Used by Jim Waites (Shearer/Farmer), Kanyapella (Item over 100 years old?)Long, brown leather coat. Well-worn. No labelleather, satin lining

The story of 90 years of wool classing between father & son begins in 1936, when a young boy by the name of Stanley James Hucker walked through the doors of the Gordon Technical School in Geelong. Born in 1921, Stanley was 15 years of age when he began his 3-year course in Wool Classing. 30 years later, Stanley’s second son Denis completed the same 3-year wool classing course. Beginning in 1966, Denis attended the same Gordon Technical School and walked the same halls as his father before him. Stanley finished his course in 1938. He went back to the family farm in Lake Bolac for a brief period before enrolling in the Second World War. At the completion of the war, Stanley returned home and married before gaining a soldier settler allotment, north of Willaura. This enabled Stan to use his wool classing knowledge. He ran between 1,500 and 2,000 sheep for many years, while his wool classer stencil also allowed him to go out and class at various sheds around the area. He held his stencil from 1938 until he retired at the age of 60 in 1981. On retirement, his second son Denis was working in the district, managing a local property while also leasing land himself. Upon his father’s retirement, Denis had the opportunity to lease his father’s farm, an opportunity he could not refuse. Denis had finished his wool classing course at the Gordon Technical School in 1968, graduating dux of his class. He began working with a local contractor and started classing wool in his team. Denis gained a great deal of experience working as part of this team in big sheds of up to 8 stands servicing between 10 & 20,000 sheep. It was not all smooth sailing for Denis however, and he soon learnt an important lesson. Class wool the way you’re taught, don’t listen to the owner standing over your shoulder. At a clip of Corriedales near Casterton, Denis was pushing too many fleeces into the line of fine wool. This resulted in a notice from the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) “mixing counts too much, submit three clips for inspection”. Denis was able to submit 3 clips with no further complaints, however, this proved a valuable lesson he would never forget over his long career classing wool. In the early 1980s, when Denis was leasing two properties including his father’s, things were going well until drought struck. February 1983 was the date of the Ash Wednesday bushfires, and saw Melbourne have three days over 40 °C for only the second time on record. This period saw Denis give away farming, turning towards contracting work instead. After the difficult times of the early 1980s, the next two decades were a good time for the sheep industry. 15 micron wool was selling for prices between 4 to 5,000 cents per kilo, double what you’d expect for the same wool in 2022. In 1995 a single bale of wool sold for a million dollars. This was a good time for Denis too. His contracting work saw him employing local shearers and shed staff. His team was involved with the shearing and classing of more than 130,000 sheep. After 20 years of contracting, it was time for Denis to transition into the next phase of his life. He gave up independent contracting, preferring instead to return to being a member of someone else’s team. In 2018, having completed 50 years of wool classing, it was time to call it a day and retire completely. At the annual Gordon Wool School Old Students Association dinner held in 2018, Denis was presented with his 50 years as a registered wool classer stencil awarded by the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX). This is a rare honour achieved by few. As of February 2020, a total of 430 wool classers had achieved this 50-year milestone. For Denis however, his proudest achievement is achieving 90 years of wool classing with his father. The National Wool Museum is proud to share the collection of objects gained from 90 years in the wool classing industry by Stanley and Denis. This ranges from Stanley’s first stencil and Wool Sample book, started when he first attended the Gordon in 1936. The collection concludes 90 years later with Denis’ 50 years of wool classing Stencil. The collection contains many more objects, all telling the story of these 90 years, and the hard work invested by this dedicated father and son duo.Large black bound book with ribbon for fastening containing 12 double-sided blue pages. Pages have several samples of shorn wool mounted and annotated to include information such as specific breeding, shearing faults, and geographical area. The book concludes with four pages without wool samples. Two of these pages relate to plans for a shearing shed and other industry related structures. The final two-pages relate to the anatomy of a sheep. Wool sample books were constructed by Wool Classing students at the Gordon Technical School as examples of what to look for when classing wool. The students were tasked with constructing these books with samples they retrieved themselves from several different farms and animals. The book would serve as a reference point for the wool classers throughout their years in the field, it was always on hand to refresh knowledge. This book was constructed by Stanley Hucker over his schooling at the Gordon between 1936 and 1938Front Cover. Handwritten, White Ink "Stanley Hucker / Samples"90 years wool classing between father & son, wool classing, gordon technical school

Wolseley no.10 shearing handpiece. Helical spine with no.4 style rear joint. Pre 1910.Wolseleyshearing machinery, wolseley sheep shearing machine co. ltd

Carr’s Plains Wool Carting showing Bullock Drawn Wool Carts and Shearing Sheds in background.carrs plains

