Note from collector- "For more than 100 years blankets were made all over Australia in over 100 woollen mills. My aim, is to preserve 100 examples of these wonderful pieces of history. Ten years ago I started collecting the iconic Onkaparinga travel rugs, so that on movie nights at home there would be plenty to go around. Everyone had their favourite; even the cat had his own – a small red tartan one. Keeping an eye out for those travel rugs at op-shops and markets, collectable stores and bazaars, led to noticing vintage blankets. I'd never really thought about them before or paid much attention though of course I had grown up with them at my grandmother's. When I discovered my first Laconia cream blanket with blue stripes, my eyes just went gaga. Well that was it, I was hooked and since then over 500 blankets have passed through my hands. These common, everyday items, found in all households for so many decades, were traditional engagement gifts. Pairs were prized wedding presents turning into family heirlooms. They were fashionable dressers of beds, givers of warmth, bestowers of security and reliability. The comfort found in these objects resonates with almost all of us; we grew up with them ourselves or fondly recall them in a grandparent’s home. There is no modern replacement with the integrity of these old blankets, many of them now older than most of us. They are romantic, sensible, special, familiar, nostalgic and nothing else feels so appropriate in so many situations. No offense to the great Aussie doona, but from hippie to hipster, at a music festival, picnic, campsite or couch, a vintage blanket is something coveted by all. This industry that employed tens of thousands and must have been such a huge contributor to the economy is almost completely lost now. Blanket Fever is an ode to everything that came before: the land, the sheep, the shearers, the hands, the mills, the weavers, the designers, the distributors, the department stores. To the grandparents that gave them, the people that received them, the families that kept them; thank you. I’m passionate about my collection of Australian blankets manufactured in mostly Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania from the 1930s to the end of the 1960s. The collection has blankets from each of these four decades representing the styles and fashions of their time and includes dated advertisements which help determine the eras the blankets are from." Advertisement, Challenge blankets, ElectracolourFirst Time Ever!/Clan Murray Challenge Blankets/Bring You New Colours Glowing like Early Morning Sunlight/Electracolour/from New Swiss Miracle Dyes/Still with the Super Luxury of Kitten-soft Double "Perma-Nap" Finishwool, blanket, blanket fever, challenge, advertisement, australian women's weekly

The general public was fascinated by the nightly 'Penguin Parade' on Phillip Island. Many articles have been written about the birds and the Penguin Parade attraction since the 1930s. So many people spent their summer holidays on Phillip Island in one of the many guest houses, then caravan parks and holiday homes and a visit to the Penguin Parade by them and their visitors was very common during their holidays. Articles tended to be a mix of basic penguin behavior information and anthropomorphic descriptions. Accompanying photographs were almost invariably taken by flashlight (now illegal), or of penguins taken from their burrows during daylight hours for photo opportunities. This article, written in the 1950s, describes the management of the Penguin Parade at that time as being run by the Penguin Preservation Committee. This was before the Phillip Island Council took over running the Penguin Parade. The article provides evidence of the level of knowledge about Phillip Island's Little/Fairy Penguins at this time. (1957)single full-page magazine article, black ink on white paper. Photocopied from original, so photos appear as black and white.little penguins, fairy penguins, eudyptula minor, phillip island penguin parade, dorothy vernon, penguin rookery, penguin behaviour, phillip island tourist attractions

