Historical information

Around March to April 1994, the Arthritis Foundation of Victoria (AFV) opened a second oppportunity shop in Moonee Ponds. A woman impersonating satirist Barry Humphries' most well known character, Dame Edna Everage, was the special guest at the opening of the new op shop. To promote the opening, she handed out Dame Edna's signature flowers, long-stemmed gladioli, to passers-by at the shopping strip in Puckle St, Moonee Ponds. In this photo, she hands a small child a long gladioli stem while the child's father looks on. A cropped black and white version of this photo appears on page 10 of the 1994 Annual Report with the caption: The Arthritis Op Shop was opened in Moonee Ponds during Arthritis Week. Shown here "Dame Edna" welcomes visitors on the 1st day with gifts of gladioli. Already 20 volunteers are helping at the shop. Shops co-ordinator Mrs Margaret Scott hopes the Moonee Ponds Shop will soon be running as well as the very successful op shop in High Street, Malvern, which annually raises almost $50,000.

Physical description

COL photo of a woman handing a long flowering gladioli stem to a small child, while a man looks on. They are on the footpath outside a shop or business premises. The woman is wearing a royal blue evening dress, a wig, beaded necklaces, and red novelty glasses. She is bending forward towards the child. The child is wearing a grey and white striped t-shirt and a denim skirt. She is looking up at the woman as she grasps the long flower stem. The man is wearing a red t-shirt, black shorts, and runners. He is crouching down beside the child.