Tweed banana collection, c.1960s
1960 Tweed Banana Tools Collection

This collection of implements have historical and technological significance as they demonstrate the skills of ‘making do’ – improvising and modifying tools to make the heavy work of cultivating bananas easier. Continue reading

Tweed cane stripper hook c.1960s
1960 Tweed Cane Stripper Hook

This cane stripper has historical and technological significance in that it demonstrates the the hard manual labour involved in planting, cutting and loading sugar cane before mechanisation of the sugar industry, first of planting and loading sugar cane and later of harvesting the crop.
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Cane cutter knife c.1950s
1950 Tweed Cane Cutter Knife

The cane knife is historically significant as evidence of the manual labour of the many South Sea Islanders, Indians and migrants from Europe who were the backbone of the sugar industry in northern NSW. Continue reading

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1948 Emigration Poster

The poster has historic value as evidence of post World War 2 mass migration and the attempt by the Australian government to build the nation’s population with European migrants. Continue reading

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1951 Griffith Drink Tokens

The tokens are a significant marker of a comparatively short historical phase of liquor licensing laws and of the colourful role of Italian social clubs important to Griffith Italian life. Continue reading

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1949 Malibu Surfboard

The surfboard has historical significance because of it links to the explosion of new surfboard designs, the development of teen surfer subculture in the 1960s. Continue reading