Australia in the Golden Era

[splatt]

Hi fellow loungers..

Found this site packed with old film clips last night while doing some research and thought you might be interested to see just how stylish Australia was in the Golden Era

Most of the clips are small sections taken from much longer documentaries or newsreels and are generally between two and three minutes long.

Travelogue of Eastern States
Shot around Australia in the period around 1929. Right near the end of this particular clip, which is shot in Melbourne, is a great shot of a crowd on a train platform...its a sea of hats.

A Nation is Built
Shot in Sydney in 1938. I think i only counted about five men who were not sporting a lid of one kind or another

Sydney on Show
Shot at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney around 1940.

City in the Sun
Shot in Sydney in 1946.

Spirit of Progress: Australia's Wonder Train
The launch of the "Spirit of Progress" in 1937 was a landmark moment in the history of Australian rail travel. This film was released in 1946.

Skyway Express
Shot in 1948, this bit of footage shows the Sydney to Darwin leg of a QANTAS DC-3 aircraft from Australia to England. The flying boats on the harbour at Darwin are huge.

Behind the Big Top
The Wirth Brothers Circus and Zoo train arrives in Melbourne in 1949.

Hope you enjoy this little bit of Australian history as much i did.
SplaTT

 

[Godfrey]

Love it! Thanks for putting this on the Lounge!

 

[Smithy]

Many thanks for the links. Duly bookmarked a few of those.

 

[HadleyH]

Those links are very nice slpatt!
Thanks for posting!!

 

[dhermann1]

Very interesting. I'll check them out.
One of the most interesting stories I've read about Australia in that era was the story of the Cricket matches of 1931, as I recall. The Brits could only beat the Aussies by using the "body line" strategy, in other words, throwing at the batters. Caused bad feeling between the 2 countries for years, mainly because during the days before TV, most Brits back home didn't realize how nasty their national team had been playing. "Not Cricket, old man!"

 

[splatt]

The Bodyline strategy is still a heated topic today...the site actually has some great newsreel footage of those matches in the 1930's.

 

[miss_elise]

yes, and 'bodyline' is now an illegal tactic in cricket



thank you for sharing those links

 

[cookie]

Hi fellow loungers..

Found this site packed with old film clips last night while doing some research and thought you might be interested to see just how stylish Australia was in the Golden Era

Most of the clips are small sections taken from much longer documentaries or newsreels and are generally between two and three minutes long.

Travelogue of Eastern States
Shot around Australia in the period around 1929. Right near the end of this particular clip, which is shot in Melbourne, is a great shot of a crowd on a train platform...its a sea of hats.

A Nation is Built
Shot in Sydney in 1938. I think i only counted about five men who were not sporting a lid of one kind or another

Sydney on Show
Shot at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney around 1940.

City in the Sun
Shot in Sydney in 1946.

Spirit of Progress: Australia's Wonder Train
The launch of the "Spirit of Progress" in 1937 was a landmark moment in the history of Australian rail travel. This film was released in 1946.

Skyway Express
Shot in 1948, this bit of footage shows the Sydney to Darwin leg of a QANTAS DC-3 aircraft from Australia to England. The flying boats on the harbour at Darwin are huge.

Behind the Big Top
The Wirth Brothers Circus and Zoo train arrives in Melbourne in 1949.

Hope you enjoy this little bit of Australian history as much i did.
SplaTT

Thanks Splatt they are great - you may have seen some of my cinema snaps of Ken Hall in the 30s if you search him.

 

[splatt]

Found them cookie...love the shots of the State Theatre being built

 

[Smithy]

Very interesting. I'll check them out.
One of the most interesting stories I've read about Australia in that era was the story of the Cricket matches of 1931, as I recall. The Brits could only beat the Aussies by using the "body line" strategy, in other words, throwing at the batters. Caused bad feeling between the 2 countries for years, mainly because during the days before TV, most Brits back home didn't realize how nasty their national team had been playing. "Not Cricket, old man!"

That's bound to get discussion going between a Brit and an Aussie, much like the "underarm incident" will get Kiwis and Aussies exchanging colourful language

There was a very good Aussie mini series done on the bodyline Ashes series a few years back, was brilliant, I'd like it on DVD if available.

Good grief I miss watching and playing cricket! One of the first things I'm doing when I get back to the Southern Hemisphere is getting all my gear out of storage and joining a cricket club.

 

[dhermann1]

Cricket

A British pal here has almost got me understanding the game. It's played during the summer here in New York in Van Cortland Park, in The Bronx, and I believe in Cunningham Park in Queens. The players come from all over, but mainly from Jamaica, Pakistan and India.
If you look into the history of the game, Cricket and baseball are almost littermates. The earliest players of baseball were actually cricket clubs in the 1840's.

 

[Smithy]

fftopic:

That's true dhermann, it was originally very popular in the States. I believe the first international touring series was between England and the USA.

I honestly can't wait to play again, it was a huge part of my life and my family and I miss it a lot. There's no TV coverage here so I can't even watch it!

 

[Mojito]

Great images, Splatt - I particularly the shots of Circular Quay c. 1929 as part of the Travelogue. A couple of merchant mariners I've researched sailed into Sydney in the first couple of decades of the 20th Century, and while there are many still images of Circular Quay (some from their own collections) the moving panoramas give a whole other sense of what it looked like. In the pre-Harbour Bridge era, there might be dozens of ferry depatures and arrivals within an hour.

Smithy, the only way I can be persuaded to watch cricket for any length of time is when I'm set up with champagne, nibblies, and someone to chat to on a lovely bright day. But I do miss seeing the first cricketers of summer in the Highgate Woods playing fields!

 

[Smithy]

Smithy, the only way I can be persuaded to watch cricket for any length of time is when I'm set up with champagne, nibblies, and someone to chat to on a lovely bright day. But I do miss seeing the first cricketers of summer in the Highgate Woods playing fields!

Not a bad way to spend a summer's day!

 

[splatt]

Thanks Mojito...i love the fact that you can download pretty good quality versions of nearly all of the videos as well

Now..about the cricket...i think being forced as a young kid to sit through three blistering hot days at the MCG for an Australia vs England ashes game in either 1975 or 1977 ruined the whole thing for me. If i'd been wearing a hat at the time it might have worked out ok though

 

[Smithy]

One of the things I am really looking forward to, spending 5 straight days at the MCG