Historical information

Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. was a North American jewellery company that was established in 1949 by the Stuart family as part of Emmons Jewelry, Inc. It began operations in England and Australia in 1968, and in Australia it moved from Carlton in Melbourne to Wodonga in 1969. The premises were originally on High St. in Wodonga, but a new warehouse was built in Melbourne Rd. later in 1969.

It was a direct selling jewellery business using a party-plan model similar to Tupperware and Avon. The sales reps or 'Hostesses' were provided with jewellery samples in demonstration kits, which they displayed at jewellery parties in their homes. The designs for jewellery such as brooches, necklaces, earrings, chokers and bracelets were purchased from freelance designers and jewellery manufacturers rather than in-house designers.

In 1979 Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. in Wodonga was bought by three Australian businessmen, including Wodonga local Jim Sawyer, and continued to sell jewellery under the name "Sargem Pty. Ltd”, for several more years in the 1980s.

Significance

The black and white photograph of the 1969 Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. warehouse in Wodonga has local significance as part of the decentralised commercial development of regional centres such as Wodonga in NE Victoria. As part of the Sarah Coventry collection, the photograph has national and international significance from the perspective of social and economic developments for women after World War II. The direct selling party-plan business model it was based on is also considered the first of its kind for jewellery.

Physical description

Black and white photographic print of the outside of the Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. building in Wodonga, Victoria. It was built in 1969 at Sarah Coventry Park, Hume Highway, Wodonga.

Inscriptions & markings

The name "Sarah Coventry" is on the front wall of the building in the photo.