Matilda was a Merino ewe who went missing for over 5 years on cattle country just outside of Hamilton. When she was found she had over 30 kgs of fleece that needed to be shorn. She was shorn in Melbourne's Federation Square in 2005. Her fleece was then processed into fabric by CSIRO. The fleece made enough fabric for six jackets. The jackets were auctioned at Crown Palladium Ballroom in March of that year. The winners had their jacket tailored to their measurements by Blazzer. All profits from the auction went to Celebration of Life, a fund established to support Victoria's Royal Children’s Hospital neonatal unitFour samples of wool in the different stages of process. The first two are of the raw fleece from the sheep, the second has been washed and combed, the third a fabric sample created from the wool.wool, sheep, merino wool, missing sheep, maltilda, fleece, csiro

"Code of Practice for Security of Wool Samples for Display Purposes: AS1809-1976"- Standards Association of Australia. Amongst items collected in Australian Wool Corporation folder (W6052)."Code of Practice for Security of Wool Samples for Display Purposes: AS1809-1976"- Standards Association of Australia. Amongst items collected in Australian Wool Corporation folder (W6052).With the compliments of The Australian Wool Corporationtextile research wool marketing textile testing, australian wool corporation standards association of australia, wool clip preparation, textile research, wool marketing, textile testing

This item is part of a collection of six black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging depicting four wool samples next to a ruler.[printed] BLACKFACE SHETLANDagriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

This item is part of a collection of four black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging depicting two wool samples near a ruler.[handwritten] B. Leicestzragriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

This item is part of a collection of four black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging depicting four wool samples near a ruler.[handwritten] Wensleydaleagriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

Display board was once property of Port Macquarie Historical Society & Museum, but they de-accessioned it in 2016 before donating it to the National Wool Museum. Reason for de-accession was that it no longer fit with their collection aims, nor was it relevant to their location. Item appears to have been made in 1963, or at least using wool samples from 1963. Wool samples were grown by a S.F. PICKER at 'BIGGA' in New South Wales. No further information was given by donor.Light brown timber framed display board with glass cover. Light brown backing board with 25 wool samples taped to the board, each with a paper lable with printed text. Main label reads -WORLD RECORD PRICE / 1963...468d / SUPER FINE MERINO. / COUNT. 74/80. / GROWN BY. / S.F. PICKER. BIGGA. / N.S.W.-wool samples, wool sorting, wool breading

The donor, Brian Licence, assembled this Wool Sample Book while studying at the Gordon Institute from 1960-62. Brian studied Wool Classing and worked for a decade in this profession before moving to Melbourne which required him to change careers. The National Wool Museum accepted a donation from Brian in 2022 of several mementoes relating to his career in the wool industry. This wool sample book joins a collection of 8 others within the museum’s collection, with the oldest dating to 1870 at the time of writing in 2022. Large black bound book with ribbon for fastening containing 12 double-sided blue pages. Pages have several samples of shorn wool mounted and annotated to include information such as specific breeding, shearing faults, and geographical area. The book concludes with four pages without wool samples. Two of these pages relate to plans for a shearing shed and other industry related structures. The final two-pages relate to the anatomy of a sheep. Wool sample books were constructed by Wool Classing students at the Gordon Technical School as examples of what to look for when classing wool. The students were tasked with constructing these books with samples they retrieved themselves from several different farms and animals. The book would serve as a reference point for the wool classers throughout their years in the field, it was always on hand to refresh knowledge. This book was constructed by Brian Licence over his schooling at the Gordon between 1960 and 1962. Front Cover. Handwritten, White Ink "Wool Sample / Book. 1961”wool classing, gordon technical college, brian licence

Wool sample book, creator and origins unknown.Dark green cloth bound book, horizontally oriented, containing wool samples and text. Dark green cloth bound book, horizontally oriented, containing wool samples and text.wool industry education, wool industry, education

