Skip to main content
state library of queensland
Blog
John Oxley Library

Revealing more of the Queensland story…

By JOL Admin | 2 June 2016

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.”

Glimpses of Sunny Queensland issued by the Queensland Government Intelligence & Tourism Bureau in 1914.

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!

Wonderland of the North: Scenic beauties of North Queensland published in 1922.

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.

Three women on board a cruise ship bound for the Great Barrier Reef, ca. 1933. Accession: D1-7-84 John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

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.

Vincent Burgess sells pencils in Brisbane during the Great Depression, c. 1932.

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

Comments

Your email address will not be published.

We welcome relevant, respectful comments.

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
We also welcome direct feedback via Contact Us.
You may also want to ask our librarians.