History Week is nearly upon us, and what a feast it promises to be!
Presented by the History Council of NSW, with the theme of EAT History, History Week has something for everyone to savour.
Oyster farmers David Corstorphine of Tuncurry, aged 78 and Fred Selmon of Georges River, aged 70, enjoy oysters at Dolls Point, photo by Sam Hood, from the Mitchell Library, SLNSW a368001 / PXE 789 (v.38), 1
One of the featured free events is 'Unwrapped Sweets: Tales from the City', presented by our colleagues at the City of Sydney History Program, Lisa Murray, Laila Ellmoos, Margo Beasley and Town Hall collection curator Margaret Betteridge. Lisa is the Chair of the Dictionary's Board of Trustees, and the others are all Dictionary authors. It's free, at 11.30 Saturday 3 September, at historic Customs House at Circular Quay.
Pikelets being made at the Electrical Association, 1936, from the Electrical Association for Women Cookery Book, compiled and published by Mrs FV McKenzie, Director of the Electrical Association for Women (Australia) Sydney, published by The Electrical Association for Women (Australia), Sydney 1936, p 98-9 (Private Collection)
While you are there you can see a display put together by the Customs House Library , featuring ephemera from the receptions and functions held at Sydney Town Hall.
Maria Ann Smith (Granny Smith) and her eldest son Thomas, c1863-68, Mitchell Library, SLNSW a3055001 / PXB 275, 1
The City History program is also presenting talks and exhibitions on Sydney's fruit barrows and nut stalls; Sydney's markets; Coffee Palaces and the temperance movement; and the history of the food manufacturing industry in South Sydney. The exhibitions run throughout the week, so there's plenty of time to get along and see them.
Go to the History Week website for the full program, and find a banquet of historical proportions, with hundreds of events throughout the Sydney area. You can search by event type, or area, so there's no excuse for missing out.
Whatever you choose, don't forget to have lunch!
Society of Artists' Selection Committee, Sydney, 1907, (l to r) Julian Ashton, Mrs Norman Lindsay, Harry Weston, Will Dyson, Norman Lindsay, young Souter, Sidney Long & D.H. Souter, photo by Henry King, from the Mitchell Library, SLNSW SPG / 117