Bound book of wool samples in the grease and throughout the various processing stages, produced by Mr V. Dorron.Bound book of wool samples in the grease and throughout the various processing stages, produced by Mr V. Dorron. Bound book of wool samples in the grease and throughout the various processing stages, produced by Mr V. Dorron.V. DORRON GORDON TECHNICAL COLLEGE GEELONG JUNE 10 1922woolclassing, gordon technical college - woolclassing department, dorron, mr v

Book was given to Mr Robert 'Bob' Edward Mitchell in 1938. Mr Mitchell trained as a wool classer in the 1930's and was awarded this book as the senior prize. Mr. Mitchell grew up on the Moorabinda sheep property and is on the honour roll as a past student who served in World War II from Wharparilla West State School.Large black bound book containing 12 double-sided pages, each with several wool samples mounted to a blue paper with the name of sheep breed which the wool came from. Each page also has a loose sheet of wax paper over the wool. Book can be closed and secured with a length of black material which can be tied up.world war two, robert edward mitchell, wool classing, wharparilla, wharparilla west state school, moorabinda, sheep farming, wool samples, wool, prize, student, rural life

Wool sample book presumably produced by J. Tynan in 1954 for a class insturcted by V.H. Dorron.Wool sample book presumably produced by J. Tynan in 1954 for a class insturcted by V.H. Dorron.Echuca Wool Class 1954 Echuca Wool Class 1954 Awarded to: J. Tynan Presented by: V.H. Dorron Instructorwool industry education, tynan, j. dorron, mr v, echuca, victoria, wool industry, education

Book of wool samples created for/used by the Gordon TAFE in Geelong. This book comes to us from the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts who have closed down. This item was transferred from them to the NWM.Black cardboard covered book containing pages with attached wool samples and descriptions. Each page has a waxy paper covering with it. Pages are blue with gold coloured pins/tacks at the corners.

Sample wool press. Sample wool press.

Part of a collection of books, fabric samples and documents from the working life of Ray Smith. Ray began his career at the age of 15, working at the Albion Woollen Mills in Geelong in 1953. Over the next five decades, Ray furthered his education in textile design, weaving design, knitting and later computer aided design, including qualifications from Gordon Textile College, City and Guilds of London Institute, The Textile Institute, Melbourne Institute of Textiles and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). After ten years at Albion Woollen Mills, Ray went on to hold fabric design positions at Prestige Fabrics and Yarra Falls, working up to management roles in both the Weaving and Fabric Design Divisions, and then as Product Development Manager at Yarra Falls until 2000. Ray shares some career highlights below: In 1977 and 1978 I won the Wool Corporation’s Celsius 30 Awards as Yarra Falls Designer. (See photos attached.) These awards came with study trips to the major Textile Centres and Trade Fairs around the world. This was proven to be beneficial and Yarra Falls sent me overseas every year for the next 22 years. On stopovers in Hong Kong we appointed an agent and took part in Textile Trade Fairs at Interstoff Asia and exhibited designs in 1991, 92, 93, 94. I created a pattern book for a chain of shops called “Kwun KeeTailors” for their customers to select our fabrics to be made up into suits for the tourists. I also had several trips to New York to try to export to America with some success. I was commissioned by the Melbourne College of Textiles to write a Woven Textile Design Course to be taught under the outreach program. This was eventually translated into Spanish to be used by developing textile industries in South America.Card folder featuring pale blue and white clouds and sky motifs, with a thermometer on the cover. Folder holds eleven circular black cards, eight have wool fabric samples attached.Front [printed]: Celsius 30 / SPRING SUMMER / 74 / SPRING SUMMER / A Woolblendmark fabric developed especially for summer.ray smith, yarra falls, mills, textile design, fabric design, product development, wool corporation, fabric samples, 1970s fashion

