The woollen mill was a vital part of Warrnambool for all but 22 years of the town’s history since it's the establishment in 1847 when the first land sales were held and white settlement began. In 1869 the Warrnambool Meat Preserving Company began operations on the mill site, in 1875, shareholders of the then defunct Warrnambool Meat Preserving Company happily sold the land and buildings on the Merri river to Warrnambool Woollen Mill Company Ltd for £5,000. The site was sold again in 1876 to grazer Robert Hood of Sherwood, who was chairman of directors of the failed company, which couldn’t raise sufficient capital to keep the works operating. The entrepreneurial Hood then used the existing plant to turn his own wool into tweed cloth. But just as the mill was starting to show a profit, a fire destroyed the building and plant on the night of 25 March 1882. So again, the mill was operational for six short years. Insurers only paid a fraction over 10% of the damage, Hood couldn't raise sufficient capital to rebuild on his own, and so the site lay unused until 1910. In 1908 Marcus Saltau and Peter John McGennan convinced the Warrnambool Chamber of Commerce to invest in a secondary industry with local capital. A public meeting in September 1908 agreed to raise £40,000, electing Saltau chairman of directors, a post he held for 34 years. A year later, using mostly local money, the Warrnambool Woollen Mill Company dispatched its first manager, John E. Bennett, to buy a plant and recruit 20 experienced staff from the Yorkshire woollen industry in December 1909. Another year more, the new mill was officially opened on 14 November 1910 by Marcus Saltau as company chairman and town mayor. Eighteen months on, in May 1912, the mill paid its first half-yearly dividend of 2 ½%. It was now working two shifts, with a year's orders to fill. In 1914 the mill ordered its own generator, providing the town with electricity and effectively doubling its plant size by October 1915, six months after Gallipoli. Thereafter, government orders for cloth and military supplies assured the mill’s success right through the First World War and on until 1923. A plant upgrade in 1922 for machinery to make worsted fabric drained profits, which, with a fall in demand, led to a loss in 1925. Profits were restored by the 1930s, despite the Depression, mostly due to tight management and robust marketing. Production boomed again during the Second World War, but soon foreign competition bit into profits, forcing the company to consolidate operations. The ‘50s and ‘60s were golden years for the mill. Security and growth gave the company confidence to trial Australia’s first electric blanket in 1958 and to install Swiss Sulzer looms in 1965. Over time, the building facades took on the modern look that the mill presented until it closed. The Dunlop company bought the mill in 1968, fending off a challenge from Onkaparinga in South Australia, and continued to expand by adding Wendouree Woollen Mill in the same year and Dream-spun Textiles a decade later, in 1979. Soon after that purchase, however, the mill began its slippery slide into decline. Dunlop sold to its former rival bidder Onkaparinga Woollen Co. Ltd in 1982, which in turn was taken over by Macquarie Worsted's only a year later, in 1983. Operations remained stable for a decade until 1994 when the Macquarie Group signaled that its newly rationalised operations left no room for the Warrnambool investment. The final operator of the mill was The Smith Family charity group, which ran the site by agreement with the Warrnambool City Council and a state government grant in that same year, 1994. The mill became more of a fabric recycler than a manufacturer. The site was sold to private operators in February 2003 and rezoned four months later to allow for the mixed housing development. The embossing press is significant for its association with the Warrnambool Woollen Mills 1910-1968, a major employer in the Warrnambool district. The press is also significant as an example of commercial office equipment used in the 19th and 20th century.Press, metal, for Company seal of Warrnambool Woollen Mill, stamping their brand as Western District Worsted Mills Pty Ltd. Metal is black with red and gold floral markings. Inscription of stamp reads "WESTERN DISTRICT WORSTED MILLS PROPRIETRY LIMITED" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, warrnambool woollen mills, western district worsted mills proprietry limited, worsted fabric, printing press, logo printing press, stamp printing press, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Book with green cloth cover, black printing, black vertical and horizontal lines, and a black Logo of The Herald Press. It has a man on a rearing horse playing a trumpet. Livestock covered are horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry, dogs, cats and ferrets. Also covered are fruits, vegetables, flowers General Information, Index to Advertisements, Clearing Out Rabbit Warrens, The Horse and Its Harness, Economical Feeding of Livestock and Good Fencing is a Wise Investment.john bovaird collection - the weekly times farmers handbook, farmers' information bureau, the herald press, the herald and weekly times ltd melbourne

Between 1992 and 1998 Snuff Puppets was housed on the third floor directly above the Melbourne Museum of Printing at the old Bradmill Cotton Mills building on Moreland St in Footscray. Museum proprietor Michael Isaacson was keen to share his resources and gave Snuff Puppets carte blanche to use his Museum. Nearly all the promotional posters and materials from this time were printed in limited edition runs at the Museum using scrounged paper, odds and ends of ink, lead type, wooden type, lino cuts and an old press.A4 hand printed linocut on thin cream card in 3 colours; blue black, yellow, red. Depicts a pensive skeleton sitting on a small hill with a lowered flag with the initials SP, partly concealed by a giant yellow worm. The print also features the iconic fish skeleton logo. lino cut prints, skeletons, snuff puppets, puppetry, andy freer, melbourne museum of printing, footscray, michael isaacson

Between 1992 and 1998 Snuff Puppets was housed on the third floor directly above the Melbourne Museum of Printing at the old Bradmill Cotton Mills building on Moreland St in Footscray. Museum proprietor Michael Isaacsen was keen to share his resources and gave Snuff Puppets carte blanche to use his Museum. Nearly all the promotional posters and materials from this time were printed in limited edition runs at the Museum using scrounged paper, odds and ends of ink, lead type, wooden type, lino cuts and an old press. A4 linocut print in two colours. Black background. Right side of page has a skeleton walking on hill waving his left hand and holding a red flag with letters "SP". The iconic fish skeleton logo in top right corner. art, flag, print, snuff puppets, lino cut, puppetry, andy freer, melbourne museum of printing, puppets, footscray, theatre, performing arts, promotional book, skeleton

M&MTB Season Greetings Card 1926 – 1927. The card consists of a heavily embossed brown cover with the MMTB logo on the front cover, with a printed sheet internally and tied together with a green ribbon. The photographs have been overlaid with a gold borders and the message has been printed in gold ink. An experienced printer estimated it would have taken some two hours to hand set the message, the press operator another two hours to get the registration correct before printing it and after printing allowed up to four days for the gold ink to dry before handling the paper again. This is certainly a work of art in terms of printing. Whether it was done by the M&MTB’s internal printing office is unknown. Of the view it would have only been sent to “select” people. On the front of the insert sheet is a photo of Dandenong Road, page 2 a message from The Board, page 3 a photo of Wattle Park, page 4 blank.trams, tramways, christmas cards, mmtb, dandenong rd, wattle park