Detailed assessment of significant sub-collections and items

Transcription

1 PART II: Detailed assessment of significant sub-collections and items 1.0 Glass-plate slides of First World War soldiers (Ison's Slide Collection) (Left to right) original steel box in which the slides were found; Lieutenant-Colonel Abbott of the 12th Light Horse Regiment, May 1915; the slides are now safely housed in purpose-built wooden boxes for preservation. A box containing 400 glass-plate slides picturing soldiers from the Tamworth region who had volunteered for service in the First World War, was discovered under the floor of the former Tamworth RSL Club in The images, which were all identified, had been produced by Ison's Theatres and screened during the war in Ison's Open-Air Picture Theatre to bolster recruiting to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). They have been used since their discovery in a major community project for the Centenary of the First World War, tracing the families of those whose images were used, and adding information about their military careers and fates into a database in a standardised format. History and provenance A large steel box containing more than 400 glass-plate slides of photographs of First World War soldiers was discovered in 2003 under the floor of the former Tamworth RSL, to whom they had been donated by Ison's Cinemas, but forgotten. All the images were annotated with information that identified each soldier. The majority are studio photographs taken before the soldiers embarked for the front, a common practice across Australia; others were copied from photos taken in Egypt, before the soldiers travelled to the battlefields, and some were taken in the field. The collection of cinema plate-glass slides, which also contains advertisements for fund-raising and recruitment drives, local businesses and coming film attractions, provides a snapshot of the Tamworth region during the First World War. The soldiers' slides and the 'theatre' slides that came with them are actually the property of the Tamworth Historical Society (THS). When they were given by the RSL to the THS it was decided that they were better stored at the TRFSA, and the two organisations have worked well together to secure their preservation. The original cataloguing was done by the THS. Subsequent work; rehousing, display boxes and the school research was all at the instigation of the TRFSA. 1 13

2 The slides were used in recruiting drives to encourage local men to enlist by showing images of those who had already done their patriotic duty, and to inform local audiences of news relating to local servicemen. Increased enlistment became a pressing need as the war continued and voluntary recruiting was not delivering the required number of reinforcements after the losses of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 and the even more costly First Battle of the Somme in Other means of encouraging recruiting included 'snowball' marches, such as the 'Coo-ee' march that originated in Gilgandra in October 1915, during which 243 men joined the original 20 marchers as they progressed to Sydney. 2 Ison's Open-Air Theatre was also associated with other patriotic endeavours in Tamworth, including hosting memorial services on the anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. 3 A Union Jack flag that flew outside Ison's Open-AirTheatre during the First World War is also part of the Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive collection (see Part I). Community recollections After the slides were discovered, they became part of a community project to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive's President Ian Austin and Researcher Miranda Heckenberg and other researchers worked with McCarthy Catholic College extension history class to research the stories of the men depicted on the slides, many of them from local families, and scan information provided and compile bibliographic information on them. 4 All participating schoolchildren received a certificate, a copy of the DVD of the project and a packet of Anzac biscuits. 5 A PDF with the information and image is now available on Tamworth Regional Council website at War I local service personnel. When the 'Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience' came to Tamworth from 26 April 1 May 2016, the slides were included as part of the local component of the exhibition. Comparative examples While there are large photographic collections depicting First World War servicemen and women in the Australian War Memorial, state libraries and regional and local historical societies (for example, the Angus McNeil collection in Kempsey Museum contains a large number of images of First World War servicemen who had their photographs taken for free by McNeil before they joined their units), the format in which the images in Tamworth appear glass-plate cinema slides is more unusual. The consultant has not encountered any of these in the course of assessing a number of museum collections in New South Wales over the past decade. Statement of significance The glass-plate slide collection of photographs of First World War soldiers from the Tamworth region (Ison's Slide Collection) is of historical significance as a comprehensive representation of those from the region who served in the First World 14

3 War; and as an innovative device to both honour their service and to encourage recruiting. The use of modern communication methods projecting images of soldiers as part of the cinema-going experience of a local audience in the drive to obtain more recruits for the Australian Imperial Force was a unique phenomenon in the Australian context. It also formed part of a wider landscape of recruiting methods, which included mass rallies and well-publicised 'snowball' marches such as the Cooee March from Gilgandra to Sydney. The collection of glass-plate slides of soldier photos in Tamworth has demonstrated research significance, and has already formed the basis for a comprehensive research project as part of Tamworth's commemoration of the centenary of the First World War. More research product that can be added to the database is welcome, as the project is ongoing. The collection, tapping as it does into the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, has played a large part in raising community consciousness of Tamworth's history in this period. The value that the community has placed on the collection is reflected in the award in 2016 to Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive of a Tamworth Regional Heritage Award for Research & Investigation/Analysis for its commemorative project, 'Soldiers in Slides' (see Part I). Such acknowledgement by the community gives this collection social significance. The collection, in spite of its long exposure under the RSL Club floorboards to floods, vermin and neglect, is in good condition and is now suitably rehoused and digitised. As has already been demonstrated, the collection also has a high degree of interpretive capacity. 2.0 Cinema advertising glass-plate slides (Left) an array of glass-plate slides, including a handwritten note from aviator Ross Smith endorsing Castrol as aviation fuel on the England to Australia air race in November-December 1919; advertisement for Harley-Davidson motorcycles; bus promoting the New State movement for New England; and handwritten advertisement for Lewis King Car Hire; (right) advertisement for Fox Studio film, 'The Net' of The original film is not known to have survived, but the cinema advertising glass-plate slide gives a sense of what it was about. 15