The wool was shorn from sheep of the Wyndarra and Rockbank bloodlines. A flock of 290 sheep were kept undercover at Kadinia, the property of the Appledore family from Brim in the Wimmera district of Victoria. Their record-breaking wool was produced by giving the sheep a special diet and providing each one with a UV-protective coat. Around 180 fleeces were selected for the million dollar bale. The sale of the first bale of wool measuring below 14 microns was held in the Auction Room here at the National Wool Museum. Bidding began at $600/kg and steadily increased until there were only two bidders left. The bidders represented the Japanese firm Aoki International and Loro Piana of Italy. The hammer fell at $10,300/kg, with Aoki International paying $1,194,800 for the 116kg bale. The fleece was scoured (cleaned) at the Goulburn Wool Scour, New South Wales. The degree of preparation and care taken with the task was extreme. The Scour closed production three days before and was extensively cleaned. On the day of scouring 12 tonnes of 17 micron wool was washed to condition the water, then nine bales of extra super fine wool, worth over $300,000 was washed as a trial run. Toabo Agaki Japan was employed to process the scoured wool into suit cloth. Taobo required the scoured wool to contain 0.5% residual grease, 12% moisture and a yield of 83kg. These requirements were met. The entire staff of the Scour wanted to be part of washing the best wool in the world. Without asking for payment both the night shift and afternoon shift crews assisted the day shift in the task. The bale was fed into the scour in seven minutes and fitted into three bowls, half the scour. It completely disappeared into the dryer and the last wool was fed before the first wool was out. The clean wool was hand-packed into cardboard cartons and freighted to Japan. Aoki International, based in Yokohama Japan, cut three suit lengths from the cloth, then blended the remaining wool into an exclusive line of commercially-available suits. These suits are labeled Kadinia.Wool sample from the Million Dollar Balewool sales, million dollar bale

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." Salesman's Wool sample card containing samples of wool at different stages of processingJohn Taylor/With Compliments from Onkaparinga/Woollen Co.Ltd/Adelaide, Sth Aust. Mills Lobethal and Thebarton, S.A/Always insist on Onkaparinga Rugs.Blankets.Worsteds.Melanges.Woollens and Flannelswool, blanket fever, advertisement, onkaparinga, sample

Image appears to show part of the backwash process when preparing dyed wool tops for gilling and recombing. The wool top slivers are fed into two or three bowls, the first bowl containing warm soapy water, the latter bowls warm water in order to rinse. Slivers pass though squeeze rollers and then into a dryer and dried to a specific moisture content, on exiting the dryer slivers are lubricated in order to reduce static and fed into a Gill box machine to begin the fibre parallelisation process. Backwashing is also sometimes used after the Carding process prior to first combing, it is a secondary wash and gives the end product a much cleaner result. Source: Greg Aldrige35mm coloured slide in presentation folder with wool sample set no 447. 6wool processing, top making, card clothing, combing, backwashing, gilling, slivers

This item is part of a collection of six black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging depicting a wool sample.agriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

This item is part of a collection of six black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging showing a graph and wool sample.agriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

This item is part of a collection of six black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging showing a graph and wool sample.agriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

This item is part of a collection of six black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging showing a graph and wool sample.agriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

This item is part of a collection of six black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in a glass plate box. The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging showing a graph and wool sample.agriculture, new south wales graziers association, travel, sheep, breeding, photography, glass lantern slides, j w allen

Sample wool press.

Exercise book used by Robyn Thomson in Needlework class at Williamstown High School in the 1960s. Book contains material and wool samples of knitting and sewing techniques (see page above).williamstown high school, 1960s, robyn thomson, needlework, exercise book

Wool sample from the Camden flock.sheep breeding, wool history, camden park estate, nsw, wool - history

Notes relate to blanket design, marketing, retail and production and repeatedly refer to ‘Phillips’. Refers to Physician Blankets, so possibly related to Collins Brothers Mill Pty Ltd. Note book with black cover, containing notes typed on pink, green and white paper, cut out and sticky taped into note book. Also contains some loose newspaper articles and wool samples. wool, victoria, working life, blankets, correspondence, scrapbook, letters, record keeping, woollen mill, collins bros mill pty ltd