Celebrations

Libby was working all alone in the Dr Andrew house when she suddenly realised she was issuing number 8,000 in the Register.

We always celebrate the thousands turning over - and there was no-one else around, so all she could do was write a few exclamation marks. At least these cut-glass decanters look a little Christmassy. But there is nothing in them, so Libby couldn't even get a celebratory drink.

Number 7999 was rather nice too - a Royal Doulton plate with hand-painted Honesty "flowers". These seed pods are always silver in real life, so this design is rather interesting.

We are closing the year with 6,925 items in the catalogue database - for all sorts of administrative reasons, mainly to do with the Narracan MI library, some numbers have not yet been issued.

We look forward to celebrating 7,000 items in the database early in January. The Cataloguing Office (and this blog), is now closed until Wednesday 7 January - we hope everyone has a safe and joyful Christmas, and 2009 brings all you can hope for.

Unkown Item - burner/lamp?

Can anyone help with identification of this item. It appears to be either a small burner (if it was, what was it used for), or a kerosene-powered "candle".

Is it a one-off, or was it something you went and bought in a shop? If you did - can you assign a decade to it?

Any comments appreciated!

You can see more unknown items HERE.

Heritage Victoria Grant

Old Gippstown is delighted to receive news that Heritage Victoria has granted $5,300 to complete a Significance Study.

This will allow a detailed (and independent) examination of the whole collection, and drive future decisions on collection care.

Researching the Buildings

When Old Gippstown began, just over forty years ago (the reserve was gazetted in 1968, the first building, Loren, came on site in 1969), the manager was Ollie Dobratz, who is still with us and living in retirement in Moe.

Ollie was a careful and meticulous builder, and we have recently been fortunate to have access to his notes and photographs taken as he relocated the early buildings. These are a treasure trove of information.

For example, this is the Bootmaker's today:

and this is what it looked like, in the Main Street of Neerim South. It was built in 1906, and occupied at one time by bootmaker Samuel Fry.

This is what it looked like then:

Old Gippstown very much appreciates this album being made available - stand by for further posts of photographs.

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