Message from the President Hello everyone Well we’re getting back to some “normality” in the Museum. We’ve held our first General Meeting with social distancing and
volunteers are coming back to work in all areas of the Museum. In August, we have a new exhibition on the Merchant Navy and Science Day on the Redland's Ekka holiday. Both of these events are guaranteed to assist in bringing the Museum to life again. Come and Enjoy! Keep safe and well! Tony Spinks
Celebrating National Science Week
Science Fun Day
Redland City Ekka Public HolidayMonday - 10th August from 10 amWith this year’s theme being Deep Blue, we will be looking at experiments that are sustainable and environmentally friendly with Queensland wild Life preservation volunteers as our special guest to show you how to build a frog pond and grow your own seeds.Demonstrations & activities include tea bag rockets, Cartesian diver, potato clock, hot air engines and much much more!!Morning session - 10am - 12pm
Afternoon session - 1pm - 3pmAdmission: Adults $7.00 Concession $5.00 Children $4.00 Family* $20.00(*Family
admission is 2 adults & 2 children)BBQ sausage sizzle, cakes, and drinks will be available for purchase.Bring the family for a fun morning at the Museum.With only two sessions being held, bookings are essential
so get in quick before all tickets are sold!Please note: Children must be accompanied by an adult
NEW EXHIBITION MARINE MASTERY
an exhibition by Don Braben
The exhibition ‘MARINE ARTISTRY’ will be on display during August and September. It celebrates International Merchant Navy Day which falls annually on 3rd September. The exhibition comprises marine paintings on loan from Victoria Point artist
Don Braben, together with artifacts from the Queensland Maritime Museum where Don is Honorary Curator. Don is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Marine Artists. His works are in collections in Australia and overseas and feature in many books and publications. After graduating with a Masters degree in art he left Merseyside and taught in Nigeria, Zambia, Canada and Australia where he became Lecturer in Art at Griffith University.
By Ray Rowe, volunteer.
One in eight Australian merchant seafarers sacrificed their lives during World War II, a casualty rate that was higher than those suffered by any of the armed forces, in an effort to maintain supplies of goods and materials vital for the war effort. More than 800 Australian merchant mariners sacrificed their lives for the Allied cause during the First and Second World Wars. Merchant Navy Day is commemorated each year to remember their sacrifice, marking the anniversary of the sinking of the first Allied merchant vessel during World War II on September 3, 1939. Don Braben`s painting of the Australian passenger ship “Kyarra” in an arrangement below tells a short story of the ship, which was converted to a hospital ship, then a troop ship which was torpedoed by a U boat in the English Channel in 1918. Unfortunately the whole story is too long to tell here.
The Redland Museum's display for “Merchant Navy Day” during August/September is something to really look forward to. Don Braben has been a volunteer and then later curator at the Queensland Maritime Museum for over 20 years, and even though he has never been to sea his knowledge of maritime history is remarkable, and the detail in his paintings illustrates his passion. As a well-known International Marine Artist based at Victoria Point, Don is well sought after, like the day three young cub reporters from the ABC came to QMM for an interview, to do a story about the time he was invited to do a trip on a warship to get sketches and ideas for Royal Australian Navy artwork. One of Don’s paintings from his time on the naval ship can be seen in the background below. Thanks to Tim Vollmer for the Merchant Navy Day history, Don Braben for his photo. The bottom photo is mine.
Museum volunteer, Artie Rentoul, occupied himself during the COVID-19 lock-down by making wooden toys. He donated them to the Museum shop to sell, with all proceeds going back into the Museum. If you would like to purchase any, please see Jill at Reception. Toys for sale
- Helicopter $14
- Cars large & small $13
- Money Boxes $15
- Trucks $18
School Holiday Activity Packs As the Museum couldn't hold the usual school holiday activity group workshops, Tara created wonderful activity packs that could be purchased from the Museum, with each pack including a "One child's free pass" to the Museum. There are a handful of packs still available for purchase at Reception at $6.00 each. Jelly Worms - make wriggly, colourful worms that you can eat!
Kinetic Sand - mold sand into different shapes
Melting Crayons - melt crayons to create a colourful picture
CRUISES TO THE SALAD BOWL
By Ray Rowe, volunteer.
Here in Queensland we are very fortunate to have an abundance of delicious fruits. Hayles had many cruises operating around Brisbane and other parts of Queensland in those earlier years.
