Harry Rickards was an English singer and comedian who managed and the bought the Opera House in Bourke Street, Melbourne. At the turn of the century, safety concerns forced the closure and eventual demolition of the Opera House. Rickards died in London on 13 October 1911, and the New Opera House, as well as the Tivoli business, was sold to boxing entrepreneur Hugh D. McIntosh. In 1914, in line with the other venues on the national circuit, the New Opera House was renamed the Tivoli. This program would have been retained as a souvenir of a visit to the Opera House.This item is a souvenir retained as a memento of a theatre event in the late 19th century.A souvenir booklet with a coloured drawing of a man, Harry Rickards, wearing a captain's hat on the left side. Rhis is inside an oval frame decorated with feathers. It is a "Christmas Souvenir of the Opera House 1893".rickards-harry salter-fred-g program-theatre souvenir