PLACE REPRESENTED: Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: This would be nice if it was brass and solid wood but it’s plastic and cheap wood. Sydney deserves better though Oscar Levant’s quote about Hollywood may apply to it … “Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you’ll find the real tinsel underneath”.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: plastic , wood
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 20cm long x 24cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: A caricature of the happy go lucky surfer, board in hand. This is naff but quite charming and would do your head in if you fully embraced surfing culture’s recreational habits. Or, is that a stereotype?
Who knows how many of these have been sold.
Byron Bay is a beachside town located in the far north-eastern corner of the state of New South Wales and is a favourite destination for international backpackers.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: steel , wood
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 11.5cm high x 7cm x 7cm base.
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PLACE REPRESENTED: Sydney (specifically the Sydney Harbour Bridge), New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Ashtray
NOTES: A very old, very used ashtray depicting a very old, very used bridge … well by Australian standards anyway.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1950s
MADE FROM: steel , silver-plate (“exquisite” plate)
MADE IN: England
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 10cm x 10cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Taylor’s Arm, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Fridge Magnet
NOTES: The Pub with No Beer immortalised in the Slim Dusty song of 1957. Taylors Arm is 498km north of Sydney, near Coffs Harbour. The poem the song was based on was about a pub in Ingham in North Queensland though.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Australia
MANUFACTURER: Handmade
DIMENSIONS: 10cm across
PLACE REPRESENTED: Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Snow Globe
NOTES: Ahhh, the Opera House (and Harbour Bridge) in a snow globe. Perfectly identifiable and quite the piece of kitsch. But does it ever snow in Sydney? No cocaine related jokes necessary.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: plastic
MADE IN: China
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 5cm high , 7cm long
PLACE REPRESENTED: Tenterfield, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Cap
NOTES: A simple cap stating Tenterfield, in northern New South Wales. Home of Banjo Patterson and Peter Allen.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: 60% cotton , 40% polyester
MADE IN: Korea
MANUFACTURER: Murray Views
DIMENSIONS: One Size Fits All
PLACE REPRESENTED: North Coast, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Fan
NOTES: Beautifully kitsch plastic souvenir fans from the 60s or early 70s. The fans open but are clearly decorative and won’t give you much relief from the North Coast heat.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: plastic
MADE IN: Hong Kong (it’s written on the red bit at the bottom)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 18cm tall , 3.5cm wide (when folded up), 25cm when opened up
PLACE REPRESENTED: Brunswick Heads, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Side Plate
NOTES: Brunswick Heads is a town on the north coast of New South Wales which has remained (almost) unchanged for many years. It is very much a traditional, relaxed, and unpretentious coastal town. The rock wall depicted and swimming area is still there. Developers (with some dodgy government backing) are eyeing off the shore but locals are fighting back (and rightly so). Google the Brunswick Heads Foreshore Protection Group for more information.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1930s
MADE FROM: China
MADE IN: Czechoslovakia
MANUFACTURER: Victoria
DIMENSIONS: 13.5cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Ceramic Cup
NOTES: A souvenir cup of Sydney with a montage mural, vividly coloured, of all the main attractions of Sydney at the time. It looks quite inviting.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: glass
MADE IN: Japan
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 7cm diameter x 10cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Fitzroy Falls & Cascades, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Nic Nac Dish (dish)
NOTES: Fitzroy Falls & Cascades is near the head of the Yarrunga Creek in the Morton National Park located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales (approx 170 kilometres south south-west of Sydney). Fitzroy Falls is not famous for fish or fishing so I’m not sure why this is in the shape of a fish. Well, apart from the manufacturer in Germany saying “vee have 10000 fish dishes da finkelstein Norvegins dont vant to buy from us. Ring da dummkopfs in New South Wales and ask if they vood like to put their vater fall on za dish”. Yes, I know that was lame and also a poor reinforcement of ethnic stereotypes, but … it’s late.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1930s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Germany
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 15.5cm from head tip to fin end x 10cm (top to bottom) x 2.5cm high
