Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, 1945-1949.

This photograph shows the south east corner of Yarra Grange cottage, also known as 'the Cottage' or 'the old Cottage'. The Yarra Grange cottage is a bluestone and brick building with a slate roof, and has a double storey section that is completely covered with ivy. A low shrub garden surrounds the cottage.

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. At right there is a weatherboard building which was the caretaker's cottage. In the 1940s the caretaker was Mrs Green. At far right is another ivy covered building and various chimneys including a brick chimney painted with the words 'KODAK'.

The Yarra Grange cottage housed the Kodak directors' dining room during the time that the photograph was taken. Gladys Clarke was the chef in the directors' dining room, and her husband Henry Clarke worked in silver recovery and was later a gardener at Kodak. The cottage was also home to Gladys Clarke, Henry and their son Henry, who was known as Harry. They lived in the 'Yarra Grange' house on the Kodak factory site from 1938, when Harry was 12 years old, until 1952, when he was 26 years old.

The Coating Technical section, led by Les Williams, occupied the south east section of Yarra Grange cottage from the early 1950s until the Coburg factory was built in 1960-61. The north east corner of Yarra Grange was used as the foremen's lunch room, with Mrs Green the caretaker acting as cook, until the 1950s when the foremen's lunch room was constructed over the canteen. It is not clear if the foremen's lunch room was different from the directors' dining room or if Mrs Green has been confused with Mrs Clarke.

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

This photograph shows the corner of a bluestone and brick building with a slate roof and window to the left and a double storey section that is completely covered with ivy in the middle of the photograph. A low shrub garden surrounds the cottage. At right there is a weatherboard building, and at far right is another ivy covered building and various chimneys including a brick chimney painted with the words 'KODAK'.

Physical Description

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

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