Sepia Saturday 221: 29 March 2014



Alan from Sepia Saturday says:

When I previewed this Sepia theme image a few weeks ago I suggested "floods, water, weather, floating cars and sepia skies" as possible interpretations. Looking back at this list now, I have to say that I, for one, am heartily sick of the first four on the list and I suspect the last suggestion is somewhat inaccurate. Those aren't sepia skies they are a kind of faded pink skies. But here at Sepia Saturday there is no such thing as a mistake, merely a new potential interpretation. So you can add to the list strange tints and colours in old photographs. I chose this particular photograph for a theme because it comes from a new contributor to Flickr Commons - the Provincial Archives of Alberta, Canada. Lovers of old photographs everywhere should celebrate every time museums, archives and galleries add their digitised image collection to Flickr for the free enjoyment of everyone rather that burying them within a barbed-wire corset of copyright laws. The photograph shows a barge moving cars to dry land during the waterways floods of 1936. Whatever your interpretation of the image all you have to do is to post a post on or around Saturday  29 March 2014.


Brisbane is famous for floods.  When I started work at the ABC many years ago one of the first things that was pointed out to me as a newbie was the flood-line marked on the wall downstairs near the film library from the January 1974 flood.  It was marked in gaffer or duct tape and seemed amazing but unreal to a naive 21 year old.  The studios then were on the banks of the Brisbane river at Toowong.  I was to witness our next big flood in Brisbane along with many others only three years ago in 2011.  I understand the flood in 1893 was worse than 1974 or 2011.  In preparation for today's post, I looked at photos from the Picture Queensland site. I'm not sure that the site is working properly today because I seemed to have trouble locating copyright information so I decided not to use any of the 1500 images that you can discover there.

Instead I thought I would give you some images from my husband's family archives.  Not very many but they took me on an interesting trip down our nation's memory lane.



Slide 12


  
I wish I could tell you where this was taken.  I suspect somewhere in Victoria.  I know that Robert's parents went on a trip to Melbourne in about 1956.  



Slide 14



This slide seems to have the same kinds of clouds doesn't it?  So maybe someone recognises that dam and can tell me where it is.  I'm thinking it's the Hume Weir near Albury looking at other photos on the web like this one.  Or these on Trove.


View Larger Map


Anyway, when I googled flooding Victoria 1956 I found this website which has some great footage and oral histories of the flooding of the Murray and Darling Rivers in 1956.

This next slide is part of the same collection and I suspect taken at about the same time.  It's not really to do with flooding but it does have a barge.






I don't know what Robert's father was doing at this particular time but it seemed to involve going to Fraser Island I think and helping on a job there.  This was how they got there.  I think those shorts look very WW2 army surplus don't they?  Here's another one from the time when 4 wheel drives were driven in 4 wheel drive country and not the burbs...








View Larger Map

So not many photos today but plenty of food for thought and further enquiry.  For more images of flooding et al....head over here.

POSTSCRIPT

I've taken some photos of the slides from which the first photos were taken in an attempt to date them.



These websites here and here indicate that they date from 1950-1955 but I'm happy to stand corrected if someone has better information.

This is what they look like through the slide viewer....



In the process of sorting them and trying to work out the sequence of them, I found one of a lighthouse.  I'm not sure if it will help or not but here is the image of the slide for you.  Do you recognise this lighthouse?


Slide 13

Well at least I think it's a lighthouse.  What do you think it is?  It may help us place the first slide showing a flood somewhere.

Another slide in the set is this one:


Slide 11

The Fraser Island slides probably date from 1955 - 59 as they have "Processed by Kodak" written on the mounts as well.  Time to ring Aunt Alice now and ask her for more information.

Comments

La Nightingail said…
Good thing they had 4WD in that last picture. My Sube Forester has 4WD but I don't think I'd take it for a drive in that terrain. :))
Rosie said…
Pretty rough looking terrain in that last picture. We have had so much snow this winter, I long to go driving or walking on bare roads again!
Alan Burnett said…
Some really fascinating photographs. Australia does seem to walk a challenging tightrope between flooding and drought
diane b said…
When I visited Lake Hume it was half empty. Great old shots and yes the shorts do look like army shorts.
There were also floods in Vic in 1955 I think.
My husband is pretty sure Hume weir is curved. He thinks it might be Upper Yarra Dam.
Hopefully someone will identify it for you.
Anonymous said…
Alas I can't help in identiying the dam - a dam is a dam is a dam for me. But I dod appreciate the photo of the barge !!!
Brett Payne said…
I used to have a SWB Land Rover just like that one. I've flown over Fraser Island many times, and I wondered what happened there - not much, by the looks of things.
Wendy said…
The photo of the 4-wheel drive reminds me of the Pink Jeep tour in Sedona, Arizona. Guides drive up and down rocks like going up and down stairs. In a JEEP!
Jofeath said…
I can't identify the dam either, sorry, but those colour photos surely can't have been from a 1956 trip. I always prefer to use photos from family archives if at all possible, even if I don't know exactly who or what they are of.
Unknown said…
That is all unknown and new to me...interesting water world there.
Alex Daw said…
It is very...well...sandy...isn't it?
Alex Daw said…
And we never have snow so I have no idea what that is like....isn't it bizarre yet wonderful how different the world can be....
Alex Daw said…
Yes it's a funny old place....The second stanza of Dorothea Mackellar's poem sums it up beautifully...

