‘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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Journeys of the Imagination – Postcards from the Archives

by Melinda Barrie, Archivist, University of Melbourne Archives.

Working with a wide range of collections in the University Archives I struggle to choose a favourite item or series. But after much consideration I keep coming back to the postcards. Why do they fascinate? I think the attraction rests with their potential to act as a tangible reminder of personal experience and past adventures with family and friends. For me, the pleasure of receiving a postcard lies in those first few moments after retrieving the travel worn card from my letterbox and the experience of feeling a connection to the author as they speak directly to me from a far-off, sometimes exotic place. The picture, colourful stamp, postmark, and the handwritten message all contribute to creating a sense of place and time.

In contrast, the postcards I have sent during this time of the Covid 19 pandemic via an online ‘Australia Post app’ have focused inwards on aspects of my life at home inside my ‘five to twenty-five kilometre bubble’ – domestic life, plants, the moon in the sky. The intent was not to replace the close contact of my physical presence with others – but to let family and friends know I am thinking of them. This I believe is the likely purpose of many of the postcards in UMA’s care.

UMA’s collection of postcards show a myriad of landscapes, places, experiences and past practices of the university and its population across time. An example is Joseph Burke, former Herald Chair of Fine Arts who collected the postcards he received throughout his life. They show the breadth of his club involvement, grand tours, professional interest in the art world and his social circles both public and private.

Figure 1 ‘St Vitale – The Jews Revolt’, Ravenna, 12 July 1953, PO/272, 1978.0039, Joseph Terence Burke Personal Papers, University of Melbourne Archives
Figure 2 ‘St Sophia Museum, Istanbul’ verso 3 March 1961, PO/270, 1978.0039, Joseph Terence Burke Personal Papers, University of Melbourne Archives

Other examples collected for official reasons are the 1900s postcard of Philip Marcham who is standing near the Law Library holding his bell. Marcham was formerly employed as the University bellringer and porter and his presence serves as a reminder of occupations and rituals that are now long extinct. Postcards also serve as evidence of the changing landscape of the University grounds which is exemplified by the postcard of the lake surrounded by flora which no longer exists.

Figure 3 Marcham, the bellringer, circa 1890 – 1910. 2017.0071.00330 University of Melbourne Photograph Collection, University of Melbourne Archives.
Figure 4 The Old Museum University of Melbourne, 1997.0013.00002 University of Melbourne Photograph Collection, University of Melbourne Archives.

UMA holdings contain hundreds of postcards and the collection as a whole provides a fascinating montage of personal experience, landscape, ritual, built heritage and environment. Many of the postcards at UMA can be found online for research and study purposes.

 

“Spirit of speed”: Ida Outhwaite and the Shell Fairies  

by Carmen Mok, Archives and Special Collections Digital Presence Intern 

Ida Outhwaite and the Shell Fairies   

In my preparation for the #HistoryMonth2020 campaign in October, I began an exploration of the University of Melbourne Archives and Special Collections’ extensive collections in search of weekly themes. The theme of children’s literature has allowed me to step into Australian author and illustrator Ida Rentoul Outhwaite’s fairyland. When we talk about fairy tales, they usually conjure up stories of adventure, magic and fantasy. Advertising practitioners generally utilized fairy tales to promote popular children’s products such as chocolate, tissue and children’s clothing. I was surprised to discover, however, a connection between the Shell Company and Outhwaite’s work in a series of children’s books with an explicitly commercial message.

The Fairy Story That Came True, 1923 by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (illustration, pg.11) 2008.0045.00504, Shell Historical Archive, University of Melbourne Archive

Featured in the University of Melbourne Archives and Special Collections’ #HistoryMonth2020 campaign, the illustration above is featured in a story book by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors and illustrators of the early 20th century. Born in a literary and artistic family at Carlton, Melbourne, Outhwaite showed a talent of drawing at a young age. In 1904, when Outhwaite was only 16, she published her first children’s book, Mollie’s Bunyip, in a collaboration with her sister Anne Rattray Rentoul (1). Outhwaite’s fairy world became nationally beloved with its distinctive Australian bushland story settings, featuring charming illustrations of possums, koalas and other native creatures. As one of the first fine art books published in Australia, Outhwaite’s story book Elves and Fairies is still regarded as a remarkable masterpiece in the Australian publishing history(2). 

Released as an advertising booklet series for Shell, The Fairy Story That Came True Outhwaite’s fairyland characters discover the “Spirit of Speed”(Shell Motor Oil). In response to the rising trend of family road trips during this period, Shell deliberately targeted children in their advertising materials. Outhwaite’s adventurous and whimsical stories served to attract the attention of young children, making a lasting impression in their mind, and eventually strengthening the company’s ability to harness children’s influence on family purchasing decisions. 

The Fairy Story That Came True and another promotional fairy tale for Shell, The Sentry and the Shell Fairy (1928) form part of the Shell Company Historical Collection at the University of Melbourne Archives. Further information about this collection can be found in the online exhibition Everybody Loves a Road Trip!, which explored the nostalgia of Australian road trip culture. 

Notes:  

(1) Outhwaite, Ida Sherbourne (1888–1960), Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed October 29 2020.   

(2) Fairy-tales, feminism and fame: The story of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, ABC Radio National, accessed October 29 2020.  

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