Historical information

This postcard folder contains lithographs of photographs taken locally by Georg Rose between 1880 and 1942. He reproduced them at his company's premises, the Rose Stereographic Company at Armadale, Victoria. The postcard folder was purchased as a Warrnambool souvenir by the donor's parents around 1945 to 1950. Interestingly, the city on the cover is printed as "Warrambool", which is a location in New South Wales, but the postcards within all have the locations and text of Warrnambool. The photographs include the 'new' concrete bridge, built in 1922 to replace the original bridge, built in 1872. The boathouses belonging to Proudfoots and to Flett/Fanny Nelson are also pictured on the Hopkins River mouth.

The twelve photographs included locations connected to other items in our Collection. The photographs are titled: -
b. The Avenue and War Memorial. Warrnambool. Vic.
c. The Blow-hole. Thunder Point. Warrnambool. Vic.
d. Botanical Gardens. Warrnambool. Vic.
e. Eagle Rock. Warrnambool. Vic.
f. The New Concrete Bridge and Breakwater. Warrnambool. Vic.
g. Liebig Street. Warrnambool. Vic.
h. Looking to Thunder Point. Warrnambool. Vic.
i. The Beach. Warrnambool. Vic.
j. Hopkins Falls. Warrnambool. Vic.
k. Shelly Beach. Warrnambool. Vic.
l. The Mouth of the Hopkins River. Warrnambool. Vic.
m. Panorama of Warrnambool. Vic. [Kepler Street towards Presbyterian Church on Spence St]

George Rose, 1861-1942: - famous for his Late 19th and early 20th century photography. He was born in Clunes, Victoria, and was in his 20th year when he founded Rose Stereograph Company in 1880. He took the opportunity of a popular trend of the times to produce stereographs, pairs of almost duplicate photographs which appeared to be in 3D when viewed in a handheld stereo viewer. By the 1920s these lost their popularity, so he used his photographic skills to produce cards and postcards of scenes and people.

Significance

The photographs in this postcard folder were taken between 1880 and 1942 by the renowned Victorian photographer George Rose. The locations match photographs and postcards in our collection that were taken at different times. A comparison between them shows the changes over time in the land and bay, the buildings and other structures, transportation and even the fashions of the times, building the story of our local history.

Physical description

The postcard folder has a blue-grey textured rectangular card cover with a sketch of a rose on the front along with the name of the postcard series. the location of the series' focus, the producer's details and lines for adding an address. The folded cover contains a long, concertinaed page with six titled photographs on each side, totalling twelve in all.
Interestingly, the cover has the location name of "Warrambool", a place in NSW, instead of Warrnambool, the location of all of the photographs inside.
The folder contains scenes from Warrnambool and nearby popular areas including Lady Bay, Port of Warrnambool, Warrnambool Breakwater, Viaduct, Merri River Footbridge, the Hopkins River Mouth, with Proudfoot’s and the Fanny Nelson/Flett boathouses. The cover has a sketch of a rose and inscriptions. The photographs for the lithographs were taken prior between 1880 and 1942 by well-known Victorian photographer, George Rose, Rose Stereograph Company of Armadale, Victoria.

Inscriptions & markings

Image: [Rose with rosebud and leaves]
Printed: "Rose Series / Picturesque Views of / WARRAMBOOL / AUSTRALIA" [correct spelling is WARRNAMBOOL]
"PUBLISHED BY / ROSE STEREOGRAPH CO / ARMADALE. VIC."
Printed lines (3) for an address. Printed rectangle [ ] for attaching a stamp.