The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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Sydney’s pissoirs & underground conveniences
Urinal Observatory Hill 1968, Courtesy City of Sydney Archives (CRS 34/2401/71 ) Nicole Cama's been sharing stories from the Dictionary with 2SER listeners for five years. Sadly it's her last segment for a while today, so she thought she'd revisit one…
Temperance and the ‘evils of tight lacing’: Susan Beckett
Diagram of Susan Beckett's Bust and Shoulder Supporter in her application to the United States Patent Office, April 1896 (Patent No: US557945) With International Women’s Day and the All About Women festival in the past week, there have been some great…
Shirley Beiger: ‘All that glittered was not gold’
Shirley Beiger on the cover of PIX 28 April 1951 The State Library of NSW have made an enormous amount of historical material available online in recent years. One such resource is the tabloid magazine, PIX , which was published between 1938…
‘the flying fairy and empress of the air’
Kate Rickards in costume as Toots c1888 by Kerry & Co Courtesy Tyrrell Collection, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (85/1286-498) There are some fascinating women in the Dictionary of Sydney. Among those is one who went by many stage names…
Decorating the city
Christmas tree in Hyde Park 7 December 1962, City of Sydney Archives (NSCA CRS 48/3060) It's getting very festive around the city as Christmas approaches so today we thought we'd look at one of the city's biggest Christmas traditions! Listen to…
Whaling in Sydney
'Shooting the harpoon at a whale' from book 'Field sports &c. &c. of the native inhabitants of New South Wales' by John Heaviside Clark, London 1813, National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an8936144) Over the weekend we heard that more than 140 whales…
Remembrance Day: 100 years on
The Sydney Mail, 20 November 1918 Last Sunday, 11 November, marked 100 years since the official end of World War I. Initially called Armistice Day, it became known as Remembrance Day after the end of World War II. An article in…
Posters, ghost signs and billboards
"We are not going to try to have this announcement placed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, feeling that even a 'CAPSTAN' advertsiement would be somewhat out of harmony with the dignity and impressiveness of this mangnificent structure", Brisbane Courier 23…
Keith Kinnaird Mackellar
Keith Kinnaird Mackellar 1898-1899, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW ( State Library of New South Wales (PXE 1193, 1) Most Australians associate the name Mackellar with Dorothea, the writer of one of our most beloved poems. But today we're…
Life and death in Sydney’s early hospitals
Panoramic view of Infirmary and Mint, Macquarie Street, Sydney c1870, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (SPF/321) The History Council of NSW’s annual festival, History Week, will start this weekend, and as this year's theme is ‘Life and Death’, we…