Historical information

"Fairyland", the home of Jim and Grace Tabulo, was a major local, state and international tourist attraction situated in Kew, Victoria during the mid twentieth century. Located at 57 Malmsbury Street, Kew, the weatherboard house and its garden were heavily decorated with statues, crockery and other collected items. A series of notebooks were used to record the messages of child and adult visitors to the property from the 1940s to the 1960s. After Mrs Tabulo's death, these visitor books are believed to have formed part of the Dorothy Rogers Collection. They entered the Kew Historical Society's collection following her death in 1973.

Significance

This series of visitor books are the most important primary sources relating to the internationally renowned 'Fairyland' cottage in Malmsbury Street, Kew. Their social significance is that they record in the post war period the values and beliefs of children and adults who visited this historically significant tourist attraction.

Physical description

Foolscap visitor book and containing handwritten comments and drawings primarily made by children during visits to the home of Grace Tabulo, May 1959- August 1960. Commonly known as "Fairyland", the house was located at 57 Malmsbury Street Kew. The book is wrapped in brown paper, which covers blue and red card covers with green cloth strip binding. Several pages of the book have entries which have been made upside-down. Unpaginated, 80pp.

Inscriptions & markings

Handwritten on paper front cover: "1959 / 1960"
Handwritten inside cover: "Fairy Land / 57 Malmsbury St/ Kew""