Inside the Collection Stories: Recent Episodes
MAAS Volunteers
Join Volunteer Hette, as he discusses the extreme conditions astronauts must deal with and the equipments we have at the Powerhouse Museum that reflects this chilly struggle. Enjoy!
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image:
Object 2010/56/1 Replica Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU), Gift of Lockheed Martin Space System Company, 2010.
Search for related objects here.
Note: This talk has been adapted as part of a larger Collection Conversation entitled 'Winter Inspirations' which you are welcome to enjoy on our Youtube or Powerhouse Volunteer website. Enjoy!
Join Volunteer Judy, as she discusses domestic heaters in the collection, and the history of the personal heaters we need so sorely in the wintertime. Enjoy!
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image:
Object no.2018/97/1, Metters 'Regal' domestic slow combustion heating stove
Search for related objects here
Credit: This talk has been adapted as part of a larger Collection Conversation entitled 'Winter inspirations' which you are welcome to enjoy on our youtube or volunteers website. Enjoy!
In September we conducted a collection conversation on Innovation and Tech. Here is the audio from that wonderful talk, for you to enjoy!
Join Powerhouse volunteers Dinah, Meg and Judy for this wonderful talk on Design and Innovation in the Collection. Focusing on the Integra Chairs, Beetle wings in the collection, and various iconic monuments and objects that have served as design inspiration - this is an inspiring podcast that we hope you gain insight from today.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Search for related objects in the Collection here
Image:
Textile length, embroidered cotton / beetle wing / metallic gold thread, India, acquired 1883
Join Volunteer Judy, as she discusses the development, history, and engineering of the Bionic Ear in relation to Innovation and technology in the collection
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image:
Object no. 2003/134/2, Cochlear implant, Nucleus 24 Contour, 2003
Search for related objects here
Join Volunteer Mike, as he discusses the Apple 1 in the Museum's Collection. Its place in computer history, and the power of collaboration as it manifested in the Jobs-Wozniac team.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image:
Object No. 2010/6/1 Apple I computer
Search for related objects here
Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from a combination of Museum Object Notes and the Blogpost titled Steve Jobs 1955-2011 by Erika Taylor - published on October 6, 2011 the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog.
Join Powerhouse volunteer, Hette for a talk comparing the different ways the Museum has elected to care for two different objects in the collection: Loco No 1 and the Cart belonging to the Wong Family 1870-1916.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Search for related objects in the Collection here
Image:
Object No. 99/69/1 American-style light box delivery wagon used by Wong family, NSW, 1870s-1916
Join Powerhouse volunteer, Alan for a talk about the 60th anniversary, on the 23 March 2022 - of the first trial of the Black Box Flight data and cockpit voice recorder.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Search for related objects in the Collection here
Image:
Object No. 92/297 Flight recorder designed by Dr David Warren
Join Powerhouse volunteer, Faezah for a talk about Naseri's one Touman.
At the Powerhouse we are celebrating Nowrouz with a series of events.
You can find out more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Search for related objects in the Collection here
Join textiles volunteer, Rod for a talk he has researched and voiced, about Lacemaking and Lace Schools of the eighteen and early nineteen hundreds, in East Devon, England.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: Devon lace border made in England
Search for related objects in the Collection here
In celebration of Lunar New Year 2022, five of the Museum's multi-lingual volunteers worked together to create this audio in English, each reading a different section. The talk is based on a Blogpost by Curator Min-Jung Kim, discussing a collection of posters that represent Chinese New Year.The brightly coloured posters portray elements of Chinese political visual culture. They were heavily influenced by The New Year pictures (nianhua) which were the most common form of household decoration in China until the mid-20th century - and some were displayed at th Museum in 2017. The posters remain a valued part of the Museum’s Collection - reflecting traditional and changing cultural sensibilities around the Lunar New Year, through recent history in mainland China and Hong Kong.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image
Object No.2017/2/32 Chinese Propoganda Poster
Search for related objects here
Credit This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled "Chinese New Year pictures & propaganda posters" By Min-Jung Kim - published January 25, 2017 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog
With thanks to Powerhouse Volunteer Wen-Hsin, for her Engilish to Mandarin translation - and for voicing this talk for us.
If you know someone who would like to listen to this talk in Chinese - please feel free to forward this on to them.
About the Collection of Posters covered in this talk這色彩鮮艷的海報，描繪了中國政治視覺文化的元素。這些作品的畫風都深受另一幅新年畫(年華)的影響，直到二十世紀中期，都是中國最常見的家庭裝飾形式。 海報中鮮豔的色彩和符號，以及設計風格的明顯變化，讓參觀者著迷且高興。
海報仍然是博物館收藏的重要部分。反映了農曆新年前後的傳統和不斷變化的文化情感，貫穿中國大陸和香港的近代歷史。
The brightly coloured posters portray elements of Chinese political visual culture. They were heavily influenced by The New Year pictures (nianhua) which were the most common form of household decoration in China until the mid-20th century.
The bright colours and symbols in these posters, as well as the distinct changes in design-styles, fascinated and delighted visitors who came across the display.
The posters remain a valued part of the Museum’s Collection - reflecting traditional and changing cultural sensibilities around the Lunar New Year, through recent history in mainland China and Hong Kong.
Credit
這個演講已經改編成音訊，來自題為"中國新年圖片和宣傳海報"的博客文章，作者 Min-Jung Kim - 發表於 2017 年 1 月 25 日，刊登在博物館的 Inside the Collection 博客上。
This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled "Chinese New Year pictures & propaganda posters" By Min-Jung Kim - published January 25, 2017 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image:
Object No.2017239 Chinese poster
Search for related objects here
Join Volunteer Alan, as he discusses an unusual piece of decorative art featuring Cicadas as the main decoration. This lovely piece tells the story of this object, its maker - and incidentally explores the timeless feeling of summer which cicadas signal in Sydney.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: Object No. A1572
Cicada vase by Delia Cadden
Search for related objects here
Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled “Summer Cicadas!" By Lynne McNairn - published January 8, 2014 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog.
Join Host and Staffy Frankie, as they discuss some distinctive, large scale Busts / Sculptures of Russian Cosmonauts which we have in the Museum's Collection.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: Object No.97/2/12
Bust of Konstantin Tsiolkovski
Search for related objects here
Join Volunteer Hette, as he discusses a brief history of the Autogiro.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: Object No. B2361
Autogiro VH-USR, 1934, owned by Andrew Thyne Reid
Search for related objects here
Join Volunteer Judy, for a review of two decorative tiles in the Museum's Collection from a larger set that illustrates the Scottish poem, 'The Seasons', by James Thompson which was published in four books (one for each season) between 1826 and 1830.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Images of Objects Discussed
Object No. 2003/135/1-3 Tile 'Summer Celadon & Amelia'
Object No. 2003/135/1-4 Tile 'Summer Musidor and Damon'
Thumbnail Image
Object No. 2003/135/1 'The Seasons' earthenware tiles by John Moyr Smith
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Join Host and Staffy - Frankie as they discuss the COVID-19 communications - the Bush Billboard 'Mamanya mukulya kura tjuta kulira wantima (Look after one another, love one another)' by Anne Thompson, Vivian Thompson, Marissa Thompson, Nicole Rupert and Lynette Lewis.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: Object No. 2020/124/6
Bush Billboard
Search for related objects in the Collection here
Join Volunteer Beth, as she discusses a brief history of the ambulance we so take for granted today.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: Ambulance, Ford F250
Search for related objects in the Collection here
Learn more about some traditional Chinese Toys and Games in the Collection. Researched, written and voice by Phoebe herself.
Image:'Chi Chi' fortune teller game
Object No. 88/363
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A really personal story of a beautiful and treasured doll's house that was gifted to the Museum. Narrated by staff member and voice-volunteer - Victoria.
Image:'A Perfect Little House' dolls house
Object No. 93/1/1
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Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled "Miss Vanderfield’s Doll’s House" By Margaret Simpson. Published May 18, 2011 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A really interesting talk full of dice, chance, history, and turn taking - all about a board game in the Collection - researched, written and voiced by Powerhouse, Castle Hill Volunteer - Alan.
Image:Military board game 'Called to Arms' with playing pieces
Object No. A7159
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Take a trip down memory lane, with this talk about favourite toys from the 1980's held in the Collection. Narrated by volunteer, Staff member and Voice-Volunteer - Victoria.
Image:Miss Piggy muppet doll
Object No. 98/100/3
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Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled " Toys and games from the 1980s" by Margaret Simpson. Published December 26, 2018 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A Curator's account of some of the objects that were included in a very playful exhibition "Japanese Folds" in 2015, which showcased contemporary fashion items and decorative arts from the Museum’s collection centred on the Japanese practice of folding. Narrated by voice-volunteer - Maxine.
Image:'Tanabata' textile by Reiko Sudo and Tomoko Miura for NUNO Corporation
Object No. 2005/196/1
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Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled "Japanese Folds exhibition" by By Min-Jung Kim. Published May 27, 2015 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
This talk explores the activities of the Australian Anarchists in the 1890 sthrough some of the most evocative objects in the Museum's Collection, relating to the Anarchist Handbook. Narrated by voice-volunteer - Maxine.
Image:Type set for broadsheet 'Anarchy'
Object No. 2005/152/2
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Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled "The Anarchist Handbook" by Geoff Barker. Published June 18, 2010 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Dress was essential in 19th century colonial Australia as a marker of respectability and an expression of status, wealth and even beliefs. This talk explores these themes and traces the story behind one, very beautiful and well preserved frock from this era, in the Museum's Collection. Narrated by voice-volunteer - Maxine.
Image:Cotton dress thought to be worn by Julia Johnston
Object No. 2015/21/1
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Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled "Julia Johnston – a sassy first generation colonial gal" by Rebecca Evans. Published January 27, 2016 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A poignant short talk about this home-made doll from the depression era, made for a daughter by her mother. Narrated by volunteer, Christina.
Image:
Homemade 'Swaggie' doll by Rita Williams - Gift of Barbara Windscuttle, 1985
Object No. 85/2320
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Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, by combining information from the Museum's online Object Notes and from the Blogpost titled "A very special Christmas Present – a Swaggie Doll" By Margaret Simpson - published December 24, 2010 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A short talk about the history of Rocking Horses and the Rocking Horses in the Museum's Collection. Narrated by Museum staff member and voice-volunteer, Emma.
Image:
Bow Rocking Horse
Object No. 85/206
Read more here
Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled "All I want for Christmas is a Rocking Horse" by Margaret Simpson, published 2012 on the Museum's Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Volunteer Alfred as he discusses the Bleriot XI monoplane, one of the earliest civil aircraft to have been flown in Australia.
Image: Object no: L611 Aircraft, full size, Bleriot XI monoplane, wood / canvas / metal, designed by Louis Bleriot, made by Bleriot Aeronautique, Levallois, Paris, France, 1914, flown by Maurice Guillaux with first Australian airmail from Melbourne to Sydney in 1914
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Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Volunteer Hette explores how engines like the Boulton and Watt Steam Engine, changed work, social structures and the lives of women and children, during the Industrial Revolution.
