Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Functional object - Hand Trolley, Melbourne Steamship Company (MSS Co), Late 19th to mid-20th century
... ...Hugh R. Reid and Company...The firm was established in 1873 under the name Hugh R. Reid and Company, renamed Melbourne Steamship Company Ltd in 1895, and became Melbourne’s foremost interstate shipping line. ...The firm was established in 1873 under the name Hugh R. Reid and Company, renamed Melbourne Steamship Company Ltd in 1895, and became Melbourne’s foremost interstate shipping line. ...
This hand trolley was originally marked M.S.S. Co., and likely to have once belonged to the Melbourne Steamship Company, often referred to by those initials. Flagstaff Hill’s collection has several other objects connected to the M.S.S. Co. The firm was established in 1873 under the name Hugh R. Reid and Company, renamed Melbourne Steamship Company Ltd in 1895, and became Melbourne’s foremost interstate shipping line. Warrnambool was one of the ports of call at least between 1922 and 1956; for example, on September 27 1934, the ship Coolana left Warrnambool on its way to Stanley, Burnie and Devonport, then on to Sydney and Newcastle, while other of its vessels were visiting Fremantle, Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Adelaide, and Melbourne. The firm remained in business until around 1960.
A hand trolley can be loaded with heavy and bulky objects such as luggage, and stacks of boxes such as produce, cargo and equipment. It uses the principles of wheels and leverage, like a wheelbarrow, and can easily be wheeled from one place to another. Hand trolleys are still used by farmers, railway workers, shipping companies, porters, airports, hospitals, warehouses, logistical firms, furniture removalists, factory labourers and even in private homes when heavy loads need to be moved.
Hand trolleys were first used in the 18th century in industries where children were used to move heavy loads. By using a hand trolley, the young labourers could move the piles of objects with the same efficiency as the adult workers.
This hand trolley is significant for its likely connection to the Melbourne Steamship Company, or MSSCo, Melbourne’s foremost shipping line for interstate trade in the late nineteenth and early-to- mid twentieth century, representing many aspects of early trade within maritime Australia; Warrnambool was one of the ports visited by the company’s ships.
The design of the hand trolley is an example of equipment used since the 18th century to move heavy loads at docks and shipyards. It is associated with the maritime industries of shipping, transportation, travel, and trade, as well as the colonial primary production sectors of farming, markets, and produce.
The design represents an early step in the evolution of the simple hand trolley. More recently, as well as the continued use of this simple style of trolley, the design has been improved to include specialised trolleys that fold, climb stairs, move pianos and even easily turn corners on their spinning, pivoting wheels.
Hand trolley: an L-shaped handcart with handles and supporting legs at one end, wheels at the other, and a ledge or platform to hold the load. This hand trolley has orange wooden slats and handles, two metal wheels, and a black metal frame with semi-circular side flanges. An inscription is stamped on one side.Stamped: "M.S.S.CO."warrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, hand trolley, sack truck, trolley, luggage trolley, hand truck, trundler, sack barrow, bag barrow, leverage, marine technology, cargo handling, docks, wharft, shipping, trade, vintage, antique, hand card, rolling cart, station trolley, dolly, stack truck, box cart, two-wheeler, material handling equipment, shipping trade, mss co, mssc, melbourne steamship company, interstate shipping, hugh r. reid and company
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