Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, circa 1948.

This photograph shows the north east corner of Yarra Grange cottage, also known as 'the Cottage' or 'the old Cottage'. During this period this building housed the director's dining room. A pipe carrying water for manufacturing extends from the cottage. Adjacent are gardens that feature lawns, footpaths, shrubs, a large tree and park benches.

Yarra Grange was the original home of Thomas Baker. He was the founder of the Austral Plate Company, which was a precursor of Kodak Australasia. The north east corner of Yarra Grange was used at one time as the Kodak foremen's lunch room, with Mrs Green as the cook. In the 1950s the foremen's lunch room was constructed over the canteen. Mrs Clarke was the cook for the directors' dining room from 1938 - early 1950s, but it is not clear if she has been confused with Mrs Green or if the foremen's lunch room was different from the directors' dining room. The stained glass window in the archway of the cottage was restored and presented back to Kodak by Stuart Sanderson when he retired.

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 site. This photograph shows the north east corner of a cottage. A pipe carrying water for manufacturing extends from the cottage, and adjacent are gardens that feature lawns cordoned off with low rope fences, footpaths, shrubs, a large tree and park benches. There is a stained glass window in the archway of the cottage, and a chimney on the roof.

Physical Description

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

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