Image: Object no: B1481, Tram, full size, electric, C-class, No. 11 (later 57S), wood / metal, body made by Hudson Bros, Sydney, Colony of New South Wales, Australia / bogies made by Peckham Motor Truck & Wheel Co, Kingston, New York, United States of America, 1898
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Insect Senses and Insect Models in the Collection
In this Short Talk Dinah, a retired university lecturer, who continues to actively research in the field of Entymology, shares some fascinating insights, behind some of the Museum’s early natural history objecs in the Collection.
Image: Object no: NN2080, 'White Ant' soldier (Termite) insect model, mixed media, maker unknown, date unknown
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
"Goggomobil Dart, minicar" made by Bill Buckle, Australia, 1959.
The Goggomobil is considered to be the most representative "minicar" on sale in Australia in the second half of the 1950s.
Image: Object no: 89/1523, Automobile, full size, and parts, 'Goggomobil Dart', body No. 712, engine No. 02/129295, chassis No. 01127418, fibreglass / rubber / metal, designed by Bill Buckle, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1959
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Volunteer Judy, as she discusses a brief history of morse code.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: Early telegraph Morse code buzzer sounder, made by Western Electric
Explore objects in our collection related to morse code here
Join Volunteer Mike as he discusses his favourite object in the collection, The Kings Cinema Fotoplayer, made by the American Photo Player Company.
Image: Fotoplayer, components and accessories : made by American Photo Player Company, Berkeley, California, United States of America, c. 1918
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Scientists Who Defied Gravity - Konstantin Tziolkovski
Museum's Discovery Centre volunteer, Alan reflects on scientists represented in the Museum's Collection - who defied gravity. Especially Comonaut, Konstantin Tsiolkovski.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image
Bust of Konstantin Tziolkovski
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Join Powerhouse Volunteer, Susanne for a moving summary about the invention of the Polio Vaccine and the invention of the Both Respirator, which have helped to save many lives.
Image: 91/236 Artificial respirator
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Assistant Curator for the Iranzamin Exhibition, Vanessa Jacob, shares insights from her experience working on this exhibition.
Image Details: Persian royal tile کاشی قاجار 2021,
Explore more objects from the Iranzamin exhibition here
Join Volunteer Meg as she discusses the history of the invention of the Cochlear Implant.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image: “Cochlear implant” made by Cochlear Ltd, Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia, 2003. Read more here.
Join MAAS Volunteer Phoebe, for a short-talk about Charles Laseron - scientist, adventurer and one of the earlier Curators with the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
If you are intrigued to search for Museum objects relating to Phoebe's talk, you can visit the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences website and conduct a search on the 'Collection' tab.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image
Postcard sent by Charles Laseron during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
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The Divers Decompression Chamber of John Scott Haldane. Scientists Who Self-TestedScuba divers and "the bends". Find out the how this problem was solved by a diver who tested the technology on himself and his family.
Researched, written and voiced, by Powerhouse Museum volunteer, Christina.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Patents - Florey & Wood - Who owns Science?
Powerhouse Volunteer Judy, explores the impacts of Patents upon scientific discovery, through the contrasting stories of two medical breakthroughs that are both represented in the Collection; Penicillin and Spray on Skin.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image: Object no: 87/256, Medical kit, 'Outfit for laboratory diagnosis of smallpox', glass / metal / paper / rubber / textile, designed by Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, Parkville, Victoria, Australia / various makers, various places of production, 1958
Read more here
Join Powerhouse Volunteer Cindy for this fascinating Short Talk, which was researched and written by fellow volunteer, Cierwen.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Volunteer mike as he discusses the Warrendi Personal locator Beacon.
Personal locator beacon prototypes (4) and electronic components (5), developed for the 'Warrendi' Personal Locator Beacon', metal / wood / plastic / paper / elastic, designed and made by British Aerospace Australia / BAE Systems, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1997. Read More
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Inventors and Invention - Who Owns Science? Volunteer Hette, explores this real world question, referencing many of the key players in the history of technological developments in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image: Object no: B2253, Toy, spinning top, boxwood / metal, made as a child by Australian inventor and inventor and aviation pioneer, Lawrence Hargrave, England, c.1860
You can search the Museum collection here.
Powerhouse volunteer, Mercedes shares a short talk about the groundbreaking work of Dr Fiona Wood, the inventor of Spray on Skin.
This talk was researched and written by Judy who volunteers both behind the scenes, and with our digital program for visitor services at the Museum.
You can search for Museum objects relating to this talk, by clicking here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Volunteer Hette as he discusses the light box delivery Wagon used by the Wong family.
Image: American-style light box delivery wagon used by Wong family, NSW, 1870s-1916
Read More
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Andrew Grant as he does a photo evaluation of a photograph of the iconic Redfern Railway station.
Image: Glass plate negative, full plate, 'Redfern Railway Station', Kerry and Co, Sydney, Australia, c. 1884-1906
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Volunteer Diana as she discusses the history and context surrounding Bicycles! And reflects on some of the Bicycles we have in our collection.
Image: "Bicycle, 'The Dux" made by the Dux Cycle Company, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1899. In 1900 Donald Mackay, became the third person to cycle around the Australian continent after Arthur Richardson and Alex White.
Explore our collection of bicycles here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Volunteer Erin discusses the history and context surrounding 'Clean up Australia day'. This talk was researched and written by fellow weekend volunteer, Cierwen.
Image: 'Clean up Australia' and 'Clean up the World' promotional material. Promotional material (15), made for Clean Up Australia, Glebe, New South Wales, Australia, 1989-2000
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Friday volunteer, Robert, explores the history of Wifi and some of the patent battles surrounding this technology.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image: Object no: 2010/1/181, Punch card box, Cyber 3600/3200 system, containing one punch card, wood / paper / felt, maker unknown, used by CSIRO Division of Computing Research, Australia, c.1964
You can read more about this Object here.
Join Volunteer Mike as he discusses the iconic Time Ball, at the Sydney Observatory.
Image: Object no: H10401, Time ball, with cylinder, piston, rack and pinion lifting mechanism, safety lock, electric motor and ball, cast iron, some modifications to the original, installed at Sydney Observatory, made by Maudslay, Sons & Field, England, c 1857
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Volunteer Judy as she gives a talk on the 'Supreme' Mouse trap making machine.
Mouse trap making machine, metal / wood, AW Standfield and Co, Mascot, New South Wales, Australia, 1925-2000
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Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join volunteer Meg as she chats about whistles and how the have been used throughout the years.
Image: Whistle owned by army Captain Watson Augustus Steel I 2021
Explore more Whistles in the Powerhouse Collection here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join MDC Volunteers as they discuss their memories of sending and receiving the written word, and how this medium has changed over time
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image:
Postcard (1 of 809), photograph mechanical print, 'Waiting for a Telegram', paper, maker unknown, location unknown, 1906-1926
Read more here
Join Volunteer Kel as he discusses Christopher Dresser and his design, Earthenware vase for Linthorpe Pottery.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.Image: 97/268/1 Vase, earthenware, designed by Christopher Dresser, manufactured by Linthorpe Pottery, Yorkshire, England, c.1880
Read more here
Joseph Henry Maiden - Scientist and Museum Curator
MAAS volunteer, Dinah shares an overview of the life, work and achievements of our Museum's first ever Curator - Joseph Henry Maiden.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image
Title: Photo portrait of Joseph Henry Maiden (1859-1925). Created: circa 1900. Detail. Photographer: Unknown.
Read more here
Scientists in our Collection.
Join MAAS volunteer Susanne, for a summary of the extraordinary discoveries of Galileo Galileii.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
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Reproduction of Galileo's telescope
Read more here
Powerhouse volunteer, Judy has researched and written a fantastic short talk for us, on the life, times and amazing work of this Australian scientist, who won the Nobel prize for his part in the discovery of Penicillin.
Judy shares the job of voicing this talk with Jon, a fellow Powerhouse volunteer.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image
Penicillin mould from Howard Florey's lab
Read more here
Often, volunteers are able to contribute their knowledge from their own working life, in relation to Museum objects, exhibitions and themes. In this Short Talk, Tony, a medical professional, Space expert and advisor to the British military on Space, takes us on a tour of the Museum's space exhibits, exploring how human senses react in the unique environment of Space.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: Object no: 2010/56/1, Model (full size replica), Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU), metal, made by the Martin Marietta Astronautics Group, United States of America, [1986]
Often, volunteers are able to contribute their knowledge from their own working life, in relation to Museum objects, exhibitions and themes. In this Short-Talk Rob, a retired Orthotist, shares some fascinating information and insights, behind some of the Museum’s Health and Medicine objects.
Rob's talk is introduced by fellow Powerhouse Museum volunteer, Kel.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image: Object no: H5319-1, Prosthesis, human hand, polyvinyl chloride, Gordon Hunnings, Nottingham General Hospital, Nottingham, England, 1954
Read more here
Join Volunteer Beth for this fascinating Short Talk
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Object no: H9505
Image: Treadle sewing machine, Singer, drophead, post 1891 (OF).
This ShortTalk Appears on the Museum Volunteers Podcast under the title:
04. Short - Singer Treadle Sewing Machine
Join Volunteer Kel for a short talk on three objects in the collection, from the interface exhibition that highlight design innovation in Australia.
Image: 97/152/1, Kettle with lid and cord, electric, brass / cane / metal / ceramic / Bakelite / textile / wood, designed by Peter Behrens, made by AEG, Berlin, Germany, 1909
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A short talk about this wooden wagon - on display at the Powerhouse, Ultimo.
Written and narrated by volunteer, Phoebe.
Image:
American-style light box delivery wagon used by Wong family, NSW, 1870s-1916
Object No: 99/69/1
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A short talk about an abacus in the What's in Store Exhibition - on display at the Powerhouse, Ultimo. Written and narrated by volunteer, Phoebe.
Image:
Chinese Suanpan Abacus
Object No: 2010/1/147
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
This short talk, will be of particular interest to enthusiasts who are interested in the history of cars. It traces the evolution of the wheels, and the changing shapes of the tyres, on some of the vehicles in the Collection at the Museum. Researched and written by volunteer, Richard.
Narrated by voice-volunteer, Jaidae.
Image:
Object No. 88/289-178.
Photograph of workman posed with Noakes patent composite wheel.
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A short talk about the history of, and innovative story behind the modern face-mask.
Narrated by Museum staff member and voice-volunteer, Jaidae.
Image:
Anti-gas respirator set
Object No: H9799
Read more here
Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled The Modern Mask which was published on October 21, 2020 – on the Museum’s Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
The story behind a collection of objects held by the Museum, which documents the adventures of an inspiring couple - over a lifetime of travels with their motorcycle.
Narrated by voice-volunteer, Maxine.