4 The Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive holds a collection of 230 cinema advertising glass-plate slides and digital advertising dating from the First World War to The glass-plate slides often handwritten and hand-coloured are of particular interest as they chronicle the business and social life of the region as well as communicating the news of national and international events. They also provide a summary of the movies screened in Tamworth over many decades. Images of the glass-plate slides are entered on E-Hive and can be accessed via Tamworth Regional Council/Community/Film & Sound Archive, History and provenance The cinema advertising glass plate-slides were used in Tamworth's cinemas Ison's Theatre Royal and Ison's Open-Air Picture Theatre, and the Regent Theatre for most of the twentieth century. Their physical format and dimensions are exactly the same as nineteenth-century magic lantern slides and they were made in the same way a black and white photographic image on glass with the colours added by hand. They were used in cinemas as late as the 1980s, disappearing only when supplanted by digital projection. This is a particularly large collection from a group of local theatres, which gives it a particular character and importance. Some of the older slides, such as the one advertising 'The Net', a Fox film from 1923 (long before the merger which created 20th Century-Fox), may be the only survivors to remind us of films that probably no longer exist. 7 (Left) advertisements for entrants in 'Queen' competitions for the Australian Fair, and Queen of New State Day, probably in the 1920s at the height of the New State movement before the Second World War; and wedding tableau on a parade float advertising 'Blue Mountains for the Honeymoon/Rollings and Robinson for the Furniture'; (right) advertisement for the Gunnedah P.A. & H. [Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural] Association Annual Show, September Many of the slides advertise local Tamworth businesses and local events, such as agricultural shows, 'queen' competitions, New State Day promotional events and Eight-hour Day marches. National and international events, such as the England to 16

5 Australia air race of 1919, won by aviators Ross and Keith Smith in their Vickers Vimy aircraft, are referenced in the slides. Comparative examples Glass-plate cinema advertising slides are not particularly common in film and sound archive collections, and are rarely found in general local historical society collections. The National Film and Sound Archive holds a collection of cinema advertising slides numbering in the hundreds. The largest collections, however, are held in private hands, with the major ones located overseas, but few in Australia. 8 Statement of significance The collection of cinema advertising glass-plate slides is of historical significance as a fine example of the ways in which the business and community groups in Tamworth and the New England region in the twentieth century used the technology of cinema projection to reach local audiences with customised advertisements and announcements of products and services available in the region, and upcoming local events and competitions. Cinema owners also used them to promote movies that were soon to be screened in the theatres. With their handwritten annotations and, in some cases, amateurish presentation, they evoke a more relaxed community that was not aiming for polished metropolitan sophistication. The images on many of the slides recall an Australia that has vanished, in both urban and regional contexts. The slides are also a source of historical information about businesses and community organisations, and the ways in which they chose to project their messages to their audience in the days before television coverage of local events and causes, and large-scale business advertising campaigns. Some of the slides, particularly those advertising current or upcoming movies, have their own distinct aesthetic qualities and graphic styles. They are fine representative examples of movie advertising of the era, and on this account have aesthetic significance. The slides have been digitised and are accessible online to a worldwide audience. The whole collection has considerable research significance, as a number of historic themes and subjects, including retailing in the bush, early movies shown in rural and regional Australia, the histories of agricultural shows and 'queen' competitions, the New State movement for separation for New South Wales, and the labour movement (represented by advertising for Eight-hour Day marches and events), can be researched and interpreted by investigating the slides in this collection. Some of the slides may constitute the only material traces of long-gone movies, and thus are rare representations testifying to the existence of these films and their likely plotlines. 17

