Tag: Melbourne

The sprinkler

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Dorothy and Shirley Hick playing with a sprinkler in their back garden, Northcote, Melbourne, Australia, 1949, by Emily Hick, via Museums Victoria Collections (under CC license).

The photo was archived as part of Melbourne’s Biggest Family Album in 2006.

Dorothy remembers on hot days they would put the sprinkler on and play, as there were no swimming pools. They wore “horrible knitted woollen bathers, they soaked up the water and got heavy and baggy.” The ladder against the tree was to pick apricots “which were so ripe and juicy the juice would run down your chin.”

— Museums Victoria online catalogue

You can click on the image for a better view.

Ferntree Gully

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A forester’s cottage, Ferntree Gully, Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, Australia, ca. 1900, a glass lantern slide by Archibald James Campbell, via Museums Victoria Collections.

I like the two log pillars at the bottom of the steps, each topped by a potted plant.

During the 19th century, the forests of the Dandenong mountains were a major source of timber for Melbourne.

Life in gardens: backyard sprinkler

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Jumping sprinklerGerald Brocklesby of Blackburn (near Melbourne), Australia, jumps over the sprinkler in his family’s backyard, January 17, 1953, via Museum Victoria.

The photo was contributed by Mr Mark Brocklesby as part of the museum’s Melbourne’s Biggest Family Album  project in 2006.

Fair seed-time had my soul. . .
— William Wordsworth, from “The Prelude“