Summary

Black and white, silver gelatin photograph of staff in costume at Plate Department Stall during the Kodak garden fete at the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, Saturday 1 March 1941. The fete was held by the patriotic fund (Comfort Fund).

The women in the photograph are (from left to right): Marj Papworth (nee Clarke), Freda Cuthbert (nee McGregor), Thelma Jones, Helen Quinn (nee Peacock), Edie Fisher and Jean Fisher (nee Humphreys). Jean Fisher had married Edie Fisher's brother.

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 Roduring the use, 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

Six women with arms linked and wearing Hawaiian costume of grass skirts and leis are walking in a garden setting. One man is featured in the photograph, far right, and is wearing a white shirt and pants with an Hawaiian lei and holding a flask.

Physical Description

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

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