BUNYA MOUNTAINS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Tea Towel
PLACE REPRESENTED: Bunya Mountains, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Tea Towel NOTES: A tea towel with all the colourful flora and fauna of the Bunya Mountains, on the Great Dividing Range in south east Queensland.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: 100% cotton
MADE IN: India
MANUFACTURER: Souvenirs Australia
DIMENSIONS: 45cm x 70cm
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES , AUSTRALIA – Cushion Cover
PLACE REPRESENTED: Sydney. New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Cushion Cover
NOTES: The sites of Sydney in all its gaudy colour and splendour. This is vivid.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: material
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown DIMENSIONS: 48cm x 48cm
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Coasters
PLACE REPRESENTED: Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Coasters
NOTES: A perfectly kitch set of coasters in a flip open coaster holder. Cheap plastic, cheap graphics, made in Hong Kong, with the standard proclamation for Queensland, "The Sunshine State". Still, they are very handy.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: plastic
MADE IN: Hong Kong
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 8.5cm diameter (coaster)
BOWEN, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Bottle Opener
PLACE REPRESENTED: Bowen, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Bottle Opener NOTES: A simple (but useful bottle opener depicting Bowen, or perhaps the surrounds of Bowen. Bowen is on the coast but this depiction of Bowen seems to be facing inland perhaps because in the days before tourism this was a farming and cattle area. I like how this bottle opener has a small protusion at the bottom which has no purpose except for spinning …. perhaps for drinking games?
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: steel , plastic .
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 11.5cm x 5.5cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Adelaide, South Australia , Australia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: A small wall ornament depicting St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral or St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral or, perhaps, another denomination. Well, Adelaide is known as the “City Of Churches”. The Adelaide tram at the front is less ambiguous.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: resin
MADE IN: China
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 11cm x 8cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Cairns, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Key Chain
NOTES: The Volkswagen Camper Van is hardly Australian. But, with a surf board on top, and a couple of blokes inside looking for the perfect wave in the endless summer it becomes Australian … and you do see them around Cairns (no surf there though)
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2014
MADE FROM: steel
MADE IN: Australia
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 4cm across x 4cm high (van)(7cm including chain)
PLACE REPRESENTED: Mackay, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Pin Cushion
NOTES: A most unusual pin cushion and quite a good one. I’m not sure is this locally made as I’m not sure Mackay is famous for its shells given it’s located on a river (the Pioneer river) though it is a jumping off point for the nearby Great Barrier Reef, and the Whitsunday Islands. Still, I would be happy to put my pin in this cushion.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: shell
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 7.5cm long x 5cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Great Barrier Reef, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Ashtray
NOTES: The Great Barrier Reef as an ashtray?
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Japan
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 16cm x , 16cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Uluru, Northern Territory , Australia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: The famous Uluru … though probably still called Ayres Rock at the time of this travel trinket (as it was until 1993). Usually referred to as the largest rock in the world, it’s not. Mount Augustus in outback Western Australia is. Still this is pretty and, unusually, it is a night time or dusk scene of the rock as opposed to the more common daylight one.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Australia probably
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 28cm long x 11cm wide x 1.5cm thick. .
PLACE REPRESENTED: Warwick, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Ashtray
NOTES: A homemade ceramic ashtray celebrating the Warwick rockswap in 1973. The Paris Exposition it wasn’t. But, it is still going having started in 1967!
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1973
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Australia
MANUFACTURER: Handmade
DIMENSIONS: 9cm across , 3.5cm high