everyone a chance to win big. In the early 189os Australia experienced a severe economic depression. Many banks and other financial institutions went bust. One casualty was the Mercantile Building Land
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Draw some little legs on a wooden handled cobbler’s awl (even with my lack of skill) and you would have something resembling an Eastern Spinebill. In the old days they were often referred to as Cobbler’s Awl Birds, and I’m sure that beak could pierce boot
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In 1895, architect Alan Cameron Walker designed his own home, Huonden, in his birthplace of Hobart. The property had an immediate impact; That charming coterie of accomplished ladies and gentlemen who strive to keep an interest in art alive in our midst and who form the
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As a dairy farmer’s daughter, the first holiday I ever had (apart from staying with relatives) was in the little Tasmanian town of Boat Harbour. With cows to milk every day we just never went on family vacations. My seaside holiday was thanks to Laura and Geoff
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In 1933 Tasmanian born artist Stephen Bransgrove was being feted as a principal prize winner at the 108th annual exhibition at the National Academy of Design in New York City. Bransgrove was a complete unknown, so it was a huge but pleasant surprise. Apparently he had lived
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With the renovation of the Blackheath Duck Pond last year came the planting of native reeds and grasses around the perimeter. My sincere thanks to the volunteers who did so much to help. What a success it has been, and in such a short space of time.
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The Merino – ship of treasures. In July 1949, Tasmanian Premier Robert Cosgrove travelled to Scotland to launch the freighter Merino. It had been built on Glasgow’s River Clyde on behalf of Launceston trading company L.W. Smith Pty. Ltd. A bottle of Tasmanian champagne had been sent
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In September 1953 an event celebrating the history of nursing in Sydney was held at the Town Hall. It was organized by the Australian Trained Nurses Association. One of the major characters represented in the ‘cavalcade’ was Lucy Osburn, first matron of the Sydney Infirmary (later known
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