Summary

Black and white, silver gelatin photograph of the members of the Kodak Staff Service Bulletin, at the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, 1945.

Standing from left to right: Edgar Rouse, Hazel Raff, Muriel Worthington, Nell Cameron, John (Jack) Street. Seated from left to right: Betty Coats, Jean McLeish, Moira Sheedy, Alma Parmenter, Bernice Gardiner, Marjorie Borchardt, Jean Middleton, Zoe Kitchin-Kerr.

Edgar Rouse was the only son of John (JJ) Rouse, who was managing director of Kodak Australasia from 1908 until his death in 1938. After JJ Rouse's death, Edgar Rouse succeeded him as chairman and chief managing director of Kodak Australasia until his own retirement in 1959.

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

Eleven women and two men are posed for a group portrait in a garden setting with a building apparent behind the foliage at the back of the group. The two men are standing either end of the back row with three women standing between them. Eight women are seated on a bench in the front row.

Physical Description

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

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