Inside the Collection

The Museum's International Auto Buggy

The International Auto Buggy – a real “horseless carriage”

January 23, 2018

Margaret Simpson
On Australia Day, 26 January 2018, the CARnivale classic day display will be held in Parramatta Park in Western Sydney. The car I’ve chosen from the Museum’s eclectic automobile collection to exhibit at the event is a 20 hp International Auto Buggy made in 1910.
View overlooking a gallery space at the Museums Discovery Centre in Castle Hill. Hanging from the ceiling are several small planes, including one which is upside down. On the level below are other objects from the Museum's transport collection, including a boat, tram carriage, steam train and fire engine.

Storing a collection of 500,000 objects

January 17, 2018

Sarah Reeves
The MAAS collection contains an estimated 500 000 objects. These objects are routinely moved around the Museum as they are taken on and off display, undergo conservation work, are photographed for publications, or even loaned to other museums and institutions across Australia and internationally.
Hair Highway, Studio Swine

Life Cycles: Sustainable Materials Library

January 10, 2018

Keinton Butler
In 1907, while developing an alternative to shellac, a natural resin secreted from the East Asian lac bug and used to insulate electrical cables in the early 20th century, Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland invented the world’s first mouldable synthetic polymer, called Bakelite.