As the southern section of Moreton Bay has many habited islands, “Miramar” (built 1934) or one of her sisters would regularly depart Hayles wharf at North Quay, near the Victoria Bridge and travel down the Brisbane River past Fishermans Island, Green Island and St. Helena, a penal settlement until 1931 when Boggo Road Gaol was opened. On the mainland, Wellington Point was pointed out to the passengers, and also Ormiston, where Queensland's first sugarcane was grown,
and Cleveland, one of the oldest townships in the state where the first customs house was established. Victoria Point and Redland Bay are in rich red soil farming land and is known as the “salad bowl”. This volcanic soil is also found on Coochiemudlo, Garden, Karragarra and McLean Islands which grew tropical fruits and Russell Island had 120 thriving farms.
It came as a pleasant surprise to find yourself ashore at one of these fertile islands amid a grove of bananas or rows of pineapples. In those days when the fruit boats were in operation, it was an occasion to get dressed up as can be seen in the photo at left. It was a time when life was a lot less complicated, without all the modern appliances of today. It was when cruises to Bribie, Dunwich and the Southern Moreton Bay were very popular indeed.
Sadly, with “progress", a bridge was built to Bribie Island and the farms were replaced with housing, while improved roads to transport agriculture products from afar brought an end to those memorable relaxing cruises.
Ice has been used for hundreds of years as a cooling and preservation agent in ice houses and underground ice wells or ice pits. Ice harvesting from lakes and rivers was at its height during the industrial revolution in the mid-19th century. At this time came the invention of the ice box or ice chest.
This was an early non-mechanical domestic appliance - a piece of furniture - used to keep food cool before the advent of the kerosene or electric refrigerator. Ice chests consisted of a free-standing wooden cabinet lined with galvanized-iron or more expensive seamless porcelain enamel. This kept the food cool but not chilled. A small net bag of charcoal placed inside the ice chest kept it sweet smelling absorbing odors such as fish.
Right: Redland Museum Object R17028
Below: Advertisement in The Brisbane Courier 7 October 1931.
Natural ice was initially imported from America to Sydney in the mid-1800s. However, from the late 1850s, settlers started to manufacture ice which was cleaner and more sanitary than natural ice. The large blocks of ice for the ice chest were usually carried into the house with a pair of large tongs or wrapped in a hessian sack or newspaper. By the 1890s, with the establishment of local ice works, domestic ice chests were sold and used until the 1950s.
(References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox
https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/sydneys_first_ice)
Below: Redland Museum Object R00198
The horse-drawn bread delivery cart is representative of a past way of daily life in towns and cities throughout Australia when home delivery of not only bread, but milk, clothes, ice, vegetables and meat was commonplace. This horse-drawn vehicle is the original baker’s cart driven by Stan Albrecht who supplied bread to the Cleveland community for about 30 years in the first half of the twentieth century. Stan delivered bread baked by the Cleveland Bakery which
was located in Passage Street, Cleveland, opposite the Uniting Church. The bakery was owned by George John (G J) Walter who established this business in 1891 and supplied bread all over the Redlands. GJ was very active in the community and local government serving as Cleveland Shire Chairman from February 1913 to March 1914 and again from August 1921 to May 1930. George was a Councillor when he passed away in February 1944 but the business continued, run by the family until the 1950s when it was sold to the Kelso family. (Redland Museum Object No. R00580)
When there was little money to go round, the recycling of material was necessary to create the most basic of furniture. The furniture (right) built by pioneers shows shrewd attention to the natural contours of timber.
The rocking chair and the two-seater settee exhibit the use of the naturally curved shape of the tree and timber. The use of a natural branch in the creation of the table legs, topped with one end of a cable drum, is an example of necessity driving invention. All the pieces are in their natural state, except the table, which may have had a few coats of linseed oil. Julius Raedel made the furniture, possibly for his daughter Auguste Ernestine who married Christian Friedrick Wilhelm Kruger who was born in 1855 and came to Australia with his parents in 1865. In 1870 his father Christian Kruger built the family home at Gramz later changed to Carbrook during WW1. (Redland Museum
Object No. R00614)
Another example of ingenuity is the kerosene case chest of drawers (left). Two cans of kerosene were in each case. The skillful use of resources was common during the depression years in the early 20th century. The chest of drawers were often covered with material such as cretonne, or newspaper cut into decorative patterns to create a frill around the top edges.
(Redland Museum Object No. R06538)
CORRECTION TO THE JUNE 2020 EDITION OF RECOLLECTIONS In the article on "A Port for Cleveland", Governor Gipps was incorrectly typed as Gibbs. The Editors apologise for this error.
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The editors, Sharon Vassallo and Sylvia McGarry, will endeavour to provide you with articles about items in our Collection and historical facts on the Redlands. But we would like to hear from members. What would you like for inclusion? Do you have a story to tell? The newsletter will continue to be sent at the end of each month (except for December which maybe earlier). Editors can be contacted at recollections@redlandmuseum.org.au
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