Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the Plumbers Workshop group at the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, circa 1950.

Front row, seated, from left: Sid Reeve, Malcolm Bradley, Jim Myers, William (Bill) Commerford and William (Bill) Shaw. Back row, standing, from left: Len Coe, Max Myers [son of Jim Myers in the front row], Tom Suckling, Fred Willsher (Willsheer? Wilshire?), Edward 'Dingy' Bell, unknown man nicknamed 'Eagle Beak', Jack Neeson, Alf Stones and George Nyman.
Absent: H Murphy

The Abbotsford factory was initially the site of the Austral Plate Company, created by Thomas Baker, a pharmaceutical chemist, in 1884. After Baker went into partnership with accountant, John Rouse, to develop the photographic manufacturing company, Baker and Rouse Pty Ltd, they proposed a merger with Eastman Kodak in 1907. In 1908, Australian Kodak Limited was formed and evolved to become what is known today as Kodak Australasia. The Abbotsford site remained the base for the operations of Kodak Australasia until the late 1950s.

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

Group portrait consisting of two rows of men. Seven are seated at the front and eight are standing at the rear. They are mostly dressed in overalls, except for the man seated second from the left in the front row, who is dressed in a suit and tie. The photograph is taken in a garden. The men are located on a grass lawn and behind them is foliage from trees or shrubs.

Physical Description

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

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