Historical information
This catalogue was produced by the South Australian wool auctioning company Elders, Smith & Co. Ltd. It accompanied their celebration of a century of wool sales in 1978. The first wool auction in South Australia took place at Elders a century earlier, on the 15th of October 1878. It was covered in detail by The South Australian Register. At the sale, 1976 bales of wool were offered in what was the beginning of the wool storage and brokerage system in South Australia.
Elders, Smith & Co. was established in 1839 by Alexander Lang Elder. Born in 1815 in Scotland, he moved to Australia at age 24 and set up Elders in Port Adelaide. Interestingly, the company’s original site is now the South Australian Maritime Museum. Elders’ business partner was Robert Barr Smith. Also born in Scotland, he moved to Australia in 1854 at the age of 30. Smith was an important part of the Company’s first wool sale. Smith made statements at the auction for South Australia to have a proper wool industry; with a purpose-built wool store, auction house and for the state to be able to supply its own products. This was met with a “Hear, hear” from the crowd at the auction. This statement is reflected upon within the catalogue.
The catalogue itself also contains images of the company’s first wool auction, an outside image of Elder’s Wool Warehouse in Port Adelaide as well as an image of the Show Floor inside of this Port Adelaide warehouse. The catalogue also contains a quote from Elders’ Wool Manager for Victoria and Riverina, Murray Jewster. He discusses how the company is proud of its history and looking forward to its future in assisting both wool buyers and sellers. The quote also highlights Elders shift from being an Adelaide focussed business, growing to span the width of Australia.
Physical description
4 page booklet. Yellow paper with black and red print.
