Postcard - Ned Kelly Postcards, c. 1906

Historical information

These postcards are stills from 'The Story of the Kelly Gang' a movie which premiered in Melbourne on Boxing Day 1906 and was the first multi-reel, feature-length film ever produced in the world. It was extremely popular with audiences but because it portrayed the Kelly Gang as heroes and the police as villains, the Victorian Government eventually banned it from being screened in 1912. These postcards were found in an album of diverse postcards dating mainly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Significance

The movie, 'The Story of the Kelly Gang', from which these postcards are taken, marked the starting point of the development of narrative feature films which continue to be popular today.

Physical description

A collection of postcards depicting the crimes and arrest of Ned Kelly.

Inscriptions & markings

Postcard 1: 'Ned Kelly shoots Fitzpatrick'
Postcard 2: 'Pulling up the line at Glenrowan'
Postcard 3: 'The Police surrounding Glenrowan Hotel'
Postcard 4: 'Capture of Ned Kelly'
Postcard 5: 'Dan Kelly & Joe Byrne'

Other parts of this item

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