Emma - Picture Ipswich Volunteer

Emma has been volunteering with Picture Ipswich since August 2019.  Her specialty is digitalisation and metadata.  Emma has worked on the general collection and has commenced work on the mammoth task of digitising The Queensland Times collection.  Emma also spent months helping to recreate metadata as we migrated the collection to the new Picture Ipswich website in 2021.

I went with a theme of ‘People have always liked taking pictures of animals', which is weird to us because we think that’s modern. 

Milking on a farm near Rosewood, Ipswich, 1946 

This is my favourite image from the collection. The iconic Australian dry humour was alive when this family named their dairy cow after the Russian despot at the beginning of the Cold War, giving us the amazing caption ‘Mum milking Stalin’.

Aaron Noble and family at Walloon, 1885

We tend to think of Victorian people as acting a certain way, but this picture shows that people have not changed much in values. Aaron Noble stands in the middle of his family portrait with man’s best friend while a Noble lady shows off her favourite horse; their animals are just as much a part of the family as the people are.

Jacob and Johanna Katz with pet dog, Pixie, Ipswich, c.1953

A family portrait with a hidden mystery; Pixie was described as a cat for years before being noticed for the beloved lapdog she was.

Climbing Goats, Lake Clarendon, c.1906

Some animals are more portable than others, but these kids are stackable!

Henry Mervyn Jones, with farm animals at his family's home, Oakleigh, Redbank Plains, Ipswich, c.1901

You have to start early to get the farm work done, but these livestock seem very patient with Henry the farmer and his tiny legs, even as he drops about as much feed as he holds onto.

Children playing with chicken in backyard of home in Alice Street, Blackstone, Ipswich, 1980

Everyone knows that chickens can’t fly, but the scientific method involves testing, as well as documentation for posterity.