Australia's first telephone exchange was opened in Melbourne in August 1880. It was operated by the Melbourne Telephone Exchange Company. Owned by W. H. Masters and T. T. Draper, the Manager of the Company was H. Byron Moore. This was only two years after the world's first exchange in the United States, and just four years after Bell first spoke on a telephone. The exchange was located in the old Stock Exchange building at 367 Collins Street, a site now occupied by the Commonwealth Bank. In 1884, the operations of the Company, by then known as the Victorian Telephone Exchange Company, had grown considerably and were transferred to Wills Street, Melbourne. Private ownership of this company continued until 1887 when it was bought out by the Victorian Colonial Government. Other colonial governments followed this example. By 1910, the growth in telephone services made additional accommodation necessary. This could not be provided in the existing building in Wills Street and arrangements were made for a new exchange in Lonsdale Street. Alexander Graham Bell visited Australia in 1910 to advise the Federal Government's Postal Commission. Telephone exchanges were established in Adelaide with (48 subscribers), Hobart (10 subscribers) and Launceston (35 subscribers). The first exchange in Western Australia was established in 1887 and located in a small three-room cottage in Wellington Street, Perth with 17 subscribers. The year 1888 marked the opening of the Fremantle exchange in a small room at the rear of the Town Hall. There were nine subscribers. Australia's first automatic exchange was installed in the GPO in Sydney, in 1911, for internal use. But the first automatic exchange for public use was opened at Geelong in Victoria in the next year July 1912 with 800 subscribers. Melbourne's first automatic exchange was opened in the suburb of Brighton in 1914; the first public automatic exchange in NSW began operating at Newtown, Sydney in 1915; and Queensland's first was installed at South Brisbane in 1925. 1929 saw the opening of Tasmania's first automatic exchange in Hobart. an automatic telephone service. In June 1977, the manual telephone exchange at Swansea was replaced with an automatic service and made Tasmania the first State in Australia to have a fully automatic network. The half-century following Federation saw the growth of the automatic operation; a great extension of trunk line services; The automatic telephone contributed greatly to the early popularity of telephones in Australia. It was a quicker and more convenient way of communicating with another person on the same exchange — instead of having to go through tedious processes with the operator. From its introduction, the number of automatic telephones in operation grew to a remarkable extent. In 1886, the first trunk link of 16 km was connected to the exchanges of Adelaide and Port Adelaide in South Australia. Then, in 1907, the first inter-capital telephone trunk line was opened between Sydney and Melbourne. It was followed by a line between Melbourne and Adelaide in 1914. Sydney and Brisbane were linked in 1923, and Perth and Adelaide in 1930. In 1930, the first overseas calls from Australia came possible with the introduction of a radiotelephone service to England, and through there to Europe and America. A similar service opened to New Zealand in the same year. Initially, trunk channels linked different manual trunk exchanges. It was necessary for a succession of trunk operators to connect the appropriate channels, one after the other until the connection was made. As trunk traffic grew. the system became increasingly unsuitable. More trunk operators had to be employed and so labour costs increased. It was a tedious and slow way of making a long-distance call, and it was sometimes hard to hear, particularly when several exchanges were linked With technical advances, trunk switching moved from manual operation through a partly automatic phase. Automatic transit switching equipment was used and only a single operator was required to connect a trunk call to a wanted automatic subscriber. Until well beyond the middle of this century, the majority of trunk traffic went through this single telephonist control. In 1953, the number of telephones in use in Australia passed the one million mark. By then, the need for improvement in the automatic exchanges was becoming well recognised. The need was for a telephone switching system which would do a better job more economically than the conventional step-by-step ex-change. This led to the adoption of the Crossbar system as the standard in automatic telephone exchanges in 1960. The introduction of Crossbar switching was a big step forward in the automation of trunk calls. It substituted automatic switching and charging equipment for the originating trunk operator, and improved the quality of the system radically. Before the introduction of the Crossbar system there were often very long delays in obtaining a booked trunk call, and the quality of sound was often very poor. With Crossbar, Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD) became a reality. A trunk call by STD was as easy to make and almost as fast to connect as a local call.The item was made around the 1940s and used up until the 1970s in manual cord telephone exchanges as a way to time and charge users for trunk calls made over the telecom system of the time. Post Master General dept. - Trunk Call Timer.Inscribed PMG, C. of A, 37. Bell chimes at 3 min increments.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, timer, trunk call, telephone, cord exchange

