Summary

Audio interview with Doug Kite by Liza Dale-Hallett at his home in Ringwood on 11 Sep 2015.

This interview is part of the Doug Kite Leather Braiding Collection which consists of handmade leather braided products, hand tools and works in progress made by Doug Kite from 1984 to 2016. The Collection also includes oral histories, video and photographs. The Collection was featured on the ABC Landline program on 7 August 2016.

Description of Content

In this interview Doug talks about: his childhood, rabbit plagues, droughts, the experience and delights of rain, making horses from kerosene tins to play with as a child, Maree School, Birdsville track, his father's work as a fencer, dam sinker, wool carter and station manager, snakes, donkeys, camel trains, Afghani community in Maree, discrimination against Afghani and Aboriginal people, the bore drain at Maree, the Kite stock brands, his mother and her challenges, environmental damage, water supplies, typical food including meat and preserved vegetables, clothing and shoes, memories of Aboriginal people with leg chains, hunting and skinning kangaroos, his first inspiration to begin leather braiding, Farina, the Ghan train, Leigh Creek coalfields, seeing fog for the first time, starting work at 12 years old, building up his drover's plant, Maree Common, 21st birthday gift from his father of an Alex Scobie stock whip, relocating to Melbourne in 1945, working for the Balwyn Wildlife Park, the Frankston carnival, working at Kodak, Silk's ballroom in Glenferrie Road, the piano accordian, Ron Edwards publications featuring Doug's leather braiding, inspiration for the miniature whip hat band, the challenge of selling to people who don't understand rare and complex hand crafts. Doug mentions many outback stations and pastoral leases in has interview including: Cowarie Station, Callana Station, Witchelina Station, Muloorina Station. He also mentions a number of important identities from the Birdsville, Maree area, including: Claude Oldfield, Alex Scobie, Billy Blair (a drover from Broken Hill), Ray Smith.

Physical Description

Digital file

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