Pressed tin buttons were produced in large numbers between 1900 and the Second World War and being ephemeral have rarely survived. This button was produced for fundraising for local charities at Ballarat on Button Day in October 1925.

Historically and socially significant artefact, revealing much about the attitudes and values of the period in which they were produced. Button days were a popular way of fundraising and commemoration that developed through Wattle Days and the First World War retaining their popularity into the early 1950s.

Small tin badge with stylised rising sun motif in red with forget-me-nots in blue beneath a banner and on beneath the nosegay the words forget not. in blue.

ballarat, charities, fund raising, button day, 1925, badges

ceiling paper, wallpaper, ballarat, hymettus,

melbourne, centenary of melbourne, 1934, eucharistic congress, mermbership card

ceiling, hymettus ballarat, dining room, wallpapers, ceiling papers, decorative papers, ballarat

non-fiction

bushfire, black saturday bushfires, victorian bushfires, kinglake, warnambool, marion taffe, mx, newspaper, davey family

Faille silk and braided with barley twist to top and military braid to scalloped lower edge.

window decoration, valance, dining room

This example of a late 1920s valance retained in the front parlour at Hymettus is a part of the period decoration and still fills its purpose of over a century ago in concealing the curtain rails. of the room. Although the house was built 1900 -1901 the room was redecorated in the late 1920s.

A rare surviving example of a silk patterned and machine embroidered valance in situ since the 1920s.

valance, window, parlour, hymettus, ballarat

One of a series of sketches in 1943 by war artist Geoffrey Mainwaring while covering the war in the Pacific. Mainwaring went on to take charge of the Art department at the School of Mines Ballarat, SMB now Federation University.

war, landing craft, mainwaring, ballarat smb, sketch, war in the pacific, new guinea, war artist

non-fiction

malley, dust storm, nature

non-fiction

eureka centenary, ballarat, certificate

non-fiction

eureka stockade, ballarat, eureka centenary, souvenir, eureka improvement and progress association, peter lalor

Brass band instrumental music competitions were enthusiastically followed in Australia in the early twentieth century. Ballarat was a leading centre for these musical competitions and Michael Taffe played cornet and flugelhorn with several local brass bands. He was Australian Junior Cornet solo Champion in 1920 and won the open section of the instrumentals at the VRI competitions held in the ballroom at Flinders Street Station in 1924.

michael taffe, victorian railways institute, cornet solo, flinders street station ballroom

non-fiction

city of ballaarat, welcome, ballarat, lake wendouree, rowing, canoeing, 1956, southern hemisphere,

eureka stockade, royal australian mint

non-fiction

frank clune, china, nathan spielvogel, travel, australian writers

mt pleasant school, ballarat, bicentenary, michael taffe, francis ellis, tree planting

On timber matress base/frame stamped Tunbridge & Sons Ballarat.

non-fiction

avenues of honour, remembrance, world war i, italy

non-fiction

ruby lindsay, naturalist, barrett, art nouveau, creswick, ballarat

non-fiction

olympic games, melbourne, australia, invitation to holld olympic games

Small 95 page booklet published in 1857 by Fairfax, Melbourne and inscribed by W. D. Lang.

non-fiction

Rev John Dunmore Lang's defence of his son who was imprisoned for his part in the fraud at the Bank of New South Wales Ballarat and Clunes in 1854.

drake, lang, rev john dunmore lang, ballarat, clunes, select committee of enquiry

eureka stockade, ballarat, nathan spielvogel

non-fiction

eureka stockade, centenary, sydney, fellowship of australian writers, mary gilmore

non-fiction

memoir, spielvogel, ballarat, dimboola

victorian railways, michael taffe, ballarat, transportation of goods,