Inside the Collection

Tag: urban development

Cover of the sheet music for the 'Sydney Railway Waltz'

Happy 160th Birthday Sydney Trains

September 26, 2015

Margaret Simpson
Today marks 160 years since the first railway officially opened in New South Wales on 26 September 1855 between Sydney and Parramatta. As the North West Rail Link (now called Sydney Metro Northwest) continues to be constructed by the NSW Government in 2015, providing much-needed public transport, NSW's first railway to Parramatta wasn't for commuters but the first step in a line destined for Bathurst and Goulburn.
Christmas card, Chips and Quentin Rafferty

Ten Favourite Beards from the Collection

September 5, 2015

Rebecca Evans
We've amassed some beards in our collection! Curator, Rebecca Evans, takes us through her favourites. 1. Christmas card by Dahl and Geoffrey Collings This card (at top) features a cartoon of a giant, a representation of iconic Australian actor Chips Rafferty, sitting on a stool having his huge beard combed by a tiny female figure, Quentin Rafferty.
Photograph of the Goodsline bridge

The Goods Line – then and now

September 3, 2015

Margaret Simpson
Yesterday I took a stroll along Sydney's newest pedestrian walkway, The Goods Line. It opened last Sunday (30 August 2015) and goes from the Ultimo Road railway bridge to the Museum's new entrance in Macarthur Street, Ultimo, an inner Sydney suburb.
Photograph of a 22 hp, 4-cylinder Model T Tourer made at Ford's Walkerville factory, Ontario, Canada, in 1916

Henry Ford’s Model T and its impact in Australia

July 30, 2015

Margaret Simpson
It was Henry Ford's dream to "democratise the automobile" by not only making it available to the rich but to everyone. He did this by producing the inexpensive Model T, a car which took the world by storm and was a significant invention during the Industrial Revolution.
Olympic Games towel designed by Shirley de Vocht for Dri-Glo Towels, Sydney, 1956, MAAS collection

Shirley Martin: Australian industrial designer

July 29, 2015

Anne-Marie Van de Ven
Shirley Martin was a female industrial designer based in Sydney who had a long and illustrious career as a post-WWII Australian textile and ceramic designer. She is best known for designing the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games towel, but there is much more to her remarkable design industry success story.
Railway timetable cover from the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia

The Queen’s 1954 Royal Tour of Australia – a rare surviving memento

January 14, 2015

Margaret Simpson
Many of the objects which come into the Museum have great stories. One of the most delightful over the last few months was the acquisition of this very rare fabric-covered railway timetable. It was used in the Museum's superb 1901 Governor-General's railway carriage in which Queen Elizabeth II travelled to parts of New South Wales during her 1954 Royal Tour of Australia.
Photograph of Stonehenge 1936

Portrait of the artist

December 29, 2014

Anne-Marie Van de Ven
This rather majestic black and white photographic portrait of Australian artist, designer and photographer Dahl Collings (Dulcie May Wilmott 1910-1988) was shot by her husband Geoffrey Collings (1905-2000) during a trip to Stonehenge around 1936.
Model of the steam locomotive "Locomotion No. 1"

Locomotion No. 1, George Stephenson and the world’s first public railway

December 24, 2014

Margaret Simpson
The Museum has an amazing collection of models. One of my favourites is this one representing "Locomotion", the engine used on the world's first public railway. It opened in 1825 in the north east of England to transport coal from mines near Darlington to the coast at Stockton.
Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt

World AIDS Day 2014

December 1, 2014

Anni Turnbull
“Unless we tell their stories, they are not there.”* Since it began on 1 December 1988, World AIDS Day has put strong focus on the global fight to remove the threat of HIV and AIDS. First diagnosed in 1981, the HIV and  AIDS epidemic remains one of the most significant public health issues, particularly in less affluent countries.
Steam road roller made by Aveling and Porter Ltd

Mechanisation of road building – 1923 steam road-roller

November 10, 2014

Margaret Simpson
Were you one of the many Australian children who played on old steamrollers set up in municipal parks after they were no longer required by local councils? Steamrollers, more correctly called road-rollers, were the last type of steam vehicles used on roads.
Dr David Lewis, happy on his arrival in Cape Horn, South Africa, March 1974

Ice Bird – the unsinkable boat

October 27, 2014

Kate Chidlow
Restoration of the sailing boat that made the first single handed voyage to Antarctica Dr David Lewis was a courageous sailor, an extra-ordinary navigator and an adventurer with big dreams. He was the first navigator in modern times to cross the Pacific Ocean without using instruments, following a legendary Maori course from Tahiti to New Zealand.