Image: Object No: 2017/4/2-3.
Stagg motorcycle trousers used by George Schwarz
Read more here
Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the blogpost titled Love affair with a 1965 BMW motorcycle – which was written by Curator, Margaret Simpson, in September 2017 for the Museum’s Inside the Collection Blog. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A great short talk - which gives us a strong sense of Charles Laseron's day to day experiences during the Antarctic expedition in the early 1900's - through an item of clothing which belonged to him, and which helped him survive in such inhospitable conditions.
Researched and written by long standing volunteer, Meg. And in a lovely collaboration between volunteers and staff - this audio has been voiced by another fabulous Meg - who is a staff member and sometimes - a voice-volunteer.
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Object No. 98/55/1-3
Hood used by Charles Laseron during Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
A short talk on the technology, patent disuptes, business intrigue and social impact - behind the invention of the sewing machine. Researched and written by Museum volunteer, Barry.
Narrated by Museum staff member and voice-volunteer, Georgia.
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Object No. H9363
Singer sewing machine 1860-61
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join volunteer Kel, for some insights into this fascinating craft. Origami has become increasingly important in modern design - from architecture to space travel, from ceramics to textiles in recent decades. A truly fascinating talk.
Image: Object No: 2005/196/1
'Tanabata' textile by Reiko Sudo and Tomoko Miura for NUNO Corporation
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
This talk, based on a monolith by Thomas Tooth, brings to life the history of a highly significant time-piece in the Museum's Collection; and the intriguing tale, of how the provenance of this piece was established.
Narrated by Museum staff member and voice-volunteer, Lin.
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Object No: H3940
Matthew Flinders marine chronomete
Read more here
Credit: This talk has been adapted for audio, from the transcript 'The Earnshaw Chronometer' by Thomas Tooth, a monograph originally published by the Powerhouse Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, 1981 and available on the Museum’s website, linked to the Collection Object titled: Matthew Flinders marine chronometer; Object Number: H3940. Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
In this short talk, volunteer Judy shares the story reflected in some of the equipment preserved in the Collection, from Mawson's Antarctic expedition 1911-1914. The equipment was essential for surviving and working in the harsh conditions of Antarctica and brings new insights, to the stories of adventure, hardship, and tragedy in an era of heroic Antarctic exploration.
Image: Object No: H8143
Antarctic sledge used by Sir Douglas Mawson on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Motorbikes, romance and a wedding, adventures across continents, bandits and guns! This story has it all. Join Judy for the tale of one the Museum's collection motorcycles, and its extraordinary provenance.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: Object No: 2017/4/2-3.
Stagg motorcycle trousers used by George Schwarz
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Enjoy this short talk about the iconic Lyrebird chair by Lucien Henry. Researched and written by Volunteer Gail on Mondays/Thursdays. Narrated by Visitor Services Officer Saul.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
image: object no 2000/117/1, Chair, reproduction, based on Lucien Henry, 'Lyrebird' or 'staghorn fern' design, jelutong & kauri timber / gesso finish / needlework, made by International Conservation Services Pty Ltd, Australia, 2000
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join Monday Volunteers Mike, Joseph, Gail and John as they discuss building toys and entertainment materials (like the billy cart). From Hong Kong in the 60s to the depression era in Sydney, how did people spend their time?
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: object no: 99/4/83,, Billycart, wood/ metal/ rubber, maker unknown, Australia, 1950-1970
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Enjoy this talk about the history of the design of the Lawn mower. Written and researched by Volunteer Paul at the MDC. Narrated by Visitor Services Officer Saul.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: object no: 97/5/1, Victa 'peach-tin prototype' lawn mower, power rotary, with a two-stroke Villiers petrol engine, metal, designed by Mervyn Victor Richardson, made by Mervyn Victor Richardson, 81 Bray Street, Concord, New South Wales, Australia, New South Wales, 1952
Thursday Volunteer, Meg researched and wrote these talks in two parts, about the design history behind some of the wonderful chairs in the Collection.
Narrated by Jaidae.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
There are many chairs in the collection - and you can search for them here.
Image: Object No. 85/13
Moulded plastic chair by Charles and Ray Eames
Thursday Volunteer, Meg researched and wrote these talks in two parts, about the design history behind some of the wonderful chairs in the Collection.
Narrated by Jaidae.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
There are many chairs in the collection - and you can search for them here.
Image: Object No. 85/386
'DCW' dining chair by Charles and Ray Eames
Join Friday volunteer Hette - as he compares and contrasts the design processes behind a computer and a vase.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
The two main objects Hette refers to in this talk are:
'Jack in the pulpit' vase by Tiffany Object No: 2001/9/1
PDP-8 Computer Object No: 2010/1/109
You can search the Museum's Collection, for other objects relating to the primacy of form or function in design by adding those search terms here.
Image: Object No: 2001/9/1
Join Friday Volunteer Hette, for his fascinating talk about the Design history, and controversies of the day - behind the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
There are many objects in the Collection relating to the Harbour Bridge - and you can search for them here.
Image: Object No. 85/1286-2010.
Glass half plate negative of heavy cruiser HMAS 'Canberra'
Join Tuesday Volunteers for a conversation on the subject of Design and Innovation, and the Museum's Collection.
Hosted by Kel, with wise words, observations and insights from Tony, Rob, Heather and Jenny - we think you'll really enjoy this off the cuff, wide ranging and often heartfelt conversation.
Among others, here's a quick list of just some of the objects and topics that came up:
- Architectural Arches
- Stuart Piano
- Innovations in Guiding and communicating with the public
- Boulton and Watt rotative steam engine, 1785
- The Autogiro (which we mistakenly all refer to as the "Gyrocopter"!)
- Sydney's Central Station indicator board
- 'Lockheed Lounge' by Marc Newson, Sydney
- The pharmaceutial industry and psychedelics
- Space Travel
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: Object No. 95/223/24.
Printing press by Benjamin Porter England
Join us on this illuminating talk on Lace Artist and Designer; Lenka Suchanek, developed and researched by some of our fabulous textiles volunteers. Researched and written by Textiles Volunteer Maureen. Narrated by staff member Georgia Mason-Cox
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: 2002/51/1, Lace neckpiece and bracelet, 'Raindrops', bobbin made, oxidised silver wire and quartz crystal beads, Lenka Suchanek.
Join this volunteer developed and researched talk, as we discuss the not often talked about instrument, the Theramin. (You may have seen it in the Powerhouse Museum)
Written and researched by volunteer, Cierwen and narrated by staff member and voice-volunteer, Victoria.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: Object no: 2001/67/1-1, Main body of Theremin, part of set, 'Signature series', timber / metal, designed by Robert (Bob) Moog, manufactured Big Briar Inc, United States of America, 2001
Join Volunteer Joseph for this illuminating talk on the development of childrens recreational activity on wheels, and some of their origins.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: Object no: 99/4/83, Billycart, wood/ metal/ rubber, maker unknown, Australia, 1950-1970
Join Volunteer Phoebe on this talk on iconic chairs designed by Fred Lowen
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: 0bject no: 92/1946, Chair, 'SC55', wood / fabric / foam / metal, designed by Fred Lowen, made by FLER, Australia, 1957-1959.
Join Alan, Judith, Beth, Jay and Wayne on Design and function! How do we think of design? How do aesthetics come into play? This is an illuminating chat, enjoy
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: object no: 2016/22/1-1346, Flyer / postcard, 'Self-serve computers workshops & design', promoting design software workshops, paper, maker unknown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, c.1990-1998
Hear Volunteer Norma's illuminating talk, on the topic of pins! Narrated by Visitor Services Officer Saul.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: object no: P3026, Design, 'Motives for jewellery (Jewellery, Brooches, scarf-pins &c.)', from unpublished book, 'Australian Decorative Arts', paper, made by Lucien Henry, Australia / France, 1889-1891
Join Volunteer Tony as he describes with poetry and metaphor, his time playing and introducing visitors to the Iconic Stuart Piano.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: Object no: 99/88/1, Grand piano with cover, Huon pine / King William pine / casuarina / metal, Stuart & Sons, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, 1998-1999
Researched, written and developed by textiles volunteer Barbara, learn about the techniques and patterns in lace bobbin design. Narrated by staff member and voice-volunteer Victoria.
You can search for Museum objects relating to this talk here
*Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image: object no:* 2003/50/1, Antimacassar, bobbin lace panel, linen, maker unknown, Vologda, Russia, 1930-1935
Join Volunteer Tom and learn about the design, development and use of the iconic dental chair.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: Object no: 95/64/1, Dental chair, cast iron/wood/velvet, maker unknown, [Scotland], [1875]
This talk, written, researched and developed by Volunteer Jay, discusses the history, and some of the key figures in the development of the lace fence.
Researched and written by Textiles Volunteer, Jay and narrated by staff member and voice-volunteer Victoria.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: object no: 2013/105/1, Artwork, 'Lace Fence', 3 panels, PVC coated steel wire, designed by Joep Verhoeven / studio DEMAKERSVAN, Rotterdam, Netherlands, made in Bangalore, India, 2010.
Join Volunteer Diana as she discusses the history of the warming pans, including those in the Powerhouse collection.
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
You can search for objects relating to this discussion here.
Image: William Heath c1828. Lewis Walpole Library, https://georgianera.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/1500.jpg.
A fantastic chat exploring the impact of patents, and individual, corporate and government intellectual property rights - on scientific discovery and innovation. Join volunteers Hette, Judy and Matthew, hosted by Volunteer Program Officer, Dawn - for what turned out to be a surprisingly hearty conversation!
You can search for Museum objects relating to this talk here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Image
'Investigations concerning the use of penicillin in war wounds' booklet
Read more here
Join Volunteers Jean, Maureen, Norma, Barbara and Dinah as they discuss the history, and chemical processes! Behind the dyeing of textiles.
Image credit: Wedding dress, silk taffeta / beads / braid, worn by Janet McDonald, Australia, c. 1887
https://collection.maas.museum/object/67173
Join MAAS volunteer Beth, who shares a summary of the life and work of Galileo Galileii.
Image Credit
Reproduction of Galileo's telescope.
Read more here
Join Wednesday Volunteers, for a longer than usual chat - about Scientists who were not recoginised in their own time, or suffered for their discoveries.
The conversation starts with a Short-Talk presentation on Galileo, moves on to the life and work of Alan Turing before digging into the story behind the Bleriot 11. We closed out with a broader discussion about how different social contexts, influence who might recieve the credit for scientific insights and discoveries - the genius who had the idea, or the investor who bankrolled the idea into existence?
This was a really interesting discussion; we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Image Details:
Reproduction of Galileo's telescope.
Read more here
Join volunteers Mike and Joseph as they discuss all manner of things electric! Learn about how coal came to be valued, why things are changing, and what future problems we will need to address!
