Anyone checking for digitised content held at State Library will be aware of the growing number of items relating to Queensland? Photographs, maps, illustrated newspaper covers, journals, music scores, digital and oral stories, pamphlets and brochures to name several.
A range of small print publications are helping to reveal a part of Queensland's past and development. Not remarkable I know, but what is remarkable is this material, traditionally stored in the John Oxley Library repository can now be viewed online. Below are several digitised pamphlets contributing to the Queensland backstory, showcasing content not often explored.
The publication Home life in Queensland is now digitised for easy access. RBJ 919.43 QUE, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
Queensland at home features commentary on climate, crops and agriculture, sport, house dwellings, education and the nature of a Queenslander compared to his British counterpart.Published in 1905, several chapters describe various destinations, economic conditions, and the social life and customs in Queensland between 1901 and 1914. Illustrated by the Department of Agriculture Queensland, the publication carries the extended title - Home life of Queensland. The author informs his readers “…they will find scant reference to Queensland’s natural resources or commercial possibilities” - instead his only object was “to display Queensland out of working hours”..."the audience drawn from various spheres of life.”
Did you know vanilla was cultivated at the Kamerunga State Nursery in Cairns and that Stanthorpe was noted at one time to be a most salubrious health resort? The Queensland Government Intelligence and Tourist Bureau also issued an album of the photographs for the Australian Pavilion at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, in 1915. The album - APA-39 Glimpses of Sunny Queensland is digitised also.
In Wonderland of the North: Scenic beauties of North Queensland (1922), the intrepid traveler is invited along on a winter tour of the State’s most scenic destinations and places North of Gladstone - the language describing the experience as being romantic and painting a picture of a wonderland that will call you back once you have taken the journey. A once in a lifetime experience!
John Oxley Library followers and researchers can view these publications in full. There are more than 7,000 pages focusing on the Queensland story. But please…allow me to showcase more images – all remarkable and very original!
A grain silo being constructed at Oakey, west of Toowoomba, Queensland. 5860 Queensland Museum Lantern Slides, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
This photograph is part of 5860 Queensland Museum Lantern Slides, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. A steam engine was used to force the grain up a chute into the silo at harvest time.
It is said the women in this photograph were southern tourists cruising the reef in July, the best time of the year for visiting the tropics.
This remarkable image is part of the extensive Sunday Sun collection of images digitised by State Library of Queensland. I trust you will agree!
Anne Scheu, Engagement Officer, State Library of Queensland
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