Summary

Jacket which is part of a two piece men's suit made from a rust brown coloured self patterned terylene and wool fabric by Melbourne menswear company Peter Jackson, circa 1970.

It was worn by Australian actor George Mallaby in the television series Homicide, produced in Melbourne by Crawford Productions. The program debuted in October, 1964, and ran for 510 episodes over 12 years, proving there was a market for locally produced programs after the domination of American and British programs to that date. Mallaby played Detective Peter Barnes in the series between 1967 and 1973. In 1988, it was also lampooned in the parody revoicing of Homicide segments by the Melbourne comedy program D Generation, under the title 'Degenocide' (with lines such as "I told you to get rid of that brown suit".)

The suit was donated by Mallaby to a church charity auction in Cranbourne in the early 1990s. Crawford's actors often had to supply their own clothes, so this may have originally been his rather than supplied by the production company. It was made and retailed by the Melbourne company Peter Jackson.

In 2006, it was exhibited at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, in a display celebrating the work of Crawford Productions, as part of the TV50 exhibition commemorating 50 years of Australian television.

Physical Description

Single breasted jacket, with two fabric covered buttons along the front. There is a buttoned flapped covered pocket on either side of the lower front. Each sleeve has a small vent at the cuff, decorated with a small fabric covered button. There is a long 'v' shaped vent on the back, extended from the centre bottom to the middle. It is self-belted along the centre back. The jacket is lined with a light blue synthetic fabric, with two internal pockets, one of which contains a folded men's handkerchief. There is large black handwriting on the lining of the back.

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