Summary
Postcard featuring a colour illustration of the New York World Fair held in New York, USA in 1939, titled 'Constitutional Mall and the Lagoon of Nations'. The postcard was sent on 21 July 1939 by a senior Kodak Australasia executive (probably Chief Managing Director Mr Edgar Rouse) to Kodak Australasia employees Mr & Mrs Clarke at the Kodak factory in Abbotsford. The postcard was sent while Mr Rouse was on a business trip in 1939 to the Eastman Kodak headquarters at Rochester, New York in the USA,
Newly appointed as the Chief Managing Director after the previous incumbent, his father Mr John 'JJ' Rouse, had died in 1938, Mr Edgar Rouse was visiting the USA to consult with Eastman Kodak executives at the head office in Rochester, New York. While away on his trip, Mr Rouse sent a number of postcards to Mr and Mrs Clarke and their young son Harry Clarke. When he returned to Australia, Mr Rouse also gave a number of other shipboard souvenirs to Harry Clarke.
Mrs Clarke was the chef for the directors' dining room at the Kodak factory, and Mr Clarke worked first in silver recovery and later as a gardener in the grounds. The couple and their son Harry lived on site at the Kodak factory in Abbotsford, Melbourne from 1938 until 1952, residing in the 'Yarra Grange' cottage. This cottage which was the original home of Thomas Baker who founded Baker and Rouse, a photographic manufacturing company that was later bought out by Kodak Australasia, and which established the first manufacturing works on the Abbotsford site.
Physical Description
Postcard with colour illustration of the New York World Fair with a white border and text at top and bottom in the border. Reverse has a stamp, postmark and handwritten correspondence.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation from Harry Clarke, Oct 2009
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Author
Mr Edgar J. Rouse - Kodak (Australasia) Pty. Ltd., New York, United States of America, 1939
Probable Author -
Addressed To
Yarra Grange, Southampton Crescent, Abbotsford, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1939
Mr & Mrs Clarke -
Inscriptions
Text, printed front: 'Constitutional Mall and Lagoon of Nations, from the Painting by John Wenrich/'New York World's Fair '9A-H307. Back, right side, printed, blue ink: 'ADDRESS' Back, right side, handwritten, blue ink: 'Mr + Mrs Clark / "Yarra Grange" / Southampton /Cres / Abbotsford N-9 / Victoroia / Australia' Back, right side, adhered to postcard, printed, white ink on red background, postage stamp: 'POSTAGE / REVENUE / 1d / [image of King George VI with crown, rose and thistle above his head] ' Back, left side at angle, handwritten, blue ink: 'Best wishes / from the New York / fair. It is an interesting / spectacle. Expect to be / back at luncheon table / soon. / [signature ????] ' Back, centre, stamped, black ink: '[text is encompassed in a circle and is follows a circular shape] SOUTHAMPTON [??] / 21 JLY / 1939' Back, top, printed, blue ink: 'LIC. BY N.Y.W.F. 1939 - K.1877 / NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR / Officially Approved POST CARD'
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Classification
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Overall Dimensions
140 mm (Width), 89 mm (Height)
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Keywords
Correspondence, Postcards, Recreation, Making History - Kodak Collection