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.

Eric Sumsion was a gardener and curator for the Wodonga Shire.

Significance

As part of the Sarah Coventry collection, the framed photograph has local significance with the decentralised commercial development of regional centres such as Wodonga in NE Victoria, as well as with its association with Eric Sumsion who was a prominent figure in Wodonga's history and development.

Physical description

Faded colour photograph shows part of the garden at the Sarah Coventry warehouse in Wodonga, built in 1969, in a brown wooden frame.

Inscriptions & markings

"Presented to Eric Sumsion by Sarah Coventry : In appreciation of a job well done." written on the back of the framing.