John and Emma Propert emigrated from England in 1877 and settled in New South Wales . Several of their 11 children became talented inventors, designing items ranging from kitchen utensils to coaches and later pop-up caravans. One of the most successful was Charles, who designed and built kitchenware over many decades. His earliest invention was irrigation equipment including patenting the common backyard rose sprinkler. Propert became a household name when he began making a wide range of kitchen implements for decades including flour sifters and chip cutters. By the 1970s Propert was Australia’s leading brand of kitchen and bathroom scales. By far the most successful product was a ball-driven egg beater, trademarked as the Ezy Whisk or Swift Whisk. In the days before electric beaters, the Ezy Whisk and Swift Whisk were market leaders and were exported world-wide. Charles Propert and his son Bertram manufactured more than a quarter of a million egg beaters a year in the early 1950s which explains why so many are still in use today.These items are significant because they were widely used throughout Australia in the 1950s by a major Australian manufacturer.Two Propert's kitchen appliances - a stainless steel Whistling Egg Timer and a Swift Whisk BeaterOn Egg Beater : A PROPERT PRODUCT MADE IN AUSTRALIA PATENT BALL DRIVE SWIFT WHIP STAINLESS STEELkitchen utensils, propert kitchen appliances

An egg timer attached by a loop of wire to a cardboard mount, on which has been glued a small photograph of Sussex Street, Linton. The cardboard has a patterned border printed on it, and an illustration of a chicken hatching from an egg. A scroll at the foot of the souvenir has the word "From" and space for a name.egg timers, souvenirs

Queenstown (St. Andrews) District. A gold miner with his home made dry blower device used for extracting gold particles from dry soil with out the use of water. In 1929, St Andrews was known as Queenstown. Originally published in The Leader, Nov. 2nd, 1929, with the title "Relics of the Old Mining days in the Queenstown District," a series of eight numbered photographs. 'The Leader'; a weekly journal of news, politics, agriculture, literature, science and sport.This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital image 4 x 5 inch B&W Neg Print 11 x 24.5 cmsepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, queenstown, gold mining, gold miner, st. andrews, old timer

Black and white photograph (2 copies)Written on back of one copy: "Corner of Maroondah Highway and Warrandyte Road. Foreground- formerly Bamford's timber yard,. Centre- Presbyterian Church. Laughnan's Hill in background.

Set of colour photographs taken by Richard Carter, c1979 - Ringwood Timber and Trading Co demolition, and later photos (undated) of the RT&T yard , Charer Street, looking North East and West.

Each five minute period is indicated on the embossed setting dial by two dots and the first quarter hour is additionally marked to show the individual minutes. The case is fitted with rubber feet. White base with black circle with braille upon it and a hard plastic white dial in the middleassistive devices, smiths

Purchased through the Horsham Art Gallery Trust Fund with the assistance of the Caltex-Victorian Government Art Fund, 1981

Butchers Slaughter Yard cnr. Clifton Avenue and Ormston Road which belonged to Chaponnel family. These yards are now demolished. The land being sold for housing. 0099.2 is a photograph copy of an original oil painting titled "The Old Timer" by Reg Capon Nov. 1979. Painting owned by Mr. Phillip Nicholson Clifton Ave. Stawell.Two black and white photographs of a scene depicting a neglected timber building, with corrugated iron roof and brick chimney. Timber fence and race surround the stock yards. The painting (0099.2) is by Reg Capon called "The old Timer" Nov 1979.stawell business

Shell timer fuseammunition, ww1, army

Shell timer fuseammunition, ww1

Colour photograph. Rounded corners. Painted scenery. Old timers. Bush band. Tartan waistcoats. Violin. Back of photo reads: Wedderburn Old Timers.entertainment, music, bush band

Port Melbourne Football Club time clock used at home games"The Cummins Sports timer Australian Rules Port Melbourne Football Club 1955"sport - australian rules football, technology, port melbourne football club, pmfc

Timer board cut in to a quadrant mounted with Brass side rules.WW1 Artillery Plotting board donated by George Thorp

.01 - Framed black and white copy of Port Melbourne Old Timers Football Club, dated 1945. Frame is metal and photo is well sealed with clear plastic. .02 - photocopy of above with some of the "old timers" namedsport - australian rules football, social activities, port melbourne football club, pmfc, port melbourne old timers football club, stan plumridge, percy allan may, roy kent, reg 'ox' earle, walter 'watty' power, a b smith, ken (?) robinson, ray bragg, fay bragg

