‘Tourist Gaze’ and Society

Kiyomi Misaki is a PhD student in Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne, researching Japanese society and culture through fieldwork and Action Research.

Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1932
Figure 1: Two masterpieces of British Engineering – RMS “Strathnaver” and Sydney Harbour Bridge., 17 August 1932. Commercial Travellers’ Association, 1979.0162.02909

The collection of the Commercial Travellers’ Association (CTA) provides various images correspondent with historical events such as the Great Depression, the World War and the period after the war. Across the whole collection, beautiful scenery and leisure activities drew my attention and as an international student, an idea came into my mind: what do these images tell about society in Australia?

Competition of life savers, carnival Bondi Beach, 1933
Figure 2: Competition of life savers, carnival Bondi Beach, Sydney, NSW, 13 September 1933. Commercial Travellers’ Association, 1979.0162.02444

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An Inhabited Space: Helmut Newton’s Lovers

Richard Sowada is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne’s School of Culture and Communication. His thesis examines the relationship communities have with the screen industry through architecture, technology and places of reception and they way in which they can influence sector development.

The images described in this post are still in copyright and cannot be published. Researchers may access the originals in the Baillieu Library Reading Room. 

Many elements in the photographic collection of the Commercial Traveller’s Association share an eeriness. In their composition, there’s a sense of a crime scene without a crime. We see scenic locations without tourists. Restaurants without diners. Bars without drinkers. Kiosks without customers. Offices without clerks. Schools without pupils. Cities without people.

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The Spirit of Sacrifice: The First War Memorial in Australia

Yang Wang is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute. Her thesis analyses the political discourse of shengtai wenming (Ecological Civilisation) in China. 

For South Australians, honouring and remembering the servicemen and women who made great sacrifices for the country during wartime, especially the First World War, is an indispensable part of their cities and towns. The National War Memorial located in Adelaide is such a mark of honour to the nearly 35,000 South Australians who served in the First World War and 30,000 who served overseas, with more than 5000 lost lives (King, 2013, p.170). Proposed in March 1919 by then Premier Archibald Peake, with the unanimous support of parliament, the government of South Australia determined to build the first memorial to the First World War in Australia. Designed to commemorate not only South Australian soldiers but all Australian servicemen and women, the memorial was named the National War Memorial, and after a decade’s efforts, was finally unveiled on ANZAC Day 25 April 1931, with an estimated 75,000 people, including 5,000 veterans attending the ceremony. Thereafter, the National War Memorial has been one of the most significant cultural, historical and tourist sites in South Australia.

National War Memorial
National War Memorial and King Edward’s Statue, North Terrace, Adelaide, 1936. Commercial Travellers Association, 1979.0162.02835

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‘Oh What a Horrid Tale to Sound’: The grisly world of broadside ballads

New acquisitions to the Baillieu Library Print Collection.

From podcasts, to YouTube channels, to Netflix documentaries, and feature films, the modern world loves to enjoy a tale of true crime. Combining the adrenaline rush of being spooked during a horror movie with telling reflections on the darkest side of human nature, it can be captivating to peek into tales of violence and woe. However, this fascination is far from exclusive to our contemporary society. In early modern Europe, particularly Britain, and later America, for a very small cost one could purchase a broadside ballad. Produced en-masse on extremely cheap paper, these single sheet missives were most often printed in two columns under a woodcut pictorial heading. They related recent and topical events in verse form, providing an affordable and entertaining resource to learn of current affairs [1.].

Broadside ballads were one form of what is known as ‘street literature’ and, as is still the case today, the more salacious the story the better it sold. Best-sellers often told of crimes and executions, and some editions are said to have sold over one and half million copies [2.]. Ballads such as these, telling of the heinous crime in question and how the accused met their end, were sometimes known as ‘good-nights’, in reference to all those involved who went into their eternal sleep. Certain popular tunes would be attached to the printed lyrics, the ‘hanging tune’ known as Fortune My Foe was often used for good-nights [3.].

Printed by John Marshall and Samuel Hazard, The execution of Wild Robert: Being a warning to all parents, 1795, wood engraving and letterpress.
Printed by John Marshall and Samuel Hazard, The execution of Wild Robert: Being a warning to all parents, 1795, wood engraving and letterpress.

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Women of the Conservatorium: Mary Mauricette MacGillicuddy

In the Baillieu Library Rare Music Collection there is a series of seven untitled, clothbound scrapbooks, each containing newspaper clippings dating from 1930-1947. These scrapbooks reveal a snapshot of the Melbourne music scene and concert-life during that period. In particular, it provides an insight into the life of the Conservatorium of Music, its alumni and students. The fifth scrapbook contains the image reproduced here of Conservatorium student Mary Mauricette MacGillicuddy. Published in March of 1936, MacGillicuddy, then 23 years of age, was photographed in the lead up to her farewell concert at the Melbourne Town Hall.  MacGillicuddy was about to venture abroad, where she would find fame, though perhaps not precisely in the form she, or her admirers, expected.

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