6 The slides have a high degree of interpretive capacity and can be used in a range of ways to enhance understanding of what life was like in twentieth-century Tamworth and the region Projection diary Projection diary from 1930 from the Royal Theatre, rescued by projectionist and TRFSA volunteer, Dan Alderson. A foolscap-sized Wood's Australian Diary used by the projectionists at the Theatre Royal to note cinema screenings in 1930, the year in which talking pictures came to Australia. There are also entries for local events that may have affected cinema attendance, such as the races, and shearing at Goonoo Goonoo Station. The level of information recorded by each projectionist varies, but all have supplied valuable information of use to film researchers. History and provenance The 1930 Projection Diary was found behind the safe by the Royal Theatre manager and projectionist, Dan Alderson. It documents films and features shown on particular dates, and also notes external events in the community. The date of the diary 1930 is significant, as this was the year that talking pictures came to Australia, and the notes in this diary indicate that Tamworth was already experiencing this exciting innovation in its early months. In Australia the local picture theatre was a centre of community life to an extent unmatched in any other country. Australia was the first country to include the cost of 18

7 a weekly visit to the pictures in the calculation of the basic wage. And everyone did go weekly, regardless of what was showing: they booked their permanent seats in the theatres, so you always sat next to your chosen neighbours and picked your desired viewing angle in the auditorium. This way of life collapsed in the 1950s and 1960s with the coming of television and the consequent disappearance of the local cinema. 9 Expert opinion on the rarity of diaries such as these was sought from Dr Ray Edmondson, former Deputy Director of the National Film and Sound Archive, and a leading international expert in audiovisual archiving. He said of the diary that I would say this is a pretty rare survival and it is very important if it is a record of projection practices and of what films were shown, week by week, in the cinema. If it goes back to 1930, it's about the time sound came to cinemas, the big cities first and then the regional towns. My recollection is that there are only one or two such documents in the NFSA, but of course there could be more. 10 The book even is more fascinating because it lists the short subjects as well as the features for each program. That single double page spread [for January 1930] contains a wealth of information. For example, the entry for Friday 24th includes Metrotone News (which suggests that the cinema was showing "talkies"), a Laurel and Hardy two-reeler (Berth Marks), and three other intriguing shorts which I can't identity. The numbers after the titles are the footage of each film (and therefore convertible into its running time). I find that remarkable it seems the projectionist had a footage counter and measured each reel before screening so he could work out the running time of his program. Meticulous! "The Cock-Eyed World" was a 1929 Fox musical comedy released in both sound and silent versions - presumably it was the sound version showing here. There's an orchestral short listed on Wednesday 22nd, which would only make sense if the theatre was in fact showing talkies. References to Columbia, Fox, Paramount and Metro show that the cinema was dealing with a range of distribution sources. The reference to "races" on two days is interesting would that be a significant factor affecting audience numbers or session times? And of course there were no screenings on Sunday! So there's a lot of social history in just those two pages. I have never seen a diary quite like this before. It's precious. 11 Statement of significance The 1930 Projection Diary is of historical significance for its capacity to demonstrate the early arrival of talking pictures in Tamworth, and the range of features shown in the local theatre. It also demonstrates that the Tamworth theatre tapped into a range of distributors for films to show in the town. At the personal level, it also demonstrates the meticulous attention to detail shown by at least one projectionist. The diary is also of research significance, as a source of information on the range of films shown in regional Australia at that period, and as a commentary on factors such as the races, the Ambulance Bazaar or shearing at Goonoo Goonoo Station, 19

8 that could be expected to impact audience numbers. Dr Ray Edmondson has suggested further research possibilities for the diary: The recorded footage for each film could be compared with the known official release length in each case, and this would indicate whether the theatre was getting fairly new prints to show, or was further down the food chain and was getting worn and patched up prints with bits missing. And of course it says a lot about local entertainment tastes. You could track the frequency of appearance of Australian films - in the page you sent there are no Australian films, but then Cinesound Review and Australian Movietone News didn t start till the following year. 12 The 1930 diary is a rare survivor, as expert opinion has shown. It is in good condition overall, but the spine is fragile and there is some discolouration of the pages. The diary has high interpretive capacity, especially if it is exhibited alongside some of the glass-plate cinema advertising slides. It is also a good candidate for digitisation once the pages have been stabilised by conservation treatment. References 1 Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive, 'Ison's Slide Collection', interpretive panel in TRFSA. 2 Naomi Parry and Brad Manera, New South Wales and the Great War, State Library of NSW, Sydney, 2016, pp 'The Nation's birthday - Memorial service in Tamworth', Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, 26 April 'Ison's Slide Collection', op. cit. 5 Conversation with Ian Austin, President, Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive, 21 February E-Hive - access via Tamworth Regional Council/Community/Film & Sound Archive from Dr Ray Edmondson, former Deputy Director, National Film and Sound Archive, 27 April Ibid. 9 from Dr Ray Edmondson, 30 April from Dr Ray Edmondson, 29 April from Dr Ray Edmondson, 30 April Ibid. 20