The Geelong Cycling Club was very strong in this period as proven by the Juniors record.Junior competition was strong for the Geelong Cycling Club making for a generally strong club.Two triangular pennants in blue felt. They have a white binding along the stem of the flags and details of the races and winners embossed in white over the blue felt."VACU/Junior Road Teams Championship 1978/Won by Geelong/1979/C Dowling/A Boyle/P Olney/P Bush/P Robertson/P Shearer"vacu; junior road teams championship; 1978; 1979; geelong cycling club; c. dowling; a. boyle; p. olney; p. bush; p. robertson; p. shearer;

Henry Barclay's Hand Shears, November 2016. His son Eric recalls his father shearing with these.Digital copy of colour photographeric barclay, barclay family, henry barclay

Photo shows PS Florence Annie under police guard during shearers strike of 1890'sCopy B&W photograph of PS Florence Annie courtesy R H Parsons

History of high tallies made by well known shearers, written by Geoff Wilson, Australian Wool Board."High Tallies and the Men Who Made Them"shearing, australian wool board, wilson, mr geoff

This was used to brabd sheeep to identify the owner. The brand was dipped in branding fluid then placed on the sheep's back following shearing.Crude wooden brand made of 6 pieces of pine wood box timber to form the letter Eshearing, branding, wool industry

Calendar for 1946 produced by Geelong printer, Hubert Adams. A replica of this calendar hangs in the shearers quarters in Gallery One.Conservation Treatment Advice 23 June 1988Calendar for 1946 / HUBERT ADAMS / 6 JAMES ST., GEELONG / FOR ALL PRINTING REQUIREMENTS / Phone 1773. Get my QUOTE. Quality High. Prices, Low as conditions permit. / [days, dates, months throughout]hubert adams

Part of the 2009 Mouth and Foot Painting Artist Exhibition held at The Shearer's Arms Arts Centre & Visual GalleryLandscape painting of wool shed with sheep in foregroundsheep, mouth and foot painting

Henry Barclay's Hand Shears held by his son Eric in October 2106. Eric recalls his father shearing with these.Digital copy of colour photographeric barclay, barclay family, henry barclay

Mr Perkins joined the police force in his early twenties and apart from an 18-month posting in Melbourne, spent the rest of his career serving communities in country Victoria. He was a keen fisherman and hunter- his first love was sitting on the banks of the Murray River with a fishing rod in his hand. Family camping trips were spent by the river where everyone slept on stretchers with several army blankets underneath and a wheat bag wagga on top. The green colour of this wagga is from "Dekkol" a preservative which Mr Perkins used to protect his cotton fishing nets from rotting.Quilt made of two standard size jute wheat bags (a bushel = 150lbs) split and hand bound along seams.It is an example of the basic type of wagga made by shearers, farmers or swagmen. The green colour results from the application of "Dekkol" a preservative used for cotton fishing nets.quilting history, running stitch group, running stitch collection, highlights of the national wool museum: from waggas to the wool quilt prize - exhibition (22/09/2001 - 02/12/2001), perkins, mr percy, quilting - history

Photo depicts Cordillo Downs Shearing Shed, located 176kms north of Innaminka. Donated by Gwen Cox (Hon. Staff Member). Once the largest sheep station in the world, the shearing shed had 120 stands. The wool clip had to be carted 600km down the track to the rail head at Farina by camel train. In 1883, a complete scouring plant was installed at "Cordillo". The region now (1989) carries cattle.shearing sheds, photographs, cordillo downs

One of three photographs of delegates to the 1955 Wool Textile Conference in Australia.This photograph is of a visit to the shearing shed at "Boonoke" stud at Deniliquin, NSW.DEPT OF THE INTERIOR - NEWS AND INFORMATION BUREAUwool - research shearing sheds, gordon institute of technology, lang, dr w. roy falkiner, mr otway maclaren - f.s. falkiner and sons pty ltd, boonoke, deniliquin, nsw, wool - research, shearing sheds

Found in an above ground rubbish pile at Days Mill and farm. This comb appears to have been part of an electric shearing hand piece.Small metal comb with nine teeth (10th tooth is broken off) two holes and two Ü" shaped cut out sections. Rusted.william day, ann day, joseph day, robert day

An agreement between Ballie Donald & Fraser of "Manuka" Station & 22 men to shear sheep. Written by the hand of Jim Hay, Elders Geelong.Inside 10. Verso of 10. Regional Galleries Association of Victoria Conservation Treatment report 30 August 1988shearing sheep stations, history pastoral industry, history shearers, shearing shed hands, hay, mr jim e. - elders vp, manuka new south wales, shearing, sheep stations - history, pastoral industry - history, shearers