Jack Hargreaves drove Adaptor to win the 1969 Bendigo Cup. Jack Hargreaves, who died on December 6 at the Bendigo Hospital aged 77, trained and drove countless winners during a 34-year harness racing career in which he became one of the true icons of the sport. Born John Henry Hargreaves in Wedderburn on December 3, 1926, harness racing was always in his blood. His father, Hughie, was a successful driver and trainer who raced horses all over Victoria. Jack drove his first winner at the age of 16 at Woodend. He lived on the family farm at Kuracca, near Wedderburn, until the age of 22, when he then married Elvie Stephenson from Fentons Creek. He and Elvie went on to have four children - Helen (now 53), Judi (51), Roslyn (49) and John (45). They are grandparents of 15 and great-grandparents of two. After spending two years at Tallarook where he worked on a sheep property, Jack and Elvie then moved to Korong Vale, where Jack set up his own training stable. He kept about 20 horses at a time at his Korong Vale stable, training and racing all of them for 26 years at his property. His greatest moment was the 1969 Miracle Mile, when he drove Adaptor to victory. Adaptor would later be sold to America for the then highest figure paid for an export horse - about $250,000. He also notched up many wins in country pacing cups, including Bendigo, Geelong, Maryborough, Kilmore and St Arnaud. During his career, Jack built a reputation of being a fine judge of pace and he consistently brought out the best in some difficult horses. His natural ability led to him being crowned Bendigo's leading driver for the season on two occasions. But an accident at Mildura on November 26, 1976 - just days before his 50th birthday - led to his driving career being cut short prematurely. Jack sustained head injuries after he was trampled by another horse after being tipped out of his sulky while driving Go Ned. He was regaining his senses and sitting up in the middle of the track when the horse went straight over him. The hoof of the horse came down between his left ear and skullcap, shattering that part of his skull. In the weeks following the accident, Jack underwent lengthy operations in Melbourne, to firstly clear splinters of bone from his brain. He then had a piece of bone removed from one of his ribs to cover a hole in his skull. He was left with injuries that were described as being similar to those of a person who had suffered a stroke. Months of physiotherapy and speech therapy followed in Melbourne and later Bendigo, before he was finally allowed to go hone in August, 1977 - almost one year after the accident. After losing part of his speech in the accident, Jack learned to communicate using his hands. "It became second-nature to us that we could read his hand signals and most of the people in the harness racing world could, too," Jack's daughter, Judi Bond, said."He learned his own way to communicate with people."While Jack was no longer able to continue his passion of driving competitively, he would still take the reins at the training track when given a chance to by his fellow drivers.He also continued to breed horses. "He was a skilled horseman, a good farrier and horses were the love of his life," Judi said. Two years after the accident, Jack and Elvie built a house in Wedderburn, directly above the trotting track. "That was so in the early days after his accident he could still see what was going on at the track," Judi said. "Everyday, he would watch the trainers . . . he'd watch what they were up to on the track."Jack was able to sit in his loungeroom and look out through large glass doors with a "grandstand" view of Leg 5 races, trials and training at the trotting track. Jack's love of harness racing filtered through to his children, with both Judi and John having careers as drivers. Judi drove for 10 years, finishing in 1978, but she continues to breed horses. Judi won the first women's race where bets were allowed to be made when she drove Youdini to victory at the Melbourne Showgrounds track in 1974.Blue with yellow vertical panelbendigo cup, adaptor, horse, jack hargreaves, bhrc, bendigo harness racing club, lords raceway, j hargreaves

Set of five items associated with a collision between Ballarat No. 37 and a truck loaded with baled hops on Thursday 15 April 1954. The tram was driven by David Kellett, conductor Herbert Ward. Probably published in The Courier, Friday 16 April 1954. Newspaper cuttings give details of the accident. Accident at the corner of South and Drummond Sts. Truck driver - Stanley Eaton; .1 -Newspaper cutting from The Courier with a photo of the front of the tram and the back of the overturned truck and the story - gives details of the crews, addresses and truck driver - note the story about the recovery of the tram. .2 - photos of the scene, titled "Sweeping up the wreckage" .3 - cutting from The Courier, "In Retrospect" - dated 25/10/2008 - see 50 years about the Ballarat Victorian Aero club preparing to replace an old tramcar with a new building. See item 9696 for a photo of the tram at the Aero club. .4 - Hand written note about the removal of the tram from the aerodrome to a Mt Pleasant Tennis club house and Fred Heres, former trammie dismantled the tram for the club some time later. .5 - Original of item .3 and an additional note re the cutting. Added 18-11-2018 - see images i5 and i6 See Reg item 5315 for the scanned image of the top photo in item .2Yields information about the accident involving Mr Dave Kellett and details of the accident with tram 37 which resulted in its withdrawal from service.Set of five newspaper items and photographs.accidents, drummond st sth, sec, recovery, tram 37