Image: Detroit Electric car, full size, brougham body, 80 volt, 10 hp, Class G, used by Arthur and Denis Allen, Sydney, New South Wales, 1917-1947
Read more about the Detroit Electric car here
In this short talk, Monday volunteer Mike shares a short history of the old Campbelltown to Camden branch line and its well-known steam locomotive ‘Pansy’.
Image: 88/289-7 Photograph of louvred van by Clyde Engineering
Read more here
Join Monday volunteer Mike, as he explores the history and future of Electric cars.
Image: Honda Insight motor car
Read more
Monday volunteer Mike, leads a discussion of Hydrogen as a source of green energy.
Image: H9397-1 Philatelic cover, Federation Aeronautique Internationale Conference, 1974
Read more here
Monday volunteer Joe shares his research on the history of Electricity.
Image: 85/1426 Leyden/flicker jar, glass, early-mid 19th century
Read more
Join the weekend volunteers, who share their memories of the Rubik's Cube and it's place in game-design history.
Image: 2018/91/1, 'Puzzle, 'Rubik's Cube', designed by Erno Rubik, Budapest, Hungary.
A cube shaped puzzle with six sides in its original packaging. Each side comprises nine stickers of a solid colour - white, red, blue, orange, green and yellow, respectively.
Read more here
Volunteers are at the heart of our community. Both on-site and virtually, these passionate, generous and skilled individuals contribute to a Museum that fosters connection and curiosity. These virtual talks provide access to the Museum collection and are designed to inspire conversations and evoke memories.
Join our Wednesday volunteers: Alan, Judith, Wayne and Beth as they discuss the senses, and its application to Steam!
Image Credit: https://collection.maas.museum/object/85817
In this Chat, Hette, Judy, Ray and Dawn talk together about the design, construction, purpose social and commercial functions and use of roads in different eras in Australia since the 1800's.
Picture Reference:
'The Farmer's Flock' by Kerry and Co.
During drought it is common for farmers to graze their animals along roadsides. It takes the pressure off paddocks, which can be eaten bare when sheep are left on them too long. Many farmers are now using a system that involves moving sheep between paddocks every couple of days to allow pasture to recover between grazings.
Click on the link above for more details
Listen in as Robert leads a conversation about the P76 and British Cars Design of the 1970's with his fellow Friday Volunteers.
Image Credit: Powerhouse CollectionFull scale pattern for Leyland P76 automobile body
Designed
- Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia Ltd
- Australia
- Oceania
- c1970
This is the wooden Master Model for the Leyland P76 sedan. Panel checking fixtures are wooden patterns used in the manufacture of motor cars between the 1940s and the 1980s. Their main function was to provide patterns (precise shapes) for the manufacture of press tools which formed the sheet metal panels of a car's body. They were also used to confirm the accuracy of the early production run of each sheet metal body panel for a particular car.
Listen in to this interesting chat about how failing forms such a vital part of ultimate engineering success! The Friday team share their knowledge of current developments in Rocket design and, in particular the different business models and approaches taken by NASA and SpaceX.
Listen in to this interesting chat about how failing forms such a vital part of ultimate engineering success! The Friday team share their knowledge of current developments in Rocket design and, in particular the different business models and approaches taken by NASA and SpaceX.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
F-1 rocket engine on loan from National Air and Space Museum (NASM), USA made c 1961
F-1 rocket engine (NASM 5311 Cat:1976-0769)
See Original MAAS entry here
Listen in as Robert leads a conversation about the P76 and British Cars Design of the 1970's with his fellow Friday Volunteers.
Image Credit: Powerhouse CollectionFull scale pattern for Leyland P76 automobile body
Designed
- Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia Ltd
- Australia
- Oceania
- c1970
This is the wooden Master Model for the Leyland P76 sedan. Panel checking fixtures are wooden patterns used in the manufacture of motor cars between the 1940s and the 1980s. Their main function was to provide patterns (precise shapes) for the manufacture of press tools which formed the sheet metal panels of a car's body. They were also used to confirm the accuracy of the early production run of each sheet metal body panel for a particular car.
Read More Here
Join the Wednesday group as they discuss the history of the early railway in Australia and in Britain. Beth covers the technical story of railways guages in Australia, and Judith shares information about how social class was refelcted in the infrastructure of passenger accomodation in England.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
Second class railway carriage used on first railway in NSW
Made Joseph Wright & Sons
- Birmingham
- West Midlands
- England
- United Kingdom
- Europe
- 1854
This second class carriage is No. 6 of the original 12 second class carriages ordered by the Sydney Railway Company for the first railway to be built in New South Wales from Sydney to Parramatta in 1855. It was built in 1854 by Joseph Wright and Sons, one of the foremost carriage builders of its day. It arrived in Sydney by ship in timefor the official opening on 26 September 1855. Its survival in the railways for over 100 years is remarkable.
Read More Here
Researching "Tickets" at the Search the Collection page on the Museum's website, MAAS volunteer Maree, stumbled on this unusual and intriguing object within the Collection. Listen in as she discusses what she discovered with her fellow Thursday Volunteers.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
Dress decorated with tram tickets
Designed Bradshaw, Effie 1906
This dress consisting of skirt and bodice of pink polished cotton is covered with cream, yellow, green and tan coloured Sydney and New South Wales Government Tramway tickets. It was made by in about 1906 by Effie Bradshaw, as a dress up costume for balls.
Read More Here
A great summary of this technical dischord, in the early days of Australia's rail history - expertly told by Wednesday Volunteer, Beth.
This is an excerpt from the longer Chats - Rails, Trains and Reflections on Class and Travel - Wednesday Group
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum
Photograph of train tracks on Harbour Bridge
Made 1932
This print is one of an important series of photographs commissioned by the Department of Public Works. As a group they document the construction of the Sydney City Underground Railway and the Sydney Harbour Bridge between 1922 and 1932.
Read More Here
Volunteer Phoebe, explores the evolution of ticketing systems in Sydney - with her fellowThursday volunteers.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
NSW railway ticket vending machine, rolls and operator's manual, 1992
This railway ticket vending machine was part of the automatic ticketing facilities used on New South Wales' CityRail system between 1993 and 2016. Until machines like this were installed, railway tickets had only been issued manually from ticket windows. The machine was installed at Stanmore railway station, in Sydney's inner west, in late 1993 and comprised a passenger-activated machine which issued a printed paper ticket with a magnetic-stripe. This required the ticket to be passed through a reader at the station ticket gates. The machine could issue tickets to all 297 stations within the CityRail area comprising Sydney metropolitan, outer metropolitan, and intercity areas totalling 1020 km of track within a general radius of 150 km from Sydney's Central Business District. It provided tickets at all concession levels, a variety of ticket types, could accept payment in notes and coins and was on-line to the station controller and the system's central computer.
Read More Here
Thanks Everyone!
Gambling on the commute to work, hiding the kids from the ticket collector on the Harbour Bridge, paying for strangers to ride on the bus! Join the Thursday volunteers for this short, but surprising and fun trip down memory lane, exploring Public Transport Tickets and systems, and the memories these Collection objects evoke.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
NSW railway ticket vending machine, rolls and operator's manual, 1992
This railway ticket vending machine was part of the automatic ticketing facilities used on New South Wales' CityRail system between 1993 and 2016. Until machines like this were installed, railway tickets had only been issued manually from ticket windows. The machine was installed at Stanmore railway station, in Sydney's inner west, in late 1993 and comprised a passenger-activated machine which issued a printed paper ticket with a magnetic-stripe. This required the ticket to be passed through a reader at the station ticket gates. The machine could issue tickets to all 297 stations within the CityRail area comprising Sydney metropolitan, outer metropolitan, and intercity areas totalling 1020 km of track within a general radius of 150 km from Sydney's Central Business District. It provided tickets at all concession levels, a variety of ticket types, could accept payment in notes and coins and was on-line to the station controller and the system's central computer.
Read More Here
Thanks Everyone!
In an unusually wide ranging and long Textiles podcast (nearly 20 minutes!) MAAS textiles volunteers welcomed weekend volunteer and sailor Jon, into their podcast recording - to discuss the connections betweeen lace making, weaving and textiles - and - ships, knotting, netting and splicing at sea.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
Milk jug cover from the early 20th centuryMade Australia Oceania 1920-1940
Examples of embroidered and crocheted pieces could be found in most Australian homes in the late 1800s to mid 1900s. Beaded covers such as this one were used to protect milk, sugar and other foods from flies and insects, which proved particularly troublesome in Australia particularly in the days before household refrigerators. The beads served not only as a decorative item, but for weighting the cover so that it would not fall off the jug. The fly problem diiminished when cars replaced horsedrawn vehicles and when dung beetles were introduced towards the end of the twentieth century.
Read More Here
Friday MAAS Volunteer Hette, shares some insights on Rocket development and the important step - of failure in learning and improvement.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
Toy 'Rocket Racer 5'
Toy space rocket, 'Rocket Racer 5', tin plate, friction motor, made by Modern Toys, Japan, c.1955
Toy Rocket racer, red, white, grey. Friction motor.
Read More Here
Friday MAAS Volunteer, Cierwen, explores the story of Rail, Freight and Water for Trains in Australia during the time that the railways were being established
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum
Toy railway truck by Meccano Ltd
Made 1949
This Hornby No.1 toy railway crane truck, made in 1949, is one of the items of rolling stock built by Meccano Ltd for their 0-gauge range of Hornby toy trains. The Hornby toy trains and accessories are a microcosm of railway social and technological history in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century.
Read More Here
Dinah, Lace Volunteer, gives an overview of the lace recovered from the Batavia Wreck, that was recontructed by Rosemary Shepherd.
This is an excerpt from the longer podcast "Chats - Lace, Sail knots, Splicing, and Ancient Egypt -Transport-Textiles "
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
Lacemaking bobbin from Holland
Made The Netherlands 1950-1990
Lacemaking bobbin, wood, maker unknown, Holland, 1950-1990.
Lace-making bobbin of light coloured wood with no short neck, tear-shaped shank, flat at tail end.
Read more here
Join the Museum's Discovery Centre for their wide ranging conversation within the theme of Transport - titled "The Wheel - and the Cycle of Life". Together, we chat about the history of the wheel from its invention and through history and its influence on human society and life. Towards the end of the podcast, we'll hear from one volunteer about the significance of the bicycle for women's liberation - but also for a genetic revolution for all mankind - and in particular - for her own Grandparents!
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
Potters wheel
Potter's wheel consisting of:- steel spindle ... iron wheel ... steel and bronze bearing ... iron single groove pulley and spindle (x2) ... iron bracket ... iron crank handle ... (SB).
Read More Here
Monday volunteer, Joe presents a short talk on this ground breaking medical invention.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
UI Octoson medical ultrasound machine and accessories
The UI Octoson ultrasound system is an example of an internationally significant Australian medical innovation. It was the culmination of research undertaken during the 1960s by a team at the Commonwealth Acoustic Laboratories in Sydney (later called the Ultrasonics Institute). At the time it was realised that using X-rays to examine unborn babies might cause them harm, and that ultrasonic imaging would be safer. However, ultrasound pictures were not clear enough to detect abnormalities in foetuses. The Ultrasonics Institute team made a technical breakthrough called 'grey scale imaging' and produced images showing such good detail that experts were astounded.