Coloured photo of the Wedderburn Old Timers playing at a dance. Peter Ellis is second from the left. He is playing a concertina. In front of the band two men and some ladies are seated. Written on the back: Wedderburn Old Timers.photo, group, wedderburn old timers, peter ellis collection, wedderburn old timers

Three page story of the life of Trevor John Holt, a member of the Wedderburn Old Timers.person, individual, trevor john holt, peter ellis collection, trevor john holt, albert hugh holt, margaret emma holt, lindsay holt, glenda holt, hargreaves family, mcclelland family, ken hargreaves, kurraca state school, ern harkin, alys holt, joe harper, margaret holt, lynette holt, kevin holt, kerry holt, alan holt, cfa, wedderburn brass band, wedderburn historical society, wedderburn football club, masonic lodge, victorian farmers federation, engine club, wedderburn old timers, concord tours

The watch was carried by Quentin Clifford BINKS. (Born Rushworth, enlisted Liverpool NSW). His records show he was initially in the part time CMF from 8.10.1941 aged 20 years and appointed Lieut on 1.8.1942 Regt No V245016. He began full time service in the CMF on 7.8.1942 and continued until 5.6.1943 when he transfers to the 2nd AIF on the following day Regt No VX114178 RAE. Emplaned for Port Moresby from Townsville 10.6.1943, during service he is hospitalised several times with Dysentry, Boils and Folliculitis. He emplaned from Nadzab NG for Townsville landing 15.9.1944. Appointment terminated on 6.2.1946.Silver coloured Pocket watch with numbers (not Roman Numerals) Second timer inserted into dial face.Engraved on back “D^D”watch, accessory

A collection of stories from the Otways that were collected for the Otway Light 10th Anniversary publication.The Otway Light featuring the Old Timers, including the Old Timer himself, Scrub Urchin, Stewart Webster, and others. Helen Grant (ed.). Robert Montgomery, Ellise Angel, Claire McCaffie (illus.). Lavers Hill (Vic); Otway Light Editorial Board; 1989. 98 p.; illus. Soft cover.Melba Gully (21st March 1975)otways; stories; sketches; history;

Coloured photo of Peter Ellis with a concertina, talking to a lady and a man at an Old Timers Ball held at the Melb. Town Hall on 28/6/85. Written on the back - part of it cut off: Old Timers Ball Melb Town Hall 28/6/85. Bourke (nee) Dixon. Ellis with my father's - ertina, Frank Dixon.photo, group, dance, peter ellis collection, old timers ball, melb town hall, bourke - nee dixon, ellis, frank dixon

Known to have been in use in 1909, when there were sixteen subscribers. Decommissioned in 1968.With a timber polished frame with 20 incoming lines, a clock timer and glass fronted notice board on top with various operator instructions this stands nearly two meters tall. Indicators, patch leads and sockets are in left and right banks, with the call/speak toggles in front of them. A small timer to the right is turned on or off when required.

BHS CollectionBendigo Advertiser ''The way we were'' from 2003. Old timers: float, Easter parade, Bridge Street, Bendigo. The clip is in a folder.newspaper, bendigo advertiser, the way we were

BHS CollectionBendigo Advertiser ''The way we were'' from 2002. Lazy days: old timers watch the bowls; circa 1950. The clip is in a folder.newspaper, bendigo advertiser, the way we were

Black and white photographWritten on back of photographs, "Mr. and Mrs. Bert Milne, Ringwood Old Timers. Sec. M.U.I.O.O.F. for many years". Stamp on back of photograph reads, "Geoffrey Baker Studios".

Page advertising the Colonial Bush Ball Woosang 14/3/1980. Compere was Ted Stephenson. Featured the Wedderburn Old Timers. The programme of dances is listed on the paper.entertainment, dance, colonial ball, peter ellis collection, colonial bush ball woosang, ted stephenson, wedderburn old timers

Colour photo of a statue of Simpson & his donkey carrying a soldier wounded in action. Statue is mounted on a granite pier. Guilded timer frame with cream coloured cardboard mount & glass.Printed label on back: “Man with the Donkey Melbourne, Victoria Natural Beauty Photography by Val Morris (03) 5443 4088 16”photography - photographs, frame accessories, simpson