Probably original to Mt Buffalo Chalet. Listed in the Draft Inventory of Significant Collection items. Appendix A.3, Snow sports equipment and other recreational items. (Pg 166 Historica). "Smoker's were well-catered for at the Chalet, and Smoking Rooms in similar resort establishments were considered to be a necessary facility. A guest house in the Blue Mountains in 1905 offered the' full comforts of a refined home' with views, spacious verandahs, tennis court and smoking room. James Boyce commented on expectorating smokers in the the Chalet's public rooms and recommended the provision of spittoons." (Pg 101. Historica) PROV . Undated photo of bedroom sitting room with same chrome ashtray, there are 3 in the MBC Collection. (Fif 52. Pg 63 Historica) Similar ashtray sighted on Ebay listed as Victorian Railways Spitoon, February 2012.3 x Brass and chrome standing spittoons with bulbous bases and bowl on a stem.

Bob (Herman) Hymans (a former member of the Royal Netherlands Navy) was born in Bloemendaal, Holland on 30th September 1922. During World War II he fought against the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and was imprisoned in Changi and on the Burma Railway. After gaining qualifications as a Ski Instructor, Bob arrived in Falls Creek in July 1950. Working as an Instructor and Supervisor at Bogong Lodge, Bob decided his future was in accommodation. He was successful in negotiating an indenture for land from the State Electricity Commission (SEC). It took Bob two years to build his Grand Coeur Chalet but, tragically, it was burned down in August 1961. Bob also built the first Chairlift in Australia. This was a single chairlift and the structure was built from wooden electricity poles. He was constantly full of new ideas and proposals for the village. Bob Hymans die on 7th July 2007. This Collection of documents and letters tells the story of Bob's endeavours to develop Falls Creek into the ski village it is today.This item is significant because it documents proposals put forward by Bob Hymans to develop facilities in the Falls Creek Tourist Area.A letter of application from Mr Hymans for the lease of land offered by the State Electricity Commission to develop a tourist hotel. His hotel would provide accommodation for 100 guests. It would contain a dining-room seating 140 and cater for guests and day-visitors. Other facilities included a lounge, public-bar and lounge-bar facilities. A private lounge for reception would also provide guest and convention facilities. His project was designed as a year-round resort hotel. As well as serving as a winter sports hotel, the plan featured indoor facilities including a heated swimming pool, squash courts, bowling alley and sauna bath. Stables, a tennis court and boats would also attract year-round tourism. The budgeted cost was £130,000 plus bowling alley equipment. He planned that construction would commence in October, 1963 and be completed in June, 1965.falls creek tourist area management committee, hymans' hotel plans, falls creek development

A stirrup pump is a portable reciprocating water pump used to extinguish or control small fires. It is operated by hand. The operator places a foot on a stirrup-like bracket at the bottom of the pump to hold the pump steady. The bottom of the suction cylinder was placed inside a bucket of water. Water was drawn by pumping the handle up and down to create suction. The pumps were used in a variety of settings to enable quick action if a small fire broke out. They were a vital tool in London during the Blitz of World War 11. On the local level they were also used for spraying fruit trees, plants and vines. The Crescent Tool Company was founded in 1907. The Crescent brand has changed ownership multiple times. It is currently owned by Apex Tool Group but still also trades as Crescent in Australia. This pump was donated by Geoff Williams of Wodonga and was used at "Orange Vale" farm at Oxley Flats near Wangaratta. "Orange Vale" was owned by Mr. Robert Williams. Widely known as "Uncle Bob". in the 1940s Mr. Williams opened up the family property, established in the 1860s, as a camp for young people from Wangaratta. By 1951, this had extended to catering to group camps for children from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. 250 children could be accommodated at one time and as many as 3,000 children enjoyed the facilities each year.These pumps were important in fire fighting in a range of settings and were adapted for use in agricultural and small farm settings,A brass stirrup pump with wooden handle. It consists of 2 parallel brass pieces, one with a foot piece attached to keep the pump steady. The base of the pump is fitted with a pierced metal filter that prevents grit and debris being drawn into the pump and fouling it. 2 butterfly screws enable adjustment of height and securing a hose.crescent tools, orange vale, fire equipment

