Photographs: ‘Australia early 1930s’ Part 1 March 2020

March 2020

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (girl on porch)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

One of the great joys about compiling this archive is the ability to rescue unloved and unknown images. To give them a voice in the contemporary world.

These 2 1/4″ square (6 x 6 cm) medium format black and white negatives come from the collection of my friend Nick Henderson. There is no marking on any of the negatives, leading me to believe that the film numbers were on the backing paper of the 120 film roll. The negatives are housed in paper packets adorned with a logo and words ‘APS Developing and Printing Service’ – perhaps Australian Photographic Services? Each packet contains basic title information for some of the photographs. Looking at the photographs and their perspective on the world, it would seem that the camera is a waist view camera, in other words the photographer was looking down into the viewfinder, the camera not held at eye level. The camera could possibly have been a Box Brownie No. 2 or a Voigtländer to name but a few (see below). The quality of the negatives is reasonable, with some fall off in terms of sharpness occurring at the edge of the image. The photographs, dated anytime after November 1932 (we can date them from the Chevrolet car and the construction of The Dog on the Tuckerbox monument) are taken by an unknown photographer (probably male)… photographs of life in Sydney, his family and their travels around Australia. This is the first tranche of photographs with roughly the same number to come in the second part of the posting.

What makes these photographs particularly interesting is:

the breadth of subject matter and the fact that they are medium format
the relaxed nature and beauty of the photographs of the children, and the light!
the unknown images of places such as Bondi Beach and historical monuments, such as that of the forlorn The Dog on the Tuckerbox, after its official opening (see plaque) but how long after?
the early photographs of the motor sport activity of hillclimbing, unfortunately no place known

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Variously we have country towns, theatrical groups, sailing, boating, churches, Sydney ferries, a trip to Maldon in Victoria for the Maldon Show, family picnics, cars and caravans, houses and horse riding, churches and children, and the oh so cute dogs in their own car boxes. So Australian. The photographs really give an extensive insight into suburban life in Australia in the 1930s… and the photographer had a good eye. That is what is most important – that they knew how to take a good photograph.

Talking to my friend James McArdle who writes the oh so excellent On this Date in Photography website (essential reading!), he was unaware of the time it takes to prepare images for these postings. It has literally taken me hours and hours of hard work to scan these negatives and then digitally clean and balance them. All to give them a new lease of life in the world, to preserve their captured memories and histories. I hope you can appreciate all the hard work and admire the images I have revealed.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

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Many thankx to Nick Henderson for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. All photographs collection of Nick Henderson. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

APS (Australian Photographic Services?) Developing and Printing Service
Film packets and negatives
early 1930s
Negatives: 2 1/4″ square (6 x 6 cm)
Packet (closed): 3 7/8 x 3 1/4″ (10 cm x 8 cm)
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Voigtländer Billiant
early 1930s
Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr

The Voigtländer Brillant is a range of pseudo-TLR cameras, and later true TLR cameras, taking 6 × 6 cm exposures on 120 film, made by Voigtländer from 1932. Famed Hungarian-Dutch photographer Eva Besnyö used a Brillant for her early work.

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Circular Quay, Sydney)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Ferry Karrabee, Sydney)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Karingal and Karrabee ferry

Karingal and Karrabee were built by Morrison & Sinclair, Balmain for Sydney Ferries Limited, being launched in 1913. They were the smallest of the round-ended K-class Sydney ferries, and could carry 608 and 653 passengers respectively.

They were near identical sister ferries operated by Sydney Ferries Limited and its NSW State Government operated successors on Sydney Harbour from 1913 until 1984. Wooden ferries built at the time of Sydney Ferries’ rapid early twentieth century, they were the smallest of the round-end “K-class ferries”.

The ferries were built as coal-fired steamer and were converted to diesel in the 1930s – the first Sydney Harbour ferries to be so converted. Unlike many early twentieth century Sydney Ferries, they survived the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the 1930s, and the State Government takeover in 1951.

Karrabee sank at Circular Quay after taking on water during the Great Ferry Race in 1984 – an incident that received extensive media coverage – and did not return to service. Karingal, and the other three remaining old wooden ferries, were taken out of service shortly after Karrabee’s sinking. In service for 71 years, they were among the longest-serving ferries on Sydney Harbour.

“Karingal” and “Karrabee” are Australian Aboriginal words meaning ‘happy home’ and ‘cockatoo’ respectively.

Text from the Wikipedia website [Online] Cited 12/12/2019

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Bondi Beach, Sydney)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (The Dog on the Tuckerbox)
Gundagai, early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

The Dog on the Tuckerbox

The Dog on the Tuckerbox is an Australian historical monument and tourist attraction, located at Snake Gully, approximately five miles (eight kilometres) from Gundagai, New South Wales as described in the song of the same name.

The inspiration for the statue has been traced to a doggerel poem, “Bullocky Bill”, published anonymously by “Bowyang Yorke” in 1857 (other references have 1880 in the Gundagai Times, however confirmation of either is hard to find), which humorously describes a series of misfortunes faced by a bullock driver, culminating in his dog either sitting on or spoiling the food in his tucker-box (an Australian colloquialism for a box that holds food, similar to a lunchbox, but larger). …

A dog monument was first erected at a site nine miles from Gundagai in 1926. Gundagai stonemason Frank Rusconi suggested a memorial using the legend of the Dog on the Tuckerbox in 1928; and in 1932 the proposal was taken up by the community…

The Back to Gundagai Committee chose the Five Mile camping site rather than the Nine Mile Peg as a location for the monument on the basis that it was more convenient to the Hume Highway and closer to the town, thereby more beneficial to tourism.

A nationwide competition was held to obtain the most suitable inscription for the monument. The chosen inscription on the base of the monument was written by Brian Fitzpatrick of Sydney. The inscription says:

“Earth’s self upholds this monument
To conquerors who won her when
Wooing was dangerous, and now
Are gathered unto her again.”

The dog section of the monument was modelled by Rusconi and cast at ‘Oliver’s Foundry’ in Sydney. Rusconi also sculpted its base.

The Dog on the Tuckerbox monument was erected in 1932 as part of ‘Back to Gundagai’ week, and a large crowd “gathered to her again” to witness the unveiling by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons on 28 November 1932. It was planned to donate money placed in the wishing well at the base of the monument to the Gundagai District Hospital. A souvenir shop was also opened nearby. Copyright on the monument was vested in the Gundagai Hospital, who for many years received a useful income from receipt of royalties from firms using the iconic image.

Text from the Wikipedia website [Online] Cited 12/12/2019

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (hillclimb)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (hillclimb) (detail)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (hillclimb)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown location, probably New South Wales. Note the people at left viewing the action, one with a camera

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (hillclimb) (detail)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (hillclimb)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (hillclimb) (detail)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (boat)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (boat at sea)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (child on porch)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (boy outside house)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (boy smiling)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (boy and girl smiling)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (child on lawn)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (child and chairs)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (man and woman)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (house)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (boy on horse)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (dog and saucepan)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (1932 Chevrolet)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Chevrolet and caravan)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (1932 Chevrolet and dogs)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Chevrolet and caravan)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (man and car)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (family picnic)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (man and car)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (house on hill)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (room interior)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Future Miss Maldons, Maldon Show, Maldon, Victoria)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson

Where are they now, so many ghosts with flowers in their hair.

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Scottish band, Maldon Show, Maldon, Victoria)
early 1930s
Medium format negative
Collection of Nicholas Henderson