Inside the Collection

Photograph of New Belmore Markets

Sydney’s Capitol Theatre – a century of entertainment

December 29, 2015

Margaret Simpson
Have you ever wondered why the Capitol Theatre in Sydney's Haymarket is such a strange design? It was originally a fruit and veggie market! 2016 marks the theatre’s 100th birthday. What a century it’s been, filled with performing seals, elephants, mermaids and now the von Trapp children.
Photograph of Prototype for RT Series Nota Type IV

Guy Buckingham and Australian Motor Racing

December 1, 2015

Margaret Simpson
Last month saw the passing of Guy Buckingham (1921-2015), the man who introduced low-cost motor sport into Australia with the Formula Vee. This was an inexpensive open-wheeled racing car for beginners using a VW engine, suspension and transmission, devised in 1959.
Gittoes in the Yellow House Puppet Theatre

George Gittoes collection

November 10, 2015

Anne-Marie Van de Ven
This evening, George Gittoes receives the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize award and presents the annual Sydney Peace Prize lecture in the Sydney Town Hall. This is the first time this Prize, Australia’s only international prize for peace, will be awarded to an artist.
Portrait of Stewart Walton

Stewart Walton for ‘Collette Dinnigan: Unlaced’

October 30, 2015

Melanie Pitkin
One of the greatest pleasures when developing a museum exhibition is collaborating with a breadth of highly talented creatives. In the case of Collette Dinnigan: Unlaced, Kat Bond and Fil Bartkowiak in our design team collaborated with Stewart Walton, an artist, illustrator and furniture designer based in England to create our paper doll making activity space.
Photographic print of the Sydney Opera House under construction

Happy Birthday to our Sydney Opera House

October 20, 2015

Paul Donnelly
On this day in 1973, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Sydney Opera House. The ABC beamed the occasion by satellite to an appreciative world. Closer to home there were sighs of relief from the politicians, architects and engineers who had, to that time, weathered one controversy after another.
Cover of the sheet music for the 'Sydney Railway Waltz'

Happy 160th Birthday Sydney Trains

September 26, 2015

Margaret Simpson
Today marks 160 years since the first railway officially opened in New South Wales on 26 September 1855 between Sydney and Parramatta. As the North West Rail Link (now called Sydney Metro Northwest) continues to be constructed by the NSW Government in 2015, providing much-needed public transport, NSW's first railway to Parramatta wasn't for commuters but the first step in a line destined for Bathurst and Goulburn.
Portrait of Tilly Boleyn

Our Curators are Ready for Ask a Curator Day

September 15, 2015

Our curators have a huge job caring for our enormous and diverse collection of over 500,000 objects! Their areas of expertise are as diverse and interesting as the scope of the Museum's collection.
Christmas card, Chips and Quentin Rafferty

Ten Favourite Beards from the Collection

September 5, 2015

Rebecca Evans
We've amassed some beards in our collection! Curator, Rebecca Evans, takes us through her favourites. 1. Christmas card by Dahl and Geoffrey Collings This card (at top) features a cartoon of a giant, a representation of iconic Australian actor Chips Rafferty, sitting on a stool having his huge beard combed by a tiny female figure, Quentin Rafferty.
Photograph of the Goodsline bridge

The Goods Line – then and now

September 3, 2015

Margaret Simpson
Yesterday I took a stroll along Sydney's newest pedestrian walkway, The Goods Line. It opened last Sunday (30 August 2015) and goes from the Ultimo Road railway bridge to the Museum's new entrance in Macarthur Street, Ultimo, an inner Sydney suburb.
Photo of the parachute fully supported and ready for display

Preparing the Storpedoette Blood Delivery Device for display

September 1, 2015

Kate Chidlow
The recently acquired Storedoette is on display in ReCollect: Health and Medicine. A Storpedoette is a container used to safely deliver blood and other supplies to remote areas when dropped from any type of aircraft.