Read more here.
Join Powerhouse volunteer Tom for a quick look and remeniss - around this iconic Australian Innovation.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Lawnmower with grass catcher, rotary two stroke petrol 'Victa vortex', plastic/rubber/metal, designed by Design Field, 1983-1984, made by Victa, Sydney, 1984
Read more here.
The Tuesday volunteers pool their (immense) knowledge - for a really interesting conversation about Camels, and some pieces in the MAAS Collection which reflect these magnificent beasts - and their place in Australian history especially in relation to the theme of Transport.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
Royal Doulton teapot
A mould-made, plain white, porcelain teapot, in the shape of a camel and driver. The camel is sitting on an oval-shaped base, carrying two saddlebags and wearing a harness decorated with tassels. The body of the camel and the saddlebags form the main chamber of the teapot and the neck and head form the spout.
Read More Here
A really informal chat, about the 1960's and 1970's trend in Australian for bright young people, like Germaine Greer, Clive James and Robert Frost to name those who became the most famous - to move to Europen to find fame and fortune.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection
We chose badge as it reflects the era - and because Germaine Greer, and the Women's Movement came up as part of the discussion.
Women's Movement badge.
This badge is reminder of the significance of the women's movement in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 196x Germaine Greer published 'The female eunch' at a time when women earnt two thirds of a man's salary for doing the same job and were expected to give up work once they married.
Read More here
Join the Monday volunteers as they chat about motorcycles and sidecar experiences!
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Bradbury motorcycle and sidecar, 1914
Early motorcycles were cheaper to buy and run than even the smallest cars. Coupled with a sidecar, they were a popular form of family transport until the 1920s, even though they were unreliable. they were often fitted with pedals so the rider could get home if trouble struck.
Read more here.
Prosthetics and Human Happiness
Join our Tuesday volunteers as they discuss a range of Collection objects, in particular prosthetic limbs - and all sorts of ideas and insights that spring from these discussions.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Prosthetic arm with attachments
Artificial limbs were first made in the 1700s but, over the next century and a half, escalating injuries in factories and on battlefields meant that a small limb-manufacturing industry grew up. Until the early 20th century artificial limbs were generally made of wood but the huge number of limbless veterans of the First World War created a need that saw an expansion of the industry and great competition to improve designs. It was during this time that stronger, lighter metal limbs came to dominate the market.
Read more here.
Otto-Langen and the Clockwork Train
Join Museum’s Discovery Centre volunteers, as they talk about Innovation throughout the collection.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Toy steam locomotive, 'Royal Lancer 4476', floor train, tin plate, metal, clockwork operated, made by [Mettoy], England, c. 1935
Read more here.
Join the Monday volunteers as they discuss this famous Australian Innovation.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Flight recorder designed by Dr David Warren
This 'black box' flight recorder was designed to continuously record data from aircraft instruments, and to survive a crash. The flight recorder is an Australian innovation that has had significant impact on safety in the international aviation industry by providing valuable assistance to air crash investigators. It was invented by chemist and electronics enthusiast Dr David Warren when he was employed by the Australian Aeronautical Research Laboratories. Although no Australian manufacturer made flight recorders, David Warren was heavily involved in advising on their production overseas.
Read more here.
Join Powerhouse volunteer Meg and the Thursday volunteers, for a closer look at this clever innovation
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Australian Coolgardie safe, 1900-1910
The Coolgardie safe was a piece of domestic equipment widely used in Australia before refrigeration to preserve perishable food in summer. It was an Australian invention used especially in country areas from the 1890s until the mid 20th century.
Read more here.
Join the Thursday volunteers on a conversational romp through the iconic Aussie Backyard innovations of the late 20th Century – the Hills Hoist, the Victa Mower, the Stay Sharp knife – and a little earlier on – the Granny Smith Apple!
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Toy Hills hoist "Mini-Hoist"
In 1946 Lance Hill wanted to save his wife from the daily battle with the old wire clothes line and heavy wooden clothes props. In his Adelaide backyard he made a rotary hoist. By simply turning a handle a full line of washing could be raised.
Read more here.
Life Saving Reel
Join the Tuesday volunteers at the Powerhouse as they discuss the Surf Life Saving movement as an Australian Innovation.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection
The Australian Surf Life Saving Handbook
Australian surf lifesaving clubs were the first in the world and were voluntary. The earliest credited club was Bronte Beach Surf Club in 1903. Surf lifesaving unlike any other sport has had a humanitarian focus; 'No lives lost while on patrol' was their motto.
Read more here.
Join the Museum’s Discovery Centre volunteers as they discuss this famous Australian Innovation.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Flight recorder designed by Dr David Warren
This 'black box' flight recorder was designed to continuously record data from aircraft instruments, and to survive a crash. The flight recorder is an Australian innovation that has had significant impact on safety in the international aviation industry by providing valuable assistance to air crash investigators. It was invented by chemist and electronics enthusiast Dr David Warren when he was employed by the Australian Aeronautical Research Laboratories. Although no Australian manufacturer made flight recorders, David Warren was heavily involved in advising on their production overseas.
Read more here.
Radio Astronomy
Join our volunteer Dinah for insights into Radio Astronomy and the CSIRO.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Feed horn, brass, used on Parkes Radio Telescope, CSIRO Radiophysics, Australia, 1965.
The feed horn is designed to collect radio waves at the focus of the Parkes Radio Telescope and to funnel them to a receiver. This is the first corrugated feed horn made.
Read more here.
Cierwen, Weekend PHM volunteer, takes a conversational stroll through the extraordinary acheivements of the CSIRO.
The high esteem in which the CSIRO is held by the public seems to be very strong throughout Australia.
We had 131 hits in our simple search for 'CSIRO' at: Search the Collection on the MAAS website. What CSIRO innovation has impacted your life?
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum.
One Kilogram silicon sphere made at the CSIRO for the Avogadro Project in 1994. This sphere was produced as part of an international project known as the Avogadro project. The goal of the Avogadro Project is to measure the value of the Avogadro constant to extreme precision, thereby allowing the mass of the kilogram to be defined in terms of the Avogadro constant. This would do away with the current physical artefact (a cylinder made of an alloy of platinum and iridium) and allow the kilogram to be reproduced in any laboratory by following a prescribed procedure.
Read More Here
Join Museum’s Discovery Centre volunteer, Alan, for a closer look at this amazing vehicle in the Collection.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Cobb & Co mail and passenger coach made by Cobb & Co., Charleville, Qld, 1890
This Cobb & Co thoroughbrace coach was built in 1890, the second eight-passenger coach produced by the company's Charleville workshops in Queensland. It was the combination of strength, stability and the forgiving suspension of the Charleville-built coaches that led them to be described at the time as "the most scientifically built long distance horse vehicles known".
Read more here.
The Textiles volunteers bring us some insights into this beautiful collection piece.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection.
Wagga rug made from a tailor's fabric samples,
The craft of tailoring gradually developed in Europe from the twelfth century. In Australia, tailors were once a common sight in country towns and suburban main streets. Before the 1800s a suit 'made to order' was reserved for the wealthy. By the late 1800s increasing numbers of Australian working men had at least one good suit as a sign of respectability. Suits could be purchased ready-made, made to measure from a local tailor or the fabric and style could be chosen at a men's wear store and then sent to a manufacturing tailor in the city. Today independent tailors are a rarity, as evidence, the Master Tailors Association had to close down in 1965 due to insufficient members. It could be argued that clients of the few tailors left today are like those before the 1800s, wealthy and often famous. The decrease in the number of tailors was due to the availability of ready-made clothing as well as the cheap imports that have flooded the Australian market since the 1970s.
Read more here.
The high esteem in which the CSIRO is held by the public seems to be very strong throughout Australia.
Join our Weekend volunteers as they talk passionately about what this organisation means to them individually.
Although the conversation is general - there are many CSIRO innovations, designs and inventions represented in the Collection that we hope you will enjoy exploring.
We had 131 hits in our simple search for 'CSIRO' at: Search the Collection on the MAAS website. What CSIRO innovation has impacted your life?
Image Credit: Powerhouse Museum.
One Kilogram silicon sphere made at the CSIRO for the Avogadro Project in 1994. This sphere was produced as part of an international project known as the Avogadro project. The goal of the Avogadro Project is to measure the value of the Avogadro constant to extreme precision, thereby allowing the mass of the kilogram to be defined in terms of the Avogadro constant. This would do away with the current physical artefact (a cylinder made of an alloy of platinum and iridium) and allow the kilogram to be reproduced in any laboratory by following a prescribed procedure.
Read More Here
Discover the background and history to Sydney's Monorail with Friday and Behind the Scenes Volunteer, Judy.
Excerpt from the MAAS notes on the object from the Collection pictured here:
"The Monorail opened on 21 July 1988 but the projected 12 million passengers per year did not eventuate and dwindled to four million. It was touted as a 21st century transport system for Sydney but was fundamentally flawed in its promise to be regularly used by commuters, who only made up to nine percent of its passengers. The Monorail ended up being an entertainment ride for tourists as an easy and convenient way to see the city and Darling Harbour. Nevertheless, the Monorail became a tourist landmark for Sydney, though its construction and operation polarised Sydneysiders who either loved or loathed it."
Read more here
What do a high ranking Anglican Clergyman, gambling and the CSIRO have in common? Discover the background and hiostory to this ingenious Australian invention with Judy, one of MAAS's Friday and Behind the Scenes volunteers.
Image Credit: Powerhouse Collection: Shaft adder, Julius Automatic Totalisator, metal/rubber, Automatic Totalisator Limited, Australia, c1926.
Read more here
Join Lace centre volunteers as they share insights and anecdotes about their experiences teaching Museum visitors, how to make lace.
Image
Lace neckpiece and bracelet, 'Raindrops', bobbin made, oxidised silver wire and quartz crystal beads, Lenka Suchanek (b. 1961), Canada, 2001
Made
The neckpiece and bracelet are two of four pieces of Lenka Suchanek's "Raindrops Collection" which was selected for the exhibition of finalists in the Powerhouse Museum's second International Lace for Fashion Award, July 6 to October 14, 2001. Suchanek works only in metal thread, making large, two-dimensional pictorial installation pieces as well as delicate wearable works.
Join volunteer Dinah as she speaks about innovations in medication to treat asthma.
Image:
‘Sports-haler’ asthma puffers
The Sports-haler is a new approach to design of asthma puffers. The retractable mouthpiece allows the body of the inhaler to be completely sealed, reducing contamination and the need to 'clear' the mouthpiece before use. This also makes it more comfortable to carry in your pocket, especially during active pursuits.
Join volunteer Victor as he speaks about the Both Machine, on of the most iconic medical innovations of the 20th century.
