BOREEN POINT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Dinner Bell

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Boreen Point, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Dinner Bell

NOTES: A cute, delightfully retro kitsch dinner bell. Made in Japan (it’s printed clearly on the inside) for the Australian market (what’s more Australian than a koala, or err a kangaroo?) all you had to do was insert a locality name and put it on shelf for sale. At least, the craftsmanship allowed for the place name to be written on in paint. By the 70s this would be plastic and a sticker would be used. The population of Boreen Point is 264 today, who knows how many people lived there in the 1960s, but I suspect the koalas outnumbered them. It is a locality north of Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boreen_Point,_Queensland

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN: Japan

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 11.5cm high x 6cm diameter

CANUNGRA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Hand Towel

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Canungra, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Hand Towel

NOTES: Canungra, is derived from the local Aboriginal word “gungunga” which means “a long flat or clearing” or “caningera” after a small owl, or “coonoongra” meaning “the small grey owl that has its home along the creek” or, perhaps, “good place with plenty of game”. Either way, Canungra, is also called the “Valley of the Owls” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canungra,_Queensland

This is hand stitched onto a normal hand towel. This sort of Nana (grandmother) embroidery still exists. Perhaps it’s a dying art as more women flock to careers in the post-feminist world – do people sing the praises of knitting, quilting and home crafts? They should … the arts / crafts are evocative as expressions of identity, both individual and group.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2017

MADE FROM: Cotton

MADE IN: Australia

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 41cm x 64cm

INGHAM, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Bottle Opener

Posted on November 19, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Ingham, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Bottle Opener

NOTES: Ingham, Queensland. Famous for its sugar cane. Many a migrant spent their time cutting cane thereabouts. Well, many a non-English speaking migrant, to be specific. Well, many a Italian, Croatian, Hungarian, etc etc. So many Italians worked and settled in the area during the last century, but especially during the 1950s and 1960s that Ingham is known as “Little Italy” and has an “Italian-Australian” festival. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingham,_Queensland

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: steel

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 12cm long

CAIRNS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Water Cube

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Cairns, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Paperweight Water Cube

NOTES: Two water cubes. One with fish and one with crocodiles. It’s a good thing they are not in the same cube.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2014

MADE FROM: plastic

MADE IN: China

MANUFACTURER: Wilmot Harvey

DIMENSIONS: 5cm x 5cm x 5cm

HERVEY BAY, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Souvenir Spoon

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Uranga, Hervey Bay, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Spoon

NOTES: Souvenir spoon from Hervey Bay…specifically the Urangan beachside suburb.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: steel

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 12cm long

MOUNT ISA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Penant

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Mt Isa, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Pennant

NOTES: Pennants in red and blue depicting two scenes of typical Mt Isa : Lake Moondarra and the town with its mining infrastructure. Mt Isa is hot and dusty with a lot of mining which explains Lake Moondarra which is an artificial lake which supplies the town, and mines, water.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1971

MADE FROM: cloth

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 26cm long x 14cm wide

CALOUNDRA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Nic Nac Bowl

Posted on June 25, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Caloundra (specifically Dicky Beach), Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Small Nic Nac Bowl

NOTES: Subtle, with a serene Dicky Beach depicted. Dicky Beach is both a beach and suburb of the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia, located within the Caloundra urban centre. Despite the name the beach is not a nudist or naturists beach. The area was named after the iron steamboat, the SS Dicky, which ran aground during heavy seas on 12 February 1893 just in case you were wondering. The beach looks much the same …everything behind the beach doesn’t.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1920s

MADE FROM: china

MADE IN: Bohemia (Czech Republic)

MANUFACTURER: Victoria

DIMENSIONS: 19cm long x 12cm wide x 3cm deep

HAYMAN ISLAND, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Wall Ornament

Posted on June 4, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Hayman Island, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Wall ornament

NOTES: A wonderfully wall ornament made of resin and shell celebrating the subtropical joys of Hayman Island off the Queensland coast.

“Hayman Island is the most northerly of the Whitsunday Islands, part of the Cumberland Islands, which are located off the coast of Central Queensland, Australia … Hayman is a private island open to the public, most famous for its luxury resort which was built in the 1950s by millionaire Reg Ansett, who also founded the airline, Ansett Australia. The island is a significant drawing point for tourism in Queensland”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayman_Island

It was the place to go for locals in the 1960s and 1970s …

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: resin , shell

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 15cm diameter.

ROCKHAMPTON, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Salt & Pepper Shakers

Posted on May 21, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Rockhampton, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Salt & Pepper Shakers

NOTES: Absolute kitsch. I’m not sure what these dolphins have to do with Rockhampton either. Well, I mean there would be dolphins there but they are pretty much everywhere along the Queensland coast. But, the Fitzroy river that Rockhampton is on is known for having Australian snubfin dolphins in residence and these aren’t snubfin dolphins.

Perhaps I’m being too pedantic.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN: Japan

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 4cm across , 9cm high each (approx)

HERVEY BAY, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Pen Holder

Posted on May 14, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia.

ITEM: Pen Holder

NOTES: Very groovy pen holder in resin and shell in the shape of a boomerang. Australian souvenir at it’s most stylish kitsch. Hervey Bay is a seaside town 290km north of the Queensland capital of Brisbane. It is a natural bay between the Queensland mainland and nearby sand island, Fraser Island. Hervey Bay is, also, the whale watching capital of Australia. It is known for its eccentric types. Well, I know one eccentric type from there.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: resin

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 17.5cm long x 7cm high to pen holder top

TRAVEL TRINKETS

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Category Archives: Queensland

BOREEN POINT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Dinner Bell

CANUNGRA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Hand Towel

INGHAM, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Bottle Opener

CAIRNS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Water Cube

HERVEY BAY, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Souvenir Spoon

MOUNT ISA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Penant

CALOUNDRA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Nic Nac Bowl

HAYMAN ISLAND, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Wall Ornament

ROCKHAMPTON, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Salt & Pepper Shakers

HERVEY BAY, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Pen Holder