Historical information

"Fairyland", the home of Jim and Grace Tabulo, was a notable 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 Dorothy Roger's 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 size visitor book containing handwritten comments and drawings primarily made by children during visits to the home of Grace Tabulo, c.1950-1960. Commonly known as "Fairyland", the house was located at 57 Malmsbury Street Kew. The book is wrapped in brown paper, which covers back cardboard covers with a red cloth strip binding. Unpaginated, approximately 160 pages, and covers. The book has an additional loosely inserted black card cover located at the front of the book.

Inscriptions & markings

Handwritten in pencil on paper cover: "1950 - 1962 /(edit book dates)"
Handwritten in ink on paper label on loosely inserted cover: "Fairy Land / Book/ September 1950 / Fairy Land / Book / 75 [sic] M...berry [indistinct] st Kew / Fairy Land Book"