Image Details: Artificial respirator: This is an example of the world's first portable artificial respirator. It is a medical device and an Australian innovation that helps people breathe when their respiratory muscles have been paralysed.
In this episode, our Thursday volunteers discuss the pros and cons of an increasingly connected world. Letters, face-to-face catch ups and landline telephone calls are all recalled fondly, as are increased opportunities to connect using the internet.
Image Details:
NSW letter receiver (lamp box or letter box), pre-Federation.
In this episode, some of our Monday volunteers discuss their collective and individual memories of the changes in domestic labour over their and their parents' lifetimes.
Image Details: ‘The York Machine’, laundry mangle, for wringing out clothes, patent No.120847, 24 inch, cast iron, made in England, sold by Anthony Hordern & Sons, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, used at 18 Watkin Street, Newtown, New South Wales, Australia, c.1900
In this episode, some of our weekend volunteers discuss their collective and individual memories of the radio and the influence it had on their lives, particularly as they grew up. The conversation covered a lot of ground, from the large central family radio that preceeded the television, through crystal radios and battery operated transistors - all the way up to today's delivery systems for audio visual content. Thanks to the volunteers who contributed - we loved hearing your thoughts and memories about the radio - this is was a really great chat!
Image Details: Braun SK55 Radiogram designed by Hans Gugelot in collaboration with Hochschule für Gestaltung (Ulm) School of Design
Photograph Flagstaff Hill, Sydney
Image Details and link to the Powerhouse Museum Website and Object
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about this Museum object here
Search the Collection for Museum Objects related to this theme here
Image Details: Large fan of black Brussels lace & ostrich feathers with carved ebony guards & sticks (excellent condition).(SB).Link to this object on the Powerhouse Museum website.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Search the Collection for Museum Objects related to this theme here
Image Details: A selection of Lacemaking bobbins
Such a great story, narrated by Powerhouse volunteer, Beth.
Image: Souvenir postcard from the first official airmail service between Sydney and Melbourne
Printing pressImage Details and link to the Powerhouse Museum webstie and Object
A great "Short" researched and narrated by Museums Discovery Centre volunteer - Paul
Image Details:Children’s school exercise, copy and drawing books (42), paper, used by the Wong family, Bolong via Crookwell, New South Wales, Australia, c. 1878-1905Made 1878-1905
These school exercise, copy and drawing books are part of a collection of personal effects and shop stock relating to the Wong family who operated a general store on a sheep farm at Bolong, north of Crookwell, NSW, between 1880 and 1916. The Wong children were educated at one of the many local bush schools near their shop.
Join MAAS volunteers as they chat together, pooling their knowledge, memories and experiences about specific Objects and Collection related themes.
In this episode, volunteers discuss different innovations, inventions and advances in technology that have helped us communicate and connect.
Images Details: Satellite, replica, Cosmos-97 (molecular), metal, wood, plastic, Exhibition Centre, USSR/Russian Academy of Sciences, [1957-1984]
Made USSR pre 1985
Satellite, replica, Cosmos-97 (molecular), metal, wood, plastic, Exhibition Centre, USSR/Russian Academy of Sciences, pre-1985. Full-scale replica of Cosmos-97, the first Soviet satellite to carry a maser for communications research. For this reason it is sometimes referred to as a 'molecular' satellite. The spacecraft consists of a cylindrical, polished metal main body, with rounded caps at either end.
Link to MAAS Website and Object Description
Cirewen Jones, Volunteer at MASS, gives a whistle-stop tour on the subject of the radio.
Image Details:
Portable transistor radio by Philips
Made 1958-1965
This portable transistor radio was made in the late 1950s or early 1960s by the Dutch company, Philips. It features a dial which carries the call signs for radio stations in six Australian states. The radio would have been manufactured by Philips in The Netherlands especially for export to the Australian market.
In this week's Volunteer podcast, Wednesday volunteers share their memories of bicycles, this includes some great insights about the Tandem.
Image: Beam engine made by Maudslay Sons & Field, London, 1837, used at Goulburn, NSW, c.1838-1921
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum object here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum objects here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum object here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum exhibition here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Wednesday Volunteers
Read more about the Museum objects here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum object here
"Quick Chats/Shorts" are shortened, edited versions of the original "Chats" we recorded with MAAS Volunteers - that were all abridged and edited on one day, by Students from Sydney University, volunteering with the Museum as part of "Good Deeds Day".
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
"Quick Chats" are shortened, edited versions of the original "Chats" - that were all edited on one day by Students from Sydney University, volunteering with the Museum as part of their "Good Deeds Day".
Read more about the Museum object here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum object here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum object here.
Description
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read more about the Museum object here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. 97/2/1
Full-scale replica of Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite. Spherical polished metal ball body with 4 whip-type radio antennae extending backward from main body in a slightly splayed pattern.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Monday volunteers talk about their childhood toys
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Tuesday volunteers talk about their memories of childhood toys
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Wednesday volunteers talk about their memories childhood.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Muslin cravat trimmed with fine macrame lace
Object No.86/1746-24
Textiles volunteers take a long and detailed look at this beautiful piece in the collection; and look back on Macrame through the ages.
Image Link: Muslin cravat trimmed with fine macrame lace
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
From Go-Carts to riding trays, plastic bags and ice blocks down grassy hills during Sydney summers - the Weekend volunteers remember childhood games of transport and movement, sparked by Museum Collection Objects in Transport.
Image Link: Billycart
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Weekend volunteers chat about the fun they have talking with family groups and visitors from all over the world - about the Steam Collection.
Image Link: Reproduction carousel horse
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode, Wednesday volunteers ask "What is Pop Culture?" and reflect on some of the objects, trends and fads they remember from days gone by.
Image Link: The "Groove" Magazine
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
A great chat about steam technology through the ages with some very well informed and passionate volunteers from the Friday and Behind the Scenes groups.
Image link: Hawthorn Leslie steam engine from Sydney ferry ‘Pheasant’
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. B1057-1
This car reminds us of an era when electric cars were common on our roads and the petrol car was yet to reign supreme. In the early decades of the twentieth century the Detroit Electric was the most successful of the many electric cars on the market. It led the field in terms of longevity, and its design, based like other early cars on a horse drawn carriage, stayed constant long after it became unfashionable.
Learn More Here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Join the Tuesday volunteers, for an interesting and insightful discussion about how steam technology impacted Society at different times as it was developed.
Image Link: Steam turbine-generator set
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Object no. 97/2/1
Read below for significance statement:
Full-scale replica of Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite. Spherical polished metal ball body with 4 whip-type radio antennae extending backward from main body in a slightly splayed pattern.
Read More here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode, Thursday volunteers chat about their pop culture memories, sparked by objects of this type in the Museum's Collection.
Image Link Mini dress by Courreges
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. 85/812
One of the more unusual children's transport toys developed in Australia during the 1950s was Reggies Racing Rocker designed by Chris and Jack Daniels and made in Sydney at their factory, Precisions Springs Pty Ltd at West Ryde. The idea was that the child's body weight compressed the metal arch which produced a springing action which resulted in forward propulsion.
Read More Here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast episode the Wednesday volunteers discuss childhood toys: in particular dressing up dolls and the impact WWII had on play.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
This episode is a surprisingly passionate homage to Barbie, from the weekend Volunteers!
Read below for significance statement related to the image for this podcast.
Image citation: Image Link:
Object No. 2010/70/1
‘Barbie’ dolls wearing Qantas uniforms
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
‘Lockheed Lounge’ by Marc Newson, Sydney
Object No. 91/1309
Marc Newson is Australia's most successful contemporary designer. Since graduating from Sydney College of the Arts in 1984, he has worked in Japan, Italy and France and currently runs a high profile international practice in London. During his 20-year career he has designed, amongst other things, furniture, lighting, interiors, watches, home wares, a bike, a concept car and a jet. Most recently Newson has designed the Qantas business-class Skybed and first class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne as well as the new Qantas A380 Airbus interiors. He appears regularly in international design journals and his work is represented in collections throughout the world.
Read more here (link to significance statement)
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Textile volunteers discuss their crafty childhoods.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Museum Discovery Centre volunteers discuss memories of parades and cars.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. A9868
Minton's Conservatory Ornament (Peacock)
Established in 1793 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the Minton pottery and porcelain factory underwent a renaissance in 1848 when its director Herbert Minton employed a French potter Leon Arnoux (1816-1902). Promoted to Art Director in 1849, Arnoux soon introduced an impressive range of technical developments, most particularly the majolica glazes. First shown to the public in the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, these brilliantly coloured, translucent glazes were an instant success.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Tuesday volunteers talk about their memories of childhood toys.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. 85/83
‘Marilyn’ lips sofa, made in Italy
The Bocca sofa is one of the most recognised examples of designs from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Studio65 sought to rebell against tradition or as articulated in their manifesto create designs that were a "slap in the face of the public tastes". The Bocca sofa howerver succeeds on many levels it is at once ironic, sensual and symbolic. Designed by Studio65 and made by Gufram. Studio65 was established in Turin, Italy by architect Franco Audrito. It was one of a number of Italian design teams to successfully ride a new wave of design. The Bocca sofa has a mid 1930s precedent in the 'Mae West's lips' represented as a sofa in a portrait painted by Salvador Dali - a fact which the designers have acknwledged as inspiration for the present work.
Read more here (link to significance statement)
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. A10033
This high backed 'Argyle' chair in stained oak with a rush seat was designed for the Argyle Street Tea Rooms in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1897. The 'Argyle' was the first range of such chairs designed by the architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). While the chair makes some reference to the Art Nouveau style, its exaggerated height and severe, abstract lines anticipated, and were to influence, the emergence of early twentieth century modernism. The chair is now considered an icon of modern design and has been available since the 1980s in reproduction. Original examples, like this one, now fetch huge prices at auction.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Monday volunteers talk about their memories of travel by tram.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Collar, crochet lace, composed of 7 rectangular panels worked with Reticella-like motifs...Australia, c. 1910. (OF). Finely hand crocheted cotton collar made by the late Mr. George Gibbon, c. 1910.(SB). .
Object No.H7400
In this episode, the Museum's textiles volunteers talk in detail about a Crochet Collar in the Collection, made by a Bricklayer C.1910 and how much they enjoy sharing the story behind this piece with visitors.
Read more here (link to significance statement)
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, the Museum Discovery Centre Volunteers discuss their memories of transport and cars in times gone by.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Museum Discovery Centre Volunteers discuss their memories of the Moon Landing.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, the Monday volunteers talk about their memories of childhood and the toys that they played with.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. 86/726
Border, Venetian flat point lace, needlemade, Italy, c. 1690
A length of fine Venetian needlepoint lace with a design of branching floral scrolls. Made approx 1690. Sometimes known as "Venetian Flat Point".
