Social life & customs

Sufficiently educated

Sufficiently educated

June 11, 2022

Social life & customs, Such was life:

Maybe you received a Victorian Certificate of Education? Or a Higher School Certificate? A School Tertiary Certificate? Leaving? School graduation requirements have come a long way from having to be ‘sufficiently educated’, as was the case in the 1870s.

The Show must go on!

The Show must go on!

September 18, 2020

Social life & customs, Such was life:

The Royal Melbourne Show has been cancelled this year so let’s look at how it came to be- and the fun times we can look forward to next year.

Melbourne celebrates Victory in the Pacific Day

Melbourne celebrates Victory in the Pacific Day

August 14, 2020

Social life & customs, Such was life, War:

Melbourne has likely never seen such an outbreak of spontaneous rejoicing and mass celebration, as it did on Victory in the Pacific Day, August 15 1945.

Cigarette cards: preservation of a small, but unique collection

Cigarette cards: preservation of a small, but unique collection

July 10, 2020

Collection Care, Our stories, Preservation, Social life & customs:

Collectible cards as we know them today have a very long tradition, dating back to the mid-late nineteenth century with the production of cigarette cards. A small, but unique collection of these wonderful items were recently rehoused by our Preservation team.

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part two

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part two

June 21, 2020

Buildings & streets, People & professions, Research guides, Research tips & tricks, Social life & customs, Such was life, War:

The second and final part of a blog about flâneurs and research in the time of covid-19 As you can read in part one, this blog was inspired by daily… Read More ›

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part one

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part one

June 8, 2020

Buildings & streets, People & professions, Research guides, Research tips & tricks, Social life & customs, Such was life, War:

This is the first of a two-part blog about flâneurs and research in the time of covid-19 A daily walk has become an essential part of many people’s routines in… Read More ›

Ledger recording details and placement of seed varieties sewn in the gardens at Sunnybrae, 1984-2005 (YMS 16267, Box 62)

The archive of a pioneer ‘slow’ food restaurant

May 29, 2020

Collection Care, People & professions, Preservation, Social life & customs, Such was life:

Coinciding with the reopening of many of Victoria’s restaurants after lockdown, we celebrate the story of Sunnybrae, a much-loved regional restaurant ‘in the middle of a paddock’, and the early innovations in food provenance and seasonal, sustainable produce that it became known for.

The marvellous and macabre Waxworks, part two: sideshow magic and human curiosities

The marvellous and macabre Waxworks, part two: sideshow magic and human curiosities

May 4, 2020

Social life & customs, Such was life:

Part two of the story of the Melbourne Waxworks, featuring a water nymph, the Chinese giant and the ‘half lady’ illusion.

On the ‘shick’ in Little Lon

On the ‘shick’ in Little Lon

April 16, 2020

Buildings & streets, Social life & customs, Such was life:

Of all the slums in inner Melbourne, ‘Little Lon’, was the most notorious. But there was more to the precinct than met the eye…

The marvellous and macabre Waxworks, part one: ‘…the more murderers, the more it thrives.’

The marvellous and macabre Waxworks, part one: ‘…the more murderers, the more it thrives.’

March 4, 2020

Social life & customs, Such was life:

Before true crime podcasts and books on serial killers, where did Melburnians go for their taste of the macabre? To the waxworks of course.