Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, circa 1940s.

This photograph features gardens at the factory, with a large tree to the left and a park bench at right, and an ivy covered building, Yarra Grange, behind the bench at far right.

'Yarra Grange' was the original home of Thomas Baker. In 1884 he established the Austral Plate Company on this site, where he made photographic plates. This company was later owned by Thomas Baker and John Rouse in 1894, under the partnership name Baker and Rouse. In the first decade of the 20th century the company and factory site was bought and operated by Kodak. When Kodak owned the business the Yarra Grange house was converted into the management building and also housed the director's dining room. In the late 1950s Kodak moved from Abbotsford to a new factory site at Coburg on the northern outskirts of Melbourne.

Kodak manufactured and distributed a wide range of photographic products to Australasia, such as film, paper, chemicals, cameras and miscellaneous equipment. Its client base included amateur and professional photographers, as well as specialist medical and graphic art professionals who used photography, x-ray and other imaging techniques.

This photograph is part of the Kodak collection of products, promotional materials, photographs and working life artefacts collected from Kodak Australasia in 2005, when the Melbourne manufacturing plant at Coburg closed down.

Description of Content

Photograph of a factory in a garden setting. The image features a large tree to the left and a park bench at right, and an ivy covered building behind the bench.

Physical Description

Black and white silver gelatin photograph, printed on medium weight paper, portrait format with a white border.

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