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast the Museum Discovery Centre Volunteers discuss pocket money and childhood
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. A10447
This pair of armchairs and couch in the Egyptian Revival style were designed by the English Regency designer, Thomas Hope as part of the furnishings for the Egyptian room of his grand Robert Adam-designed residence in Duchess Street, London. The house was created as a showpiece for Hope's collection of antiquities, and featured themed rooms with suites of furniture designed by Hope to provide a suitable background for his collection of classical and neoclassical statuary and objets d'art. His Egyptian room was located on the first floor, which was intended to be opened "museum-like" to the public.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Locomotive No.1 which hauled the first passenger train in New South Wales
Read below for significance statement:
Object no. 7949
Locomotive No.1 which hauled the first passenger train in New South Wales
Locomotive, steam, No. 1, full size, 0-4-2, hauled the first passenger train in New South Wales in 1855, designed by James McConnell, made by Robert Stephenson and Company, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, 1854, used by New South Wales Government Railways 1855-1877
Read more here (link to significance statement)
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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85/1249
This panel consists of four square motifs, joined in a line. A melusine or double-tailed mermaid, symbol of worldly enticement, alternates with a centaur, originally thought to represent the savage Thessalonian horsemen. The centaur is a mythical creature of Greek origin with the head of a man on the body of a horse.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Short: Boulton and Watt rotative steam engine, 1785 (Social Impact)
Object No.18432
This is the oldest rotative steam engine in the world. It embodies the four innovations that, together with extended patent protection, Matthew Boulton's capital and entrepreneurship, and James Watt's engineering skill and prudent management, made Boulton and Watt rotative engines the first commercially successful stationary power plants that were independent of wind, water and muscle.
Read More Here (link to Significance Statement)
Image Title, Credit and Link: The Museum’s Boulton & Watt double-acting beam type steam engine, made in Birmingham, England, 1785, and used at Whitbread’s Brewery, London, England, 1785-1887. MAAS Collection: 18432. Photo: MAAS.https://maas.museum/inside-the-collection/2019/08/21/james-watts-bicentenary-the-man-and-his-machines/
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
This is the oldest rotative steam engine in the world. It embodies the four innovations that, together with extended patent protection, Matthew Boulton's capital and entrepreneurship, and James Watt's engineering skill and prudent management, made Boulton and Watt rotative engines the first commercially successful stationary power plants that were independent of wind, water and muscle.
Read More here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, volunteer Hette talks about his own memories of miniature cars and play.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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The 'Macquarie Chair' is undeniably the most important example of early colonial furniture in the MAAS collection. Fortuitously it is also a chair we know much about. One of a pair made for Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales 1810-1822, and his wife Elizabeth, it was crafted by convicts in 1820-21. The companion chair is in the collection of Macquarie University. A third, similarly-styled, gothic revival armchair is in St James Church, Sydney; it is the plaque on this chair identifying its makers as John Webster and William Temple that has enabled the attribution of the two Macquarie chairs.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled. They contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object Number: B2603
The 1928 Grand Prix Bugatti racing car was the work of the brilliant Italian designer, Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947). Bugatti is said to have been the greatest maker of racing cars until his fellow Italian Ferrari began to dominate the scene in more recent years. During the 1920s Grand Prix Bugattis took to the circuits with unparalleled success the world over. Today they are credited with winning more Grand Prix races than any other make in the history of motor racing.Read more here (link to significance statement)
The satirical portrait bust of the court jester Johann Gottfried Tuscheer (born as Johann Gottfried Graf), better known as Baron Schmiedel or Postmaster Schmiedel, was one of the last royal commissions for the Japanese Palace of Augustus the Strong, King of Poland (ruled 1694-1733) and Elector of Saxony. The Japanese Palace was a lavish structure in Dresden refurbished to house both the fabulous royal collection of East Asian porcelains and the amazing new products of the Royal Saxon Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen near Dresden in Germany. Established in 1710, following re-discovery of porcelain formula by the King's imprisoned alchemist Johann Joachim Böttger, Meissen was Europe's first factory to make true or hard-paste porcelain. By the mid 1730s, the factory had been able to make monumental animal sculptures, apostle figures and even architectural elements alongside their exquisitely painted vases and tableware.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. H5127
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, the Monday Volunteers talk about their memories of the Space Race
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
H4763
A sedan chair is a portable enclosed chair for a single passenger. It was generally carried by two "chairmen" holding poles attached to either side of the chair. Sedan chairs were fashionable in England and Europe during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries and were an important part of the social life of the times. They were very useful for negotiating crowded, unsafe, narrow, winding and often filthy streets and were particularly used by "invalids, ladies and party goers". Sedan chairs had the advantage of being able to be carried up and down stairs and could deliver the passenger from inside their own home to inside their destination without having to step outside.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast our Wednesday volunteers look back at the Moon Landing.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. 97/2/1
Full-scale replica of Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite. Spherical polished metal ball body with 4 whip-type radio antennae extending backward from main body in a slightly splayed pattern.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, our Weekend volunteers talk about the Powerhouse Museum's Mars Yard and the mission to Mars.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast our Tuesday volunteers look back at the Moon Landing.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, our Friday volunteers look back to the time of the Moon Landing.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. A5335
Judith is the heroine of the book of Judith, one of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, which relates that the Assyrian King Nebuchadnezzar sent his general Holofernes on an expedition against Palestine. Holofernes was warned of the danger of attacking the Jews but went ahead and besieged the city of Bethulia. Judith, a beautiful widow, pretended to flee from the city and foretold to Holofernes that he would win the battle. She was invited into his tent and, after he had fallen asleep drunk, cut off his head and returned to Bethulia with the head in a bag. Being without a leader the Assyrian forces were then easily defeated by the Jews.
Read more here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. B2603
The 1928 Grand Prix Bugatti racing car was the work of the brilliant Italian designer, Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947). Bugatti is said to have been the greatest maker of racing cars until his fellow Italian Ferrari began to dominate the scene in more recent years. During the 1920s Grand Prix Bugattis took to the circuits with unparalleled success the world over. Today they are credited with winning more Grand Prix races than any other make in the history of motor racing.
Read more here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, the Tuesday group talk about childhood toys and music.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this podcast, we hear from our Tuesday group who will talk about improvements in car safety throughout the 20th century.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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86/1382
Sectional Bobbin lace technique, various filling stitches. The solid areas of the design are worked in cloth or half stitch with use of stem stitch raised work. The prodominant fillings are three different kinds of latice work composed of tiny braids worked in square or diamond formation with plaited decoration.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement on one of MAAS' beautiful dress up costumes:
2009/6/1
This costume, which comprise two skirts and a waistcoat, are girls' dress up costumes that represent themes, characters and clothing from the American Wild West culture which was very popular in Australia between the 1940s and the 1970s. The waistcoat was a classic item of clothing worn by traditional American cowboys, the heyday of which lasted only about 20 years from 1866 to 1886. A Mexican-style waistcoat was worn and the inclusion of fringes was
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Tuesday Textiles volunteers talk about MAAS' award winning exhibition: Love Lace at the Powerhouse Museum (2011).
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
B1406
Before the first motorised fire engines took to the streets in the early years of the twentieth century, the most efficient fire appliance was the horse-drawn steam pumper. This comprised a vertical water tube boiler providing steam for a pumping engine to force water through the hoses onto a fire. All this machinery was mounted on a horse-drawn sprung carriage with four steel-tyred wooden wheels.
Read more here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode our Friday volunteers discuss their memories of trams in Sydney, their eventual demise and revival as well as their youthful misadventures on trams.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significance statement:
Object No. 90/816
The Bell Jetranger III helicopter, Dick Smith Australian Explorer, was flown by Australian businessman and adventurer Dick Smith on the first solo circumnavigation of the world in a rotary wing aircraft in 1982/3. The flight was also the first solo helicopter flight across the Atlantic Ocean and the first solo flight from the U.S.A. to Australia by helicopter. The flight was taken over three stages from Fort Worth, Texas to London, London to Sydney and Sydney back to Fort Worth.
Read more here
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Significant statement: Object no: 92/297
Flight recorder designed by Dr David WarrenThis is a flight recorder, sometimes referred to as a black box, designed to record the state of aircraft instruments. The flight recorder is an Australian innovation that has had significant impact on safety in the Australian and international aviation industry. David Warren invented the recording device that could be made to withstand the impact of an aircraft crash. The recorded in-flight data can be analysed to gain insight into the cause of an air crash and as a tool in the prevention of repeated aviation disasters. Flight recorders are now mandatory in every commercial plane in the world and are invaluable in determining the causes of aircraft crashes.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode Friday volunteers discuss, how technology has changed thru their generations.
Image details: IBM Selectric 715 Typewriter
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode Friday volunteers share stories about Lawrence Hargrave and early flight
Image details: Hargrave box kite ‘Type A’
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significant statement:
Object No: 88/5-1
Built in 1882, Locomotive 1243 is one of eight mainline steam passenger engines built in Sydney for the New South Wales Government Railways at the Atlas Engineering Works to the design of Messrs Beyer Peacock & Co. of Manchester, England. With a wheel arrangement of 4-4-0, the locomotive is referred to as an Australian eight wheeler, designed for Australian conditions and built in Australia to encourage local industry. In all sixty-eight "Australian eight wheeler" locomotives were manufactured. This was the first class of locomotives on the New South Wales Railways to be built in relatively large numbers.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These podcasts are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode Friday volunteers discuss, how shopping habits have changed thru their generations.
Image details:
Balance or scales with four weights
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significant statement:
Object No: L2045-3
F-1 motors are the most powerful single chamber liquid fuel rocket engine so far put into service. Five F-1 motors were used in the first stage of the Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo missions to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s.
This rocket is the only example on public display outside the United States and is on long term loan from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significant statement:
Object No: 97/2/1
Full-scale replica of Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite. Spherical polished metal ball body with 4 whip-type radio antennae extending backward from main body in a slightly splayed pattern.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Significant statement: Object No: A9868
Established in 1793 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the Minton pottery and porcelain factory underwent a renaissance in 1848 when its director Herbert Minton employed a French potter Leon Arnoux (1816-1902). Promoted to Art Director in 1849, Arnoux soon introduced an impressive range of technical developments, most particularly the majolica glazes. First shown to the public in the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, these brilliantly coloured, translucent glazes were an instant success.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significant statement:
Object No: 90/598
This Australian Bicentennial $10 note was the world's first plastic banknote with an (impossible to copy) optically variable device (OVD) held between sheets of clear plastic. The issue of this limited edition banknote served as a field trial of plastic banknotes and led to worldwide acceptance of this Australian innovation. While many overseas banknotes now include OVDs, Australian banknotes have a clear plastic window without the embedded device.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Today they talk about Space food and stories related to: Object No: 94/257/1
Read below for Significant Statement:
Meal package, space food, food / metal / plastic, manufactured by Soviet/Russian Academy of Sciences, (Moscow), Russia, 1993
Sealed plastic package containing a complete meal (lunch or dinner) for a cosmonaut. Inside the package are five individual food items including a tube of fermented cabbage soup (in paste/puree form), a tin of pork and potatoes, ten bite-size cubes of black bread sealed in a plastic wrap, a plastic sachet of peach and black grape juice powder and a small sachet of condiments. The juice sachet is folded over and comes fitted with a valved nozzle through which it would be rehydrated and drunk.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significant statement:
This is the oldest rotative steam engine in the world. It embodies the four innovations that, together with extended patent protection, Matthew Boulton's capital and entrepreneurship, and James Watt's engineering skill and prudent management, made Boulton and Watt rotative engines the first commercially successful stationary power plants that were independent of wind, water and muscle.This is the oldest rotative steam engine in the world. It embodies the four innovations that, together with extended patent protection, Matthew Boulton's capital and entrepreneurship, and James Watt's engineering skill and prudent management, made Boulton and Watt rotative engines the first commercially successful stationary power plants that were independent of wind, water and muscle.
