Category: Queensland State Archives’ Photostream About Fortitude Valley

Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Icing the Christmas Cake.

Before making the icing see that the top surface of the cake is quite flat. With a sharp knife trim it and grate off any blackened parts. It is difficult to give the exact proportion of icing, as some people like a thick layer and others a thin line. As you spread the icing over the cake, dip the knife constantly into a jug filled with hot water, which makes either almond paste or sugar icing work nicely.

Description source: The Telegraph, 18 December 1912

Image source: Queensland State Archives Item ID 1640281

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Christmas and New Year Cards.

Again we remind our readers to order their Christmas and New Year Cards from us as early as possible. When the time for posting your greeting cards arrives, and you have not secured them, you will be full of regrets for indifference shown. Avoid any regret by stepping into our office and placing your order. If you find you can’t get them better and cheaper from us than elsewhere – then go elsewhere.

Description source: Pittsworth Sentinel, 8 December 1920

Image source: Queensland State Archives Item ID 1640281

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

T. C. Beirne’s Christmas Novelties.

A great attraction has been added to T. C. Beirne and Co.’s Christmas novelties in the display of toy animals, forming a complete menagerie in one of their windows. Crowds of children visit the display daily. Another novelty that is exciting interest is the Speedaway, which is on view in the toy department. A miniature racing track occupies the centre of the room, and a large number of miniature motorists take part in the race. The result is exciting and most amusing.

Description source: The Brisbane Courier, 12 November 1913

Image source: Queensland State Archives Item ID 1640281

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

25/ Christmas hotel dinners

Most Brisbane hotels are arranging special Christmas dinners, with all the “trimmings,” this year.
But the cost will range from 25/ – 35/ a head, plus extras.
Some hotels were already booked out yesterday, but most still had tables available. Main features of menus will be roast turkey.

Description source: The Courier-Mail, 16 December 1952

Image source: Queensland State Archives Item ID 1640281

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Christmas Waits.

The good old-fashioned custom of Christmas waits was observed in one or two directions, and the residents on River terrace, at any rate, or such as the melodious strains awakened, were delighted by some admirable selections of music, given with faultless taste and feeling, at an early hour of Christmas morning, by what appeared to be a compact little brass band, softened by a reed or two. The music performed had been chosen with evident care, and the effect, in the still, calm watches of the night, was exquisite.

Description source: The Telegraph, 25 December 1886

Image source: Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 5067

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Christmas

Arrangements are being made in every household for Xmas and decorations are placed in all the shops. At the different stores an array of beautiful toys can be viewed, and it looks as though Santa will have a very busy time.

Description source: Balonne Beacon, 21 December 1950

Image source: Queensland State Archives Item ID 1640281

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Eucalypts, commonly known as gum trees, form an integral part of the Australian identity with the bush. From the children’s song Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree through to the distinctive smell of eucalypts to iconic paintings and photographs, eucalypts are an essential part of Australian culture, featuring in art, music and literature.

The sight and smell of eucalypts are a defining part of Australian life. The sight of the blue haze from the eucalytpus oil arising from the bush in the mountain ranges of Sydney gave the Blue Mountains their name.

Eucalypts come in a great range of shapes and sizes – from tall trees to small shrubs. Eucalypts are a dominant part of the Australian flora. Eucalypts range across Australia – the only landscape they are completely absent from is the high alpine areas, although they are scarce in rainforests and in the arid

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Plectronia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Rubiaceae family, and includes only one species: Plectronia parvifolia.

It is a plant from Burma and Malaysia. The leaves of this thorny bush are largely consumed by the natives in their curries. The pulp is attached to the seeds and eaten by the natives, but for the European taste, it is not very pleasant. In India the fruit is eaten by the Indians, and the leaves are also used as food and for the curries as a seasoning.

Description source: Wikipedia

Image source: Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 22449

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Araucaria cunninghamii is a species of Araucaria known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine, Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine. The scientific name honours the botanist and explorer Allan Cunningham, who collected the first specimens in the 1820s.

The species is found in the dry rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland and in New Guinea. The trees can live up to 450 years and grow to a height of 60 metres. The bark is rough, splits naturally, and peels easily.

The leaves on young trees are awl-shaped, 1-2cm long, about 2 mm thick at the base, and scale-like, incurved, 1-2 cm long and 4 mm broad on mature trees. The cones are ovoid, 8-10 cm long and 6-8 cm diameter, and take about 18 months to mature. The disintegrate at maturity to release the nut-like edible

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Grevillea robusta, commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, or Australian silver oak, is the largest species in the genus Grevillea of the family Proteaceae. It is not closely related to the true oaks, Quercus. It is a native of eastern coastal Australia, in riverine, subtropical and dry rainforest environments receiving more than 1,000 mm per year of average rainfall.

It is a fast-growing evergreen tree, between 18-35 m tall, with dark green delicately dented bipinnatifid leaves reminiscent of a fern frond. It is the largest plant in the Grevillea genus, reaching trunk diameters in excess of 1 m. The leaves are generally 15-30 cm long with greyish white or rusty undersides.

Its flowers are golden-orange bottlebrush-like blooms, between 8-15 cm long, in the spring, on a 2-3 cm long stem and are used for honey production. The seeds mature in late

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