When Woolloongabba was Wattle Scented

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Faceless Men? Do they look like this? What About Faceless Women?



A faceless man!


With all this talk of faceless men I wondered what a faceless man would look like? Maybe like this? And why does no-one ever talk about faceless women. I have photo evidence of faceless women too.


Seriously folks, the term "faceless men" has become one of those now tiresome Australian political constructs and should now be retired, along with "Australian working families", "unAustralian" and "boatpeople".


A faceless woman!



Group shot! Faceless man and women.


These photographic images are from the National Archives of Australia. The faceless people are A.S.I.O. operatives whose identities were suppressed on National Security Grounds, the photographs were submitted as evidence to the Royal Commission into the Petrov Affair. The woman whose face is shown is 
Evdokia Petrova




Sunday, February 19, 2012

Qld State Election - "One Toot & You're Oot! - Cartoon, 1947.




This cartoon references a State law gazetted in 1918 that curbs the excessive use of loudspeakers or maybe politicians singing their praises too loudly? I'm not sure whether the law was directed specifically at election candidates or noisy people in general. Perhaps the law needs an amendment to include Twitter, You Tube, talk-back radio and 5-second sound-bites on the evening news.




Citation:

1947 '"ONE. TOOT AND YOU'RE OOT!".', Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), 21 April, p. 1
 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42516176

Friday, February 17, 2012

Extract from Diary of the Darwin General Post Office, February 19th, 1942.




I did a spot of collection fishing through the National Archives of Australia and found the diary of the Darwin General Post Office for 1942. On the morning of the 19th of February' the post office and surrounding buildings took a direct hit and claimed the lives of nine civilians.The postmaster, his wife and young daughter were amongst the fatalities, the nine who perished that morning remain the only civilians ever killed by enemy forces on mainland Australia.

Air raid on Darwin Australia at 0958 hrs.
72 Enemy planes took part in first drastic raid & 15 planes in second raid. 1st raid approached from SE & first salvo of bombs destroyed jetty, Govt. Offices & P.M.G. premises. The loss of life being as follows . PMG (Harry) Bald his wife and his daughter...postal clerk Wellington....and Mrs J.Youmg who were on duty as telephonists at the time of the raid.
The formation of bombers operated at a considerable height & were escorted by Zero fighters. The postal premises suffered sever damage from direct hits & bomb blasts.
A check of the P.M.G. staff disclosed many injured including the...and many members of the postal staff.


The entry is difficult to decipher from there but seems that  what was able to be salvaged was secured and guarded. The second raid of 12.15pm is mentioned and the final three lines of the entry read:

...decided to move our men & salvaged valuables to the 10 mile position from where communication with A House (?) can continue.






Mitchell street frontage of the Darwin Post Office.





Front cover of the diary from the Darwin General Post Office, 1942.






Citations:

National Archives of Australia Item # 9217501
Australian War Memorial Item #304994







Saturday, February 4, 2012

American Football: How Players Dress, 1908




The captions read:

(Left)
This is a picture showing the ear, and head, and noseguard in position. The nose guard nts on to the fore-head by means of a strap, and has a tab, which is held between the teeth.

(Right)
This man played without any nose guard.

These two men are shown in the attitude adopted when "centre guard'' takes the ball in hand to pass it to the quarter baok. Each man is wearing nose, ears, and head guard, and is also padded on the shoulder, knees, and elbows.


Citation:
1908 'AMERICAN FOOTBALL.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), 3 September, p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10189106

Give Me Coca-Cola Anytime...! Newspaper Advert.1953.







Citation:


1953 'Advertising.', The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), 21 September, p. 6
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51093652

Friday, February 3, 2012

Photo Evidence: Brisbane Bureau of Meteorology Uses a Crystal Ball, 1938.




People often accuse the Bureau of Meteorology of using a crystal ball in it's work and at last they are vindicated. Not quite a tool for weather forecasting but for measuring sunlight. Caption reads:


Three perfect sunshine days left their mark on the recording device at the Weather Bureau;.Sun rays are concentrated through a crystal magnifying condenser and burn furrows on a slowly-revolving card, marked in hours. Left : Yesterday's card being examined by an official. Right:.The sunshine records for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.



Citation:
1938 'STRIPS OF BRISBANE'S SUNSHINE.', The Courier-Mail(Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), 1 September, p. 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38706866