Read more here.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Read below for significant statement:
Object No: 2018/91/1
The Rubik's Cube, a mechanical puzzle, was invented by Erno Rubik, born 1944 in Budapest, Hungary. At the time he was working as a professor of architecture at the Budapest Academy of Applied Arts and searching for a way to teach his students about 3D movement. His first cube was made of wood, rubber bands, paper clips and brightly coloured stickers. It was patented in 1975 and first sold as 'Buvos Kocka' or the 'Magic Cube' in a Budapest toy shop in 1977. It was later licenced to and distributed widely by the Ideal Toy Company, who renamed it 'Rubik's Cube' and began exporting in May 1980. It was an instant sensation, becoming the world's bestselling toy, winning Toy of the Year in 1980 and 1981 and going on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Demand was so great that millions of imitation Rubik's Cubes were made and sold. Solving the Rubik's Cube is no easy feat as there are 43 252 003 274 489 856 000 ways it can be scrambled. Guides to solving the Rubik's Cube were published and International Rubik's Championships began in 1982, with the winning 'speed cuber' solving the puzzle in 22.95 seconds.
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No: A44
The Strasburg Clock model has been associated with the Museum for over a century and has become one of its most important icons. 25-year old Sydney clockmaker Richard Bartholomew Smith began building the clock on Anniversary Day (Australia Day) in 1887 and completed it in 1889. Smith sold the clock to the NSW Government later that year or early 1890 for the sum of 700 pounds. It was initially housed in the old Technological Museum in the Domain, but was transferred to the Museum in Harris Street Ultimo in 1893.
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These short stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode Dinah, explores the “Studies for Popoluska” : bobbin lace figures designed and made by Elena Holeczyova, Czech Republic, 1997
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Object No: 90/1062
We don't now think of the Czech republic and Slovakia as having been part of this empire, but it is important to know that it was in order to understand the influences on its lacemaking. Although Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, (and to some extent Hungary), had all made fashion lace for sale through Vienna, their folk laces were of great personal importance and provided the skills for the development of contemporary lace when the fashion market for traditional lace collapsed. The Art Nouveau movement (and the numerous Arts and Crafts movements around the world) at the end of the nineteenth Century provided the intellectual climate for this development. The most important of these was the revolt of artists in Vienna and the rest of the A-H Empire against the hideous neo-Baroque excesses of the 19thC, and the subsequent formation of the Vienna design workshops.(Wiener Werkstatte) In their early days it was their express intention to educate the public as to how they might best turn their lives into total works of art – an intention that was rather unrealistic, given the mediocre quality of life enjoyed by the average person in that region.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No: 7949
No.1 Locomotive hauled the first passenger train in New South Wales on the line between Sydney and Parramatta in 1855. It is one of the most significant objects in the Museum's collection relating to the history of New South Wales and has been in the Museum's possession for well over a century. It was designed by James McConnell and built in England by Robert Stephenson & Co of Newcastle-on-Tyne and is significant in British railway history as it is a very rare surviving McConnell-designed goods express locomotive of the early 1850s. It is believed to be the only example of its type in the world.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Click here to read more about the Museum's Florence Broadhurst collection
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Significant Statement: Object No: 90/586-17
This is one of 23 architectural models representing King Street, Sydney, in the 1880s. This streetscape reveals a lost city of trades, shops and entertainment, in buildings of a human scale. King Street was a magnet at night and by day a retail mecca.
Yet Sydney was also taking on its modern form as a business and professional centre, with architecture to match. This lost city catches Sydney at a cross roads in its history. A bustling variety of people and activities began to make way for a more specialised, more inhibited city. Much of 1880s King Street is still recognisable, much is long gone.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
Object no: H10302
In the early days of silent motion pictures, it was realised that background music had a great influence on the audience. Before movies had sound, many picture theatres had special 'player pianos' to reproduce music mechanically from piano rolls. The music was meant to accentuate the mood of the film.
Some player pianos were elaborately extended, with pipe organs and sound effects installed in adjacent side-cabinets, so that the accompanist could create sounds to match the action on the screen. Several of these mechanical music makers -- called photoplayers - were produced and the Fotoplayer brand was one of the most popular. Fotoplayer was a trade name used by the American Photo Player Company.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No: 91/1309
Marc Newson is Australia's most successful contemporary designer. Since graduating from Sydney College of the Arts in 1984, he has worked in Japan, Italy and France and currently runs a high profile international practice in London. During his 20-year career he has designed, amongst other things, furniture, lighting, interiors, watches, home wares, a bike, a concept car and a jet. Most recently Newson has designed the Qantas business-class Skybed and first class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne as well as the new Qantas A380 Airbus interiors. He appears regularly in international design journals and his work is represented in collections throughout the world.
Newson first displayed his iconic 'Lockheed Lounge' in his graduation exhibition at Sydney College of the Arts in 1983. He then launched a commercial version in 1986 at a Sydney gallery where it created a sensation. Produced in a limited edition since the late 1980s, it is now an international design icon.
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In these shorts Powerhouse volunteers share a short story about their favourite object. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode Hette, shares memories from his mini car collection, which began their life in Denmark and now are a cherished item in his Granddaughters toybox
Image details:
Pre-War Dinky Toys, 2008/158/1
Collection: Powerhouse Museum
Photography by Sotha Bourn
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
In this episode, volunteers discuss their memories of the Space Race and how they felt about it at the time.
Image Details
Object 86/335-102 Philatelic cover commemorating the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission
Collection: Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object no: 91/236
This is an example of the world's first portable artificial respirator. It is a medical device and an Australian innovation that helps people breathe when their respiratory muscles have been paralysed. Artificial respirators are needed for the survival of polio patients afflicted with poliomyelitis, an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus, which paralyses the respiratory muscles of patients.
The Both artificial respirator, which rhymes with moth' was designed and produced in 1937 by Edward and Donald Both in the Adelaide factory of their company, Both Equipment Limited, during the poliomyelitis epidemic in South Australia. The Both artificial respirator was a huge improvement on an older 1920s American-produced model known as the Drinker 'iron lung', which was the only type of artificial respirator considered suitable for use by polio patients at the time. Compared to the Drinker 'iron lung', the Both artificial respirator was portable, cheaper to produce and easier to operate.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. 97/2/13
Made by Soviet/Russian Academy of Sciences, pre 1985.
A 2:1 scale 'heroic' bust of Yuri Alexeievich Gagarin, the first person in space. The bust is made of copper-coated metal and stands on an integrally-designed base, which has been designed to look like the neck-ring of Gagarin's space suit.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. 94/90/1
This is an encryption device commonly referred to as an Enigma. The Enigma was a rotor-based code machine used by various branches of the German military before, during and after World War II. It was used to encipher messages and decipher messages. Enciphering means converting messages from plain text to code by substituting letters in such a way that only a person with the solution or key to the code could read them. Deciphering or decoding messages means converting them from code to plain text with the appropriate key so they can be read.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. 86/4466
Christened the 'incorruptible cashier', the cash register was invented tin America in 1979 to prevent staff theft by mechanically recording sales. The National Cash Register Company (NCR) soon dominated the world market in the new technology. NCR enlisted the Chynoweth Brothers of Windsor, NSW, to endorse their product in 1912: 'we would not think of opening a shop without first installing a machine'.
By the late 1880s, major Australian country stores could have as many as 80 sales assistants, and city stores many hundreds. Efficient and reliable cash handling was essential. Concerns about 'mistakes and dishonesty' led to the introduction of the cash register and cash 'railway' system. The cash register kept a mechanical record of sales. The cash railway gave control of money to a centralised cashier.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. B1495
Designed by Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in United States of America, 1935.
By 1951 the final ocean to be traversed for air travel was the South Pacific between Australia and South America. In this aircraft, famous Australian pilot P.G. Taylor pioneered an air route by island hopping across the Pacific from Sydney to Valparaiso. The Catalina flying boat, with its ability to land and take off in calm water, and its great endurance over long distances, was the ideal aircraft to accomplish the final aviation link around the world.
The PBY Catalina was the most successful flying boat ever produced. Designed and built by American aircraft manufacturer Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California, they were first flown in March 1935 and were in production for over ten years. The Museum's Catalina is one of 168 ordered by the RAAF, No. A24-385, for service during World War II. It was built under licence from the Boeing Aircraft of Canada Limited, Vancouver, in 1944, as a type PB2B-2 and arrived in Australia on 3 September 1945, only weeks after the Japanese surrender. The Catalinas in RAAF service, despite their vulnerability due to lack of speed, were front-line aircraft effectively taking the fight to the Japanese through long distance mine-laying flights.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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Object No. 90/816
The Bell Jetranger III helicopter, Dick Smith Australian Explorer, was flown by Australian businessman and adventurer Dick Smith on the first solo circumnavigation of the world in a rotary wing aircraft in 1982/3. The flight was also the first solo helicopter flight across the Atlantic Ocean and the first solo flight from the U.S.A. to Australia by helicopter.
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Powerhouse Volunteers are passionate, generous and skilled, they contribute to the museum by fostering a sense of connection, curiosity and the unexpected. These stories are a place where volunteers share their share their insights to the Museums objects. We hope they provide space for knowledge sharing and curiosity to explore the Museum collection.
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This 1970s Japanese tinplate toy jet in Ansett livery represents the aircraft which brought Australia's domestic airlines into the jet age. On 16 October 1964, two Boeing 727-100s landed at Essendon Airport in Melbourne. Having won the coin toss, Ansett-ANA's VH-RME (represented by this toy), flown by Captain Arthur Lovell landed first followed by TAA's VH-TJA commanded by Captain D.A. Winch. These planes had made the long journey across the Pacific from San Francisco via Honolulu, Canton Island and Fiji. The Australian domestic carriers, Ansett and Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), were the sixth and seventh airlines to order the new Boeing 727 jets. These were modern looking tri-jet aircraft with the arrangement of engines on either side of the fuselage and an additional engine mounted in the tail.
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