Historical information

Banool Tea Garden was a popular tourist location at what is now 1 Ogilvy Road, Emerald. It was operated by Alfred and Madge Hart. Further research is needed into its chronology; this photograph is from 1947. While the Tea Garden could have been opened much earlier with the early 20th century tourist boom, archival and primary mentions of the Tea Garden are all from or after the 1940s; conversely, Banool does not appear in the 1920s tourist guides consulted. This indicates it may be more likely that the Tea Garden opened in the postwar economic boom.

Significance

Banool Tea Garden was a popular but not often discussed destination, important in the region's tourist history.

Physical description

This item is a portrait sepia photograph depicting a sign for the Banool Tea Garden. The sign's structure is wooden, supported by four legs forming a triangular prism; a wooden crossbar above the sign extends beyond the sign itself. The Banool logo is in cursive overlapping with a circle, while the other words are in more typical capital fonts. The reverse has an accession number handwritten in pencil, and handwritten annotations in blue pen on stickers affixed to the reverse. It also has logos for Kodak Print and Velox.

Inscriptions & markings

Obverse: "Banool TEA / GARDEN / MORNING & / AFTERNOON TEAS / ACCOMMODATION / DEVONSHIRE TEA a Speciality"
Reverse: "Main Road / Clematis / Banool was / the tearooms / 1947"