Summary

This is a colour postcard of the Exhibition Building showing the southern facade and the sundial in the gardens, circa 1908. The postcard was sent to Miss E Head, Devonport, England and is postmarked 3 June 1908.

The Exhibition Building was built for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, which opened to visitors on 1 October 1880. On 9 May 1901, it hosted the opening of the First Commonwealth Parliament of Australia. By the early 20th century, picture postcards of the Exhibition Building were a popular Melbourne souvenir.

The division of the reverse of the postcard, allowing a message to be written on one half and the address on the other, was not permitted in Britain until 1902 and Australia until 1905.

Physical Description

A colour tinted photograph of the southern facade of the Exhibition Building with lawn, trees and the sun dial in the foreground. The photograph is tinted in mauve, orange and green. On the reverse of the card there is an extensive handwritten inscription and address in black ink. In the upper right hand corner there is an orange Victorian postage stamp.

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