Anzacs before ANZAC

Rolled oat biscuits aka Anzac biscuits from the Meroogal manuscript recipes collection circa 1909. Photo © Jacqui Newling, Sydney Living Museums

Anzac Day, April 25, will be very different for many of us this year, as we won’t be following commemorative marches or gatherings to mark the event due to public health concerns. But we can still take pause to reflect on the ways we support front line workers – whether Anzac ‘digggers’ or today’s health and community service providers – and continue the Anzac biscuit tradition, which is a legacy of community fundraising initiatives to help active and returned service men and women 100 years ago.

Continue reading

Australian tastes

'Pavlova' (detail) 1930s style. The new Goulburn cookery book, Edwards, Dunlop & coy, Sydney, 1937. © Sydney Living Museums.

Yes folks, it’s a pavlova – or at least we are told it is, in 1930s cook book such as The new Goulburn cookery book and The Presbyterian cookery book of good and tried recipes.
Continue reading

‘Gather in to grace our feast’

Burning of the Garden Palace, Sydney, September 22, 1882, as seen from Macquarie Street. Gibbs, Shallard & Co., 1882. Supplement to the Illustrated News, October 25, 1882. Image courtesy National Library Australia. PIC Drawer 2505 #S3158

In September 1879 Sydney presented itself on the world stage by hosting an ambitious International Exhibition, which ran until April 1880. The exhibition was held  with typical Victorian pomp,  Continue reading

Farewell Dr Rowland, a rural village tribute

Action stations Behind the scenes at Farewell Dr Rowland colonial dinner Carcoar

Action stations! Behind the scenes at Farewell Dr Rowland colonial dinner, Carcoar. Photo Jacqui Newling © Sydney Living Musems

Much fun and fascination was had in the historic hamlet of Carcoar, New South Wales on the weekend, when local volunteers from the Carcoar Hospital Museum captured a moment in time in the town’s history, presenting an evening of entertainment based on an actual event held in the town’s Victoria hotel in 1867.  Continue reading