Summary

Black and white photograph of Mrs Gladys Clarke with Skipper, a Pomeranian crossbreed dog, on her lap, in the garden area of the Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd factory site in Abbotsford, in the early 1940s. This photograph highlights the intersection between the domestic and the industrial that occured at this site around World War II, which was an unusual and unique experience in Kodak's manufacturing history.

Gladys Clarke, her husband Henry and their son Henry, who was known as Harry, lived on the Kodak factory site in Abbotsford from 1938, when Harry was 12 years old, until 1952, when he was 26 years old. The Clarke family were the only people who lived onsite at the factory. They lived at the 'Yarra Grange' house, which housed the directors' dining room. Gladys was the chef in the Kodak directors' dining room and Henry worked in silver recovery and was later a gardener at Kodak.

Skipper belonged to Gladys' son Harry, who was about twelve or fourteen years of age when this photograph was taken. Harry remembered that Skipper 'was a great companion'.

Harry says that 'When I lived at Kodak it was a huge, very huge place, and I seemed to live a very privileged life for a small child, I had the virtual run of the factory excepting some sections, particularly during the war years.... The staff at Kodak were like a large family ...everybody seemed to be very friendly and supportive, the dining room I think provided meals free of charge, there was a lot of benevolence in that period of time.'

Description of Content

Black and white photograph of a woman with a dog on her lap sitting on the grass in front of a garden bench. In the background are trees, a tap and a building.

Physical Description

Digital image file. A digital photograph was taken of the original black and white print. The print, which has a white border, features a woman sitting with a dog in a garden.

Significance

This photograph is one of four images that contextualises an important part of the Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd's manufacturing history in Melbourne, when a family lived onsite at the Abbotsford factory from about 1938 - 1952, in the period around World War II. This photograph highlights the intersection between the domestic and the industrial that occured at this site, which was an unusual and unique experience. Company research and an oral history of the Clarke family experience at Kodak provide a further historical framework to the photographs.

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