Arthur Henry Dear was an employee of the City of Kew, acting as Hall Keeper of the Kew Recreation Hall in Wellington Street, and later the new Kew City Hall in Cotham Road. The Arthur Dear Collection contains memorabilia - tickets, programmes, invitations - as well as his identification badge. Items in the collection dates from the 1940s to the 1970s. Some items in the collection predate his period of service and must have been in the archives of the Hall. The Kew Recreation Hall (Wellington Street) and later the Kew City Hall (Cotham Road) were major locations in suburban Melbourne in the postwar period for civic and private events including theatre productions and exhibitions. The Arthur Dear Collection (in conjunction with the scrapbooks compiled by Marion Tilley) provide a comprehensive snapshot of performing arts in Kew. The collection includes valuable data about performances, performers, directors etc. Admission ticket (sic) to a performance of Arrah-Na-Pogue, a beautiful Irish drama by Dion Boucicault, at the Kew Recreation Hall on Monday 2 September 1895. The yellow ticket includes details of the performance including the name of the company performing the play - Mr. Lyons Talented Dramatic Company. Proceeds are advertised as being for a Bazaar Fund. arthur dear collection, arrah-na-pogue, dion boucicault, printers -- kew (vic.) -- kew mercury, performing arts -- kew -- victoria, kew recreation hall -- wellington street, theatre memorabilia