"I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!"
Alex Daw said…
They're very distinctive shorts aren't they? Don't see any like that anymore....
Alex Daw said…
Fingers crossed Jackie.
Alex Daw said…
I keep having to go back and look at it and make sure that the chap pushing the car is not going to end up in the drink!
Alex Daw said…
I confess to not having been there. Many of my family go on 4WD trips and sing its praises in terms of natural beauty....crystal clear water and beautiful lakes to swim in....oh and the fishing too.
Alex Daw said…
Ah yes Jeeps. I remember going in a yellow one to see the Pinnacles in WA. Lots of fun but not much suspension as I remember.
Alex Daw said…
Dear Jo...you are quite right...they aren't photos...I've been a bit naughty and used slides. We've got photos and slides. Are we only meant to use photos?
Alex Daw said…
Isn't the world a wonderful place? Thanks for visiting.
Jenny said…
Hi Alex,
The lake looks like Lake Mokoan near Winton in North East Victoria to me. The backdrop could be the Warby Ranges. The lake was only formed in 1971 and I remember being taken there by my grandparents for the water sports between 1971 and 1975. It can be seen from the Hume freeway but most of the trees are long dead. The colour of the photo suggests it was taken after the 1970s and positively not in the 1950s. Perhaps because the trees seem to be all living it was taken in the early 1970s?
Jenny said…
Hi again Alex,
I agree that the weir must be the Hume Weir. But a closer inspection of the previous image of the water with the trees in it reveals several houses in the middle of the water! So maybe an image of a natural disaster and not a dam/lake at all?
Alex Daw said…
Hi Jenny - yes I think you are right. I chose that first photo because it is definitely a photo of flooding of somewhere on their way to or from Melbourne. And I think the second photo is part of the same set so I was trying to guess the approximate location from where the dam might be. I've got to dig out the original slides and see if there is any helpful writing on them and also talk to Robert's aunt and see if she can remember anything.
anyjazz said…
I thought it strange that people would continue to live in an area known for flooding. Then I remembered that I have lived all my life in an area known for tornadoes.
Alex Daw said…
Tee hee. I read your comment on my phone late at night without my glasses. At first I thought you said that you lived all your life in an area known for tomatoes. Pretty scary.
If that is a lighthouse that is one of the most interesting and strangest lighthouses I've ever seen.

I saw a Hummer the other day driving the city street and could only think "Pinhead!" They wouldn't want to get their precious behemoths dirty by actually taking them off road.

Some wonderful images. Thanks for the trip.
Alex Daw said…
Guess what Tattered and Lost....I've had that lighthouse identified by the lovely Sharon of Strong Foundations...it's actually a memorial - the Soldier's Memorial at Albury. Thanks Sharon ! http://shazlex.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/seeking-sylvie.html?showComment=1397420114805#c3742581266549546801
Sharon said…
I missed that week or I would have been able to identify immediately! Yes it is Hume Weir. I thought that the flood scene looked really familiar to me as well. I went through my photos of the area and I have sent you an email with a photo I took of floods in 2010 from Henley Ridge (off the Snow Road from Myrtleford to Glenrowan) looking over Whorouly in flood. It could very well be the same scene?
Alex Daw said…
Thanks Sharon. I havent' got the email yet but if you're anything like me you've been distracted ...can't wait to see it :)
AMH said…
Hi Alex, I found your blog sort-of by accident. I was actually looking for early photos of Fraser Island. Are there any other photos of the island in your collection? wonder what industry he was involved in over there - probably timber-getting? Thanks!, Andrew
Alex Daw said…
Hi Andrew...I confess to not knowing. I will have to ask his sister and get back to you. There are a couple of other photos from memory...of the camp if I remember correctly...probably nothing terribly fabulous...depends what you're looking for.
AMH said…
Hi Alex, anything really that shows Fraser in earlier years - logging, sand-mining, development (fishing shacks, tourism), early 4wd's, landmarks (eg maheno wreck, Eli creek..). Would love to see anything you are able to find..! Cheers, Andrew

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