Historical information

These records of two songs sung by John and Mary Kopke, has been made as a souvenir of Warrnambool during the time it won the Premier Town Award 1979-1982. This award was given to a town or city that showed excellence in official environmental practice. The promotion song, ‘City By the Sea’ celebrates Warrnambool and mentions the May Racing Carnival with its Grand Annual Steeple Race, the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycle Race and Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum. The other song is about the Mahogany Ship, a ship that was first found wrecked on the coast near Warrnambool in 1836. There were many sightings of the wreck until the 1890s when it disappeared. There has been speculation ever since about the ship’s origins – Spanish? Portuguese? Chinese? The search for the wreck continues.

Significance

This record is an interesting one – a memento of the celebrations in Warrnambool during the time it won the Premier Town Award 1979-1982.

Physical description

These are two identical records.
.1 This is a paper cover for a 45 R.P.M. record. It has black printing, the logo of Warrnambool Premier Town, a blue-coloured image of the harbour at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum Warrnambool with an inset black and white photograph on one side and a blue-coloured image of the Mahogany Ship and black printing on the other side.
.2 This is 45 R.P.M. record with recordings on both sides and inset with black printing on an aqua background.

Inscriptions & markings

‘Warrnambool City By the Sea’
‘The Ship Mahogany’
‘John and Mary Kopke’