Strathewen Public Hall, social and spiritual centre was later lost in the Black Saturday fires 2009. The Strathewen Community decided a community hall was needed in 1901. In 1902 locals built the hall with messmate trees. It was located on the Cottlesbridge-Strathewen Road. The first function was a Grand concert and Balll attended by about 120 people. Several denominations held Church services and Sunday School services in the Hall. It survived several bushfires until after this photo was taken when it was destroyed in Black Saturday, 9 February 2009. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p89 Strathewen was settled late, largely because it was difficult to access.1 Early selectors found it a struggle to survive. They had to do everything themselves, from felling trees for buildings, to taking produce to market along bush tracks that they had helped cut. Small dairy farms were typical but fruit became the district’s prime produce. The first settlers east of Arthurs Creek were brothers John and Duncan Smith whose station Glen-Ard was probably operated as a sheep run. Other early settlers were the Mann family, who were to donate land for the hall, provide postal services and John Mann was an Eltham Shire councillor from 1916 to 1919.2 In 1873 James Mann, his wife Jane and their six children, settled on 207 acres (83.7) (Lang Fauld Farm) on both sides of Eagles Nest Road, from the foot of Mount Sugarloaf to the bank of the Arthurs Creek. In 1883 James took up another selection on Chads Creek. It was very hard work and at times he was well behind with his rent. However the family had a good social life, attending the Primitive Methodist Church at the Arthurs Creek Township and on New Year’s Eve throwing a party for all the locals. By 1874 James Mann’s younger brother, John, selected 311 acres (125.8ha) between Eagles Nest Road and upper Arthurs Creek. He called it Carseburn after his home parish in Scotland. Tragically in 1875 John drowned in the Yarra River, at Richmond.3 John Mann’s oldest son, also John, later purchased Duncan Smith’s land, which he named Violet Glen. He was to give one acre (0.4ha) of this land for the Strathewen Hall site. A Mann family diary written at Carseburn in 1897, tells how the district’s name was selected. Strathewen is derived from ‘strath’ meaning ‘broad mountain valley’ and from the name of Ewen H. Cameron, the local parliamentarian for almost 40 years. ‘George Brain came around to get a petition signed to get a post office up here and we had to vote for a name—Strathewen, Glen-Ard, or Headcorie’.4 It was at Carseburn that a public meeting in 1901, decided to build the Strathewen Hall on the Cottlesbridge-Strathewen Road. In 1902 the locals built the hall with messmate trees. The first function was a Grand Concert and Ball attended by around 120 people and several Protestant denominations took turns to hold church services and Sunday School there. Fortunately the hall has survived bushfires to be the town’s spiritual and social centre.5 The area continued to develop and in 1909 a post office operated somewhere at Strathewen and from around 1916 at Carseburn.6 It was not until 1914 that land was bought to establish the Strathewen State School on School Ridge Road. The residents paid £100 to build it on two acres (0.8 ha) while the Education Department contributed £30 and leased the building annually for £1. When teacher Miss Mary Golding opened the school in 1917, it had no equipment.7 But in 1921 the Education Department provided desks and a hexagonal shelter shed (now a rare style in Victoria) and took control in 1925.8 By 1917 Strathewen was booming.9 George Apted had built a coolstore in 1916, and local orchardists bought storage space until the 1950s. This allowed the area to supply the market in and out of season. Guesthouses catered for growing tourism. In the mid 1920s Mrs Eleanor Sparkes built the guest-house Singing Waters, which operated through the 1930s. Her daughter Mrs Vera McKimmie, ran it until the 1950s and the house remains in Chads Creek Road. In the Great Depression land was cleared for timber to be sold as firewood and there was small scale sawmilling. However the orchard industry diminished for several reasons including the 1939 bushfires and rapid changes in production methods. Today the Apteds still operate an orchard and farm at Glen-Ard, which straddles the border between Strathewen and Arthurs Creek. It includes the southern part of Duncan Smith’s original Glen-Ard selection.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, strathewan public hall