Carlton’s bluebirds
In the 1970s and 80s, the Carlton Bluebirds added a touch of glamour and excitement to Carlton home games with their high leg kicks, cheeky dance routines, and dedicated pom pom waving.
Such was life
European labour stamps on Australian furniture
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Why did furniture made in Victoria prior to 1960 have to be stamped ‘European labour only’?
Digitising newspapers
Our stories, Preservation, Such was life:
Learn how the Library digitises newspapers; from selection of titles through conservation to the scanning of the pages.
Slums of Melbourne
Social life & customs, Such was life:
As far back as the 1850s, slums existed in inner city Melbourne. In the 1930s, Frederick Barnett began taking photos of the slums, using them in a push for social reform.
The great flood of 1891
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
In July 1891, non stop rain over a weekend saw the Yarra break its bank and flood surrounding suburbs- leaving thousands homeless.
Public images of World War I: myth & reality
Read an extract from a talk by war correspondent and author Jill Jolliffe on the reporting of World War I and, in particular, the work of official historian C.E.W. Bean.
Lights and shades of city life
People & professions, Such was life:
In the 1920s Reverend George Wong was a minister at the Collingwood Methodist Church, helping the poor, teaching at kindergarten and lecturing around Victoria about the life of Melbourne’s poor with the help of a limelight projector.
Tiger in the goldfields
People & professions, Such was life:
Ballarat: Sunday 8th July, 1855: ‘Got home and found the tent afloat and my blankets wet…Kindled fire and cleaned up tent. Boiled kettle and prepared supper. Ironing my blankets, I burned one of them.’
A Melbourne love affair
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Melbourne’s love affair with coffee has been long-term, passionate, and sometimes controversial.
The Alan K Jordan collection of photographs
Social life & customs, Such was life:
The Library has recently digitized a collection of photographs of homeless people from the 1960s and 1970s.
