Historical information

Mary Halls "Minnie" Crabb (1885-1974) was the niece of the first librarian (May Harrison) for the Victorian Association of Braille Writers. After her aunt's death in 1912, Miss Crabb took on the role of librarian for the constantly expanding collection. In 1934, the Victorian Association of Braille Writers annual report advised that it had acquired a Crabb-Hulme Braille Printing Press. Two years in development, the Press was designed by Miss Crabb and built to her specifications by Mr Hulme. Invented to produce ephemeral material quickly, such as programs, catalogues and newsletters, it provided more opportunities for information to be quickly sent out to Braille readers.
The daughter of James Hall Crabb, who ran the Prahran Telegraph from1882 until his death and the niece of J.M. Yelland who took over the paper until he sold it in 1895, Minnie would have seen printing presses in her youth and recognised the usefulness when producing large numbers of ephemeral materials.
In March 1944, Miss Crabb retired from the library, in 1956 she married Charles Foster and she lived until in the St Kilda area until her passing in 1974, aged 89. This iconic image of Miss Crabb using the press has appeared in many reports since.

Physical description